Besides keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer, your Calgary furnace, heating, and air conditioning system can keep you healthy as well – if you install a whole-house humidifier.

In the winter, more heat must be added indoors for body comfort. However, the heat your Calgary furnace adds to keep you warm will cause a drying effect and lower the indoor relative humidity. You can see the effects of low humidity on your furniture – wood pieces and cabinets can shrink and warp. Static electricity can build up on carpets and affect computers and electronics. It can even put your piano out of tune. That same effect occurs with your skin. Many Calgarians suffer from chapped lips and dry eyes in the winter. That’s because Calgary has very low humidity – next to that of the desert.  Adding a whole-house humidifier to your Calgary furnace increases moisture in the air to take care of chapped lips and dry eyes and keep your skin looking younger.

The best news about adding a humidifier to your home’s Calgary furnace is that it can also keep you healthier. Government studies have proven that when cold, dry air dehydrates your nasal passages and throat, you are at an increased risk for microbial and viral infection. Too little humidity can lead to nosebleeds, painful skin irritation, difficulty breathing, and damaging static electricity. It can also cause dehydration, muscle and joint pain, and a lack of concentration. A whole-home humidifier added to your Calgary furnace boosts the moisture content in your home in the winter and fights this dehydration. Humidity inside your home should range from 20% to 60% year-round. A whole-house humidifier can be programmed to keep your home’s moisture level consistent. Increasing the relative humidity to above 50% will make you feel more comfortable and provide the moisture your skin and body need.  As an added benefit, increased moisture makes the air feel warmer, so it can reduce hearing costs since your Calgary furnace does not have to work as hard.

But you need to be careful about what humidifier you choose. Avoid drum-style humidifiers, which have standing water that can harbor bacteria. An expert in Calgary furnace installation, Accu-Temp recommends installing a bypass flow-through humidifier such as the True Ease HE150 or Honeywell HE-225, which has the added benefit of an exclusive Alcon antimicrobial coating to inhibit bacteria growth.

Call the professionals at Accu-Temp Heating and Air Conditioning about adding a humidifier to your Calgary furnace to keep you warm – and healthy – all winter.