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Humidifiers have a very important role in a home that is constantly dry during the winter months. Ottawa is one of those areas in Canada that utilize the numerous benefits derived from having the proper humidity in a home. Needless to say having a humidifier in Ottawa is a necessity for most homes.
What happens when your home is too dry?
A whole lot happens and none of it’s good! First of all super dry air can affect your health. While dry air does benefit some sufferers of asthma and other chronic conditions that may benefit from dry air most of use don’t. Dry air can contribute to nose bleeds, skin irritation; cause such respiratory ailments as asthma, sinusitis and bronchitis. When the air is dry its “feels” cooler and makes people keep their furnace on longer and at a higher temperature.
So we know that improper humidification can affect your families health, what about your possessions?
If you have wood flooring in a dry home you are asking for trouble. Dry are can cause your floor boards to shrivel and crack even causing the joints to separate causing damage and ugly gaps. If you have a wooden dinning room set the same thing will happen with it. The glue in joints can become brittle and as the wood shrinks, can break and let go causing damage to doors and drawers. Wooden tables can become damaged, legs get loose etc. I think you get the picture. Expensive wooden musical instruments are at risk of being damaged and becoming out of tune. They need the proper humidity levels to perform well and can be absolutely ruined if the humidity levels are neglected.
Types of Humidifiers
There are those that attach to forced air gas furnaces and portable room humidifiers.
The fixed humidifiers you find on furnaces basically fall into two categories, the “drum” type and the “flow through” model.
Flow through Type
I think most home owners are looking at the flow through type these days because of the ease of maintenance and the fact that there is no water sitting in the unit its self. The water simply flows through it when the unit is working and the air passes thought a honey comb like block and distributes the moisture laden air thought the duct work in your home. You just need to rinse the honeycomb in CLR once or twice a season, that’s it.
Drum Type
This type of humidifier was once about the only type you would find in Ottawa and most other homes across Canada. The problem with them was that there would be water sitting in a pan at all times. We all know that if water just sits in a dark warm place long enough, you will grow all kinds of bacteria and when the furnace comes on all that good stuff is blown through your duct work and into each room of your home – not good. The solution was to check on it often and make sure the unit was clean – hardly anyone knew to do this or just let it go!
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