Troubleshooting Your Furnace

Posted on: 9 March 2017

The furnace in your home is one of the most utilize—-and relied upon—of all home appliances during the winter months. But while the role it plays is absolutely indispensable, your furnace can also lead to certain air problems, with excessive dehydration being chief among them. Fortunately, you can offset this tendency through the installation of a furnace humidifier. This article will provide a helpful guide to the benefits and variations of furnace humidifiers.

Benefits

The number-one benefit of a furnace humidifier is better health for you and your family. You see, when air becomes too dry, it can cause a number of unintended consequences. That dryness will actually pull moisture out of your skin, thus increasing the risk of ailments such as rashes, chapping, cracking, and itchy skin.

Things get worse when it comes to the mucous membrane linings inside of your nose. As these begin to dry out, they lose their ability to filter out potentially dangerous particulate matter. This can lead to an increase in allergies, asthma, and irritation from such substances as pet dander, mold spores, and dust. Likewise, a humidity level of less than 43% greatly increases the chances of contracting flu or cold viruses.

It is important to also acknowledge that excessively dry air can also have a deleterious effect on wooden furniture inside your home. This should be of particular concern to those with valuable heirlooms. Wood requires a certain degree of moisture in order to remain in good condition. When it becomes too dry, the chances of it cracking or warping rise dramatically.

Variations

There are three particular types of furnace humidifier:

• bypass humidifiers
• power-spray humidifiers
• steam humidifiers

Bypass humidifiers represent the simplest yet most popular type. This popularity rests of the fact that they carry the lowest price tag. However, installation of a bypass humidifier may be somewhat more expensive, due to the fact that duct modifications are often needed to integrate it into your HVAC system.

Power-spray humidifiers offer a greater ease of integration. Here the humidification is accomplished by means of a fan, which supplies the humidifier's "power." Thanks to this fan, a power-spray humidifier is able to bring the humidity level inside of your house up to the desired level in as little time as possible.

Finally, there are steam humidifiers. These are generally considered the most effective and efficient form of HVAC humidification. Yet they are also the most costly, thanks to the fact that they require a separate boiler unit to be installed. This boiler is capable of generating large quantities of steam in a relatively short period of time. Just be aware that it will be necessary to have a steam humidifier's boiler unit maintained on a regular basis.

For additional information, contact an HVAC contractor in your area.