There’s not too much that I enjoy about winter besides spending a few minutes outside sledding or building a snowman with the kids. I’m not much of a skier or snowboarder and I just don’t see anything fun with freezing temperatures, and the affects that the dry air has on my already dry skin. You may be familiar with the discomforts of with the dry air that accompany cold weather like itchy dry skin or scratchy throats, but did you know that dry air can also have an impact on household objects?
10 household items that are most impacted by low relative humidity:
1. Wood Furniture: Has your favorite wooden bench seemed a little shakier? It could be because of low humidity. Wood absorbs and desorbs water as relative humidity rises and falls, which causes it to swell and shrink. This results in furniture joints becoming loose or even pulling apart.
2. Musical Instruments: Not sounding quite right? Low humidity levels may be to blame for your instrument falling out of tune. Natural wood instruments such as guitars, violins and pianos can be damaged when the wood contracts resulting in failed glue joints or cracks.
3. Books: Low humidity causes the pages of books to become more brittle and fragile, and the dimensions of the pages can even change as the paper absorbs and desorbs water. This leads to wrinkles in the paper, flaking ink, or warped covers on books.
4. Woodwork and Wood Floors: If you’ve noticed a slight bend in your wood floors, or gaps between the planks, it could be because of low humidity. As the wood expands and contracts, mitered corners can separate and floors can “cup” so that the floor doesn’t remain flat.
5. Wine: Does your uncorked bottle of wine not taste right? Wine corks can dry out, shrink and crack if exposed to low humidity overtime, allowing air to come into contact with the wine and potentially ruin the bottle.
6. Artwork: Maintaining humidity levels is vital for protecting artwork around the home. Low moisture levels tend to make paint brittle and prone to cracking, which is especially detrimental to oil paintings on canvas.
7. Stamp Collections: Much like books, repeated absorption and desorption of water can ruin stamps by making them brittle or discolored.
8. Photograph Collections: Have you noticed your new photographs looking more like your parents’ photo albums? When photographs curl up at the ends, it’s likely due to low humidity levels. They can also result in the photo emulsion flaking off and damaging the photograph
9. Walls: Peeling wallpaper and separated drywall seams can be a sign of low humidity in the home. The porous materials may crack and separate when exposed to low levels
10. Electronic Equipment: Static electricity brought on by low humidity levels can damage internal components of computers, televisions and other electronics – a lot more damaging than dealing with static in your hair!
Maintain Humidity Levels in the Home this Winter with Honeywell Humidifiers:
With the new Top Fill Console Humidifier from Honeywell, I can not only help the scratchy throats and dry skin, but I can also help protect everyday household object by maintaining the humidity level in our house. While we have a small humidifier in Jonathan’s room to help with the dry air, it never occurred to me that the low humidity levels could also affect our furniture, electronics, and photo albums. I often noticed the curling pages in my grandmother’s photo albums, and never attributed it to the low humidity, I just thought they were old.
The Top Fill Console Humidifier from Honeywell features two removable top fill water tanks that hold up to 3 gallons. It can run up to 24 hours in between fillings, and also has a convenient refill light so you know exactly when the water is low.
Where to Buy?
The new Top Fill Console Humidifier from Honeywell comes in two different colors; black and white, and is available to purchase at Walmart, Meijer, Amazon
Product ,information and giveaway prize provided by sponsor.
