You can humidify a room naturally by placing indoor plants, bowls of water, or wet towels around the room. You can also take advantage of activities that produce moisture, such as showering or boiling water on the stove.
Dry air inside your home is often caused by central heating and poor insulation isn't just a minor inconvenience. It can lead to mild to serious health effects you want to avoid for yourself and for your family.
Dry Clothes on Racks
Use a rack to dry clothes at room temperature instead of tossing them in the dryer. It takes a little longer, but the moisture released into the house by drying clothes is an effective way to give the humidity in your home a much needed boost.
Adding moisture to the air by placing large bowls of water around the home (the water evaporates and adds moisture) in particular near radiators. Hanging wet/damp clothes to dry in your bedroom. Keeping plants in the bedroom (moisture evaporates from the leaves)
Without having to spend a dime, you can increase your home's humidity by placing a metal or ceramic bowl of water on top of your floor registers or radiant heating unit. The water will evaporate into humid air. On a sunny day, place a bowl or vase filled with water on your windowsills.
Breathing dry air can cause respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis and nosebleeds. Breathing dry air also can cause dehydration since body fluids are depleted during respiration. “Your sinuses will dry out,” says family medicine physician Daniel Allan, MD.
Fans help sweat evaporate, Jay says, but that happens when air is dry anyway. So in very hot, dry conditions, fans merely bombard people with hot air.
Let's talk about what humidity levels you should keep in your home year-round, and different techniques to do so. Ideal in-home humidity levels should hover around 45%. Anything under 30% is too dry, and over 50% is too high.
While it may seem counterintuitive, it is actually helpful to open the windows and remove the stale, dry air from your house. Open windows during the daytime to let the fresh air in. It will help you breathe easy, and your skin won't feel that dry and itchy. Plus, it will also improve your home air quality.
Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air quality problems. Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the area.
Watch Your Humidity Levels
Cold air is drier, and if the humidity in your home gets too low, it can cause symptoms such as dry eyes and a dry cough. You may also notice excessive dry skin. Add a humidifier to your HVAC system, or get a portable humidifier for your bedroom. It will help with the winter dryness.
Dry air is simply air that is significantly lacking moisture. Equally important, air with low relative humidity is generally under 40%. That means dry air falls below the ideal 40% to 60% indoor humidity range. Generally speaking, when humidity levels are below this range, the air is noticeably dry.
WHAT HEALTH EFFECTS CAN BE CAUSED BY POOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY? Occupants of homes with poor indoor air quality may complain of symptoms such as headache, eye irritation, fatigue, dry throat, sinus congestion, dizziness, and nausea.
As long as your fan is clean, sleeping with it on generally does not cause serious health problems. But fans circulate air that may dry your nose and throat and trigger other uncomfortable symptoms. Keeping your home clean and free of dust is one of many ways to help prevent those issues.
It can be dangerous
Consumer safety charity, Electrical Safety First, says that leaving your fan on at night could put you at risk if a fault occurs within your device while you're sleeping. Yup, we're talking a one-way ticket to a house fire.
Some sleepers also find the sound created by a fan to be soothing, or they enjoy the comforting feel of the airflow. While sleeping with a fan on is generally considered safe, it may present some disadvantages for those with allergies or sensitivity to ambient noise.
While the ideal bedroom humidity can differ based on climate and temperature, research suggests that the best relative humidity for sleeping is between 40% and 60%. This range is also helpful for reducing indoor pollutants that can interfere with sleep.
When humidity levels are extremely low, you lose more water vapor through respiration and the pores in your skin. This can cause chronic dry skin, chapped lips, a scratchy throat, and an itchy nose.
For an effective DIY way to add moisture to the air in your home, turn to your stove. By heating a kettle of water or boiling a pot of water for pasta, you're causing evaporation. As the water evaporates, it turns into vapor and mixes freely with the air in your home.