who uses a humidifier during the winter?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

skin gets dry and itchy during the winter. is this going to help?

 

[Homerboy]

we have a "April Aire" humidifier built into our HVAC.
It works decent enough.

I can highly recommend lathering yourself in lotion immediately after a shower too. Even better if you can get your wife, GF, SO to do it for you.

 

[nickbits]

yes. mine is a whole house one attached to my furnace. in my last house i just had a standalone room humidifier. that thing sucked as it needed to be refilled every few hours.

 

[highland145]

Yep + lotion. 2 showers a day, because of the gym, really tears me up.

 

[Kaido]

I actually just picked up a small plug-in humidifier for that reason. I was waking up with a sore throat and chapped lips. It helps a lot.

For your hands, wash them with warm water (I hate waiting for it to turn warm lol), use moisturizing soap (has lotion built-in), and use a heavy-duty hand lotion throughout the day. My knuckles will crack if I don't do that. Bleh, dry winters. I'm moving back to Florida.

 

[Platypus]

I use one, but for my guitar room, not myself.

Gotta keep that shit from cracking.

 

[TwiceOver]

Lotion.

 

[Wyndru]

we have a "April Aire" humidifier built into our HVAC.
It works decent enough.

I have an aprilaire system too, but I've never turned it on because I've read it can cause mold in the air ducts. Do you have any issues with this?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

"It puts the lotion on its skin"

 

[Homerboy]

I have an aprilaire system too, but I've never turned it on because I've read it can cause mold in the air ducts. Do you have any issues with this?

Nope.

 

[Mide]

Yup, started getting a bloody nose in the mornings. After humidifier everything is A-ok

 

[Wyndru]

Nope.

Cool, I might try it out then, I actually just bought a new filter last night and I was thinking about giving it a go. Ours has a knob with a percentage on it, and it seems to click on at about 30%, I'll try that first. For some reason at the recommended indoor settings it doesn't ever turn on, maybe it's not working as intended.

Suggested Indoor Humidity
Outside Temperature / Recommended Indoor Relative Humidity
-10 F / 20%
0 F / 25%
10 F / 30%
20 F / 35%
30 F / 35%

 

[Homerboy]

Cool, I might try it out then, I actually just bought a new filter last night and I was thinking about giving it a go. Ours has a knob with a percentage on it, and it seems to click on at about 30%, I'll try that first. For some reason at the recommended indoor settings it doesn't ever turn on, maybe it's not working as intended.

Suggested Indoor Humidity
Outside Temperature / Recommended Indoor Relative Humidity
-10 F / 20%
0 F / 25%
10 F / 30%
20 F / 35%
30 F / 35%

HA! sounds like we have the exact same set up. I don't think ours works as perfectly or "As much" as its supposed to.

 

[zinfamous]

we need dehumidifiers here. winter here is the rainy season and because it's still chilly outside, one doesn't really want to leave the windows open to air out. Berkeley and rest of East Bay is notorious for mold issues, and without proper ventilation--most of the apartments are rather old and have no good stove or bathroom ventilation--the interior walls and windows are often quite moist.

it's almost impossible to deal with it.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

HA! sounds like we have the exact same set up. I don't think ours works as perfectly or "As much" as its supposed to.

We have that same exact setup with our Aprilaire and I think we need more humidity in the house. Kids still have nose bleeds and my wife's hands look like she uses a cheese grater to wash them. Ours clicks on at around 30%. But it's still dry as hell on the 2nd floor. Taken readings and they're right around 35% in the house. I think we need a service call.

 

[nickbits]

I have an aprilaire system too, but I've never turned it on because I've read it can cause mold in the air ducts. Do you have any issues with this?

What type is it? Drum humidifiers can cause mold because of the standing water and that mold could be blown through the duct work. Flow through types do not have this problem that i know of.

 

[dullard]

1) Think about how well oil and water mix.
2) With that oil/water thought in mind, tell me what water in the air has to do with oil on your skin.

The solution to dry, itchy skin is all about keeping that oil on your skin - not what the air is doing. Best solution: wash with bath oil instead of soap (especially your hands). Second best solution: if you must use soap (why you would when bath oil is available, I don't know) replace the oil you just washed away with good oily lotion.

 

[Wyndru]

What type is it? Drum humidifiers can cause mold because of the standing water and that mold could be blown through the duct work. Flow through types do not have this problem that i know of.

It's an AprilAire 550, the type where the water flows down into a filter and absorbs into it, and the air blows through the filter, any excess water drains out the bottom and out of the system.

 

[Paperdoc]

Depending on where you live and how cold outside, you may be surprised at how much humidification is needed. I live on the north shore of Lake Superior in an older house that certainly is not well sealed, so there is significant exchange of inside and outside air. Take outside air at -20C (that's 4 below F) and warm it up to 22C (71.6K) and it is VERY low in Relative Humidity. For a whole house full of air, you cannot possibly add enough water vapour using only a single humidifier plugged into the wall in the living room. The only way to get there is to have a "power humidifier" installed in the furnace. Typically they use a small motor to rotate a foam drum through a water trough (fed by connection to the water pipes through a control valve) and then pass some of the hot air from the furnace output over it to evaporate the water and mix it back into the furnace air flow. These designs can evaporate water fast enough to keep inside room Relative Humidity in the 20 to 35% range in cold winter weather. Usually these units are installed with a humidistat (a control unit) mounted on the wall right next to your thermostat, and this can control how much water is added to the house air. A Relative Humidity gauge (ofter a desktop unit like a thermometer) can tell you whether you're getting the right results.

As others have posted, you generally do NOT try to keep the same indoor RH no matter what the outside temperature. The main reason is condensation on poorly-insulated surfaces like windows and door frames. These surfaces are colder than the rest of the house, so that high air RH will result in condensation or frost on them, leading eventually to mold and rot. So you keep the RH lower inside when the temp outside is too cold, to avoid that.

 

[waggy]

yeah. we have one connected to the furnace. it broke last year and i was amazed at t he diffrence. it makes the room feel warmer.

also i have one in my office. i have a few reptiles and a sinus issue. i like it higher humidity then the rest do.

 

[DrPizza]

Not a humidifier per se, but we keep a big roasting pan full of water on top of the coal stove. I replace the water every morning, so roughly 3 gallons per day. It's much much more comfortable since I started doing that - no more very very dry inside of the nose.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I swear by it. I highly recommend it at the very least in the bedroom at night while sleeping.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Yeah, I intend to get a whole house humidifier. We have a water softener which seems to help as well, plus applying lotion right after a shower. The arid Colorado climate is definitely tough for sensitive-skin people like me.

 

[Zargon]

1) Think about how well oil and water mix.
2) With that oil/water thought in mind, tell me what water in the air has to do with oil on your skin.

The solution to dry, itchy skin is all about keeping that oil on your skin - not what the air is doing. Best solution: wash with bath oil instead of soap (especially your hands). Second best solution: if you must use soap (why you would when bath oil is available, I don't know) replace the oil you just washed away with good oily lotion.

wrong.....

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wel.../home-remedies/home-remedies-for-dry-skin.htm

but lotion does help too

 

[ussfletcher]

1) Think about how well oil and water mix.
2) With that oil/water thought in mind, tell me what water in the air has to do with oil on your skin.

The solution to dry, itchy skin is all about keeping that oil on your skin - not what the air is doing. Best solution: wash with bath oil instead of soap (especially your hands). Second best solution: if you must use soap (why you would when bath oil is available, I don't know) replace the oil you just washed away with good oily lotion.

I think it has a lot more to do with the loss of moisture through exhilation and the lack of moisture when inhaling.