As winter comes along and colder air starts entering your home, the humidity in your home can drop because the colder air holds less moisture than the warmer spring summer and fall air. And the colder the air, the drier it is. This can lead to skin and mucous membranes drying out as will plants and furniture. Static electricity begins to show up, too. Even your health can be affected by scratchy throats, increased allergy symptoms and chemical reactions, and general discomfort. And because dry air absorbs perspiration very readily, you feel cooler and may need to raise your room temperature for comfort.

Your indoor humidity level is ideal when the air is holding about half as much moisture as it could hold if it was saturated (as it might in a steam bath); this is expressed as 50% Relative Humidity or 50% RH.

So adding enough moisture to reach around 50% Relative Humidity with a humidifier can make you feel warm enough that you need not spend more on fuel to heat that drier air to a higher temperature.

A wide variety of home humidifiers is available, ranging from simple to sophisticated, with many different convenience options, to serve individual rooms or a complete home as an integral part of your heating system.