Cold and Flu Archives

Humidifier

Doc,while reading your book i was intrigued by what you said about the benefit of humidity in the winter.We live in Pacific Northwest of Canada where the outside temperature in the dead of winter rarely gets below 20 degrees,we usually hover around the freezing mark or just below for most of the winter.My question is does too much humidity not cause a lot of mold to exist in the home?And is mold a bad thing to have in the home?What humidity is safe that it would not cause mold?I am thinking of buying a whole-house humidifier that attaches to my furnace?

thanks

Follow Ups:

• Re: Humidifier for prevention of colds and flu. ARCHIVE under colds. Walt Stoll 13:41:20 9/20/99 (0)
• Re: Humidifier for prevention of colds and flu. Walt Stoll 13:37:58 9/20/99 (0)

In Reply to: Humidifier posted by Geddy on September 19, 1999 at 13:29:39:

Hi, Geddy.

If I were in your circumstance, I would surely get a whole house humidifier partly because I could save a lot of money on my heating bill by doing so. Remember, 67 degrees at 50% humidity feels about the same as 72 degrees at 15% humidity which is about what you would have in that climate at those temperatures. SO, you can save the most expensive heating cost you have (the top 5 degrees) just by keeping your home humidity at 50%. 50%, by the way, is not high enough to cause fungus in your home.

Besides preventing viral infections, all the air-born allergens are greatly reduced as well.

Let us know how you do.

Walt

In Reply to: Humidifier posted by Geddy on September 19, 1999 at 13:29:39:

Hi, Geddy.

If I were in your circumstance, I would surely get a whole house humidifier partly because I could save a lot of money on my heating bill by doing so. Remember, 67 degrees at 50% humidity feels about the same as 72 degrees at 15% humidity which is about what you would have in that climate at those temperatures. SO, you can save the most expensive heating cost you have (the top 5 degrees) just by keeping your home humidity at 50%. 50%, by the way, is not high enough to cause fungus in your home.

If you do not have good insulation in your outside walls, floor or ceiling, you may notice moisture on the inside of those walls even at 50%. If so, you really need better insulation. Also, singly glazed windopanes will sweat at 50%. All this tells you is that you are losing a LOT of your heat because of poor insulation.

Besides preventing viral infections, all the air-born allergens are greatly reduced as well.

Let us know how you do.

Walt