5 Reasons You Should Use Your Humidifier This Winter

Even though summer weather seemed to hang around a little longer this year, the Northern Virginia air is starting to cool off, and we’re starting to bundle up with jackets. Winter will be here before we know it, and although many people like the season for the beautiful snow and numerous holidays, others dread it for one reason: dry air.

Dry air can cause several complications to your health and comfort during winter, but a humidifier can reduce or prevent them! Humidifiers operate by pulling air from the surrounding room then saturates in with moisture. The humidifier then emits the now-moist air to fill the air of the room with moisture.

If you suffer when winter rolls around due to dry air, a humidifier may be the solution for you! Here are a few benefits to running a humidifier in winter:

• Soft, Smooth Skin: Dry air means dry skin. During winter, you may experience painful, cracked skin around our knuckles and sore cracked lips. You can rub lotion on dry hands and keep chap stick in your pocket for dry lips, but these are temporary solutions. Running a humidifier at home will help get rid of the culprit of your dry skin: dry air.
• Reduced Sinus Congestion: Winter’s dry air can be a nightmare for our sinuses. You might wake up with a dry mouth and throat and fear that you’re catching a cold. In fact, dry sinuses make you much more likely to catch viruses. Use a humidifier while you sleep to wake up with clear sinuses.
• Lower Heating Bill: The moist air your humidifier puts out will feel warmer than the surrounding dry air, meaning you may not have to crank up the heat as high. This will give you a lower heating bill and spare your wallet.
• Healthier Plants: Your house plants don’t wait for you to tip over a watering can and give them water—they pull water from the air themselves. And if the air in your home is very dry, it can harm the health of your plants, especially tropical plants who need increased humidity to thrive. A humidifier can fill the air with moisture, which your plants will draw in. This, of course, is no replacement for watering your plants regularly, but running a humidifier at home can give you a hand with keeping your leafy friends healthy.
• Quicker Healing: A humidifier can help you recover from a cold or the flue faster! The extra moisture from your humidifier will help open and cleanse your sinus passages and help you get over your illness faster.