The Importance of Humidifiers during the Winter

Posted by Jim under Homeowner, Tips

In most areas of the country winter is the season for turning on the furnace to heat your home.  Whether you have a gas or electric furnace the process of heating the air removes much needed humidity and dries out the air inside your home. We all know the benefits of having our furnace in good working order; however, many home owners do not fully understand the need and benefits of installing a humidifier.

Benefits of Humidifiers:

A significant contributor to respiratory infections is inadequate humidification during cold weather. Winter weather is blamed for these problems; however, the actual cause may be a lack of humidity in your home which results in the membranes of the nose, throat and bronchial tubes drying out and becoming irritated. Humidifiers provide the following health and home benefits:

1. Keep the mucus membranes of your throat and nasal passages moist allowing the tiny hairs (cilia) in both to work at expelling foreign objects such as mold, pet dander and bacteria.
2. Reduce susceptibility and/or symptoms related to respiratory infection, asthma, hay fever, cold and flu
3. Moisturizes the respiratory system allowing for easier breathing and more comfortable sleep – reduces likelihood of nose bleeds and snoring
4. Helps soothe dry itchy skin, throats and coughs (avoid dehydration)
5. Reduce static electricity which may cause problems with electronic equipment
6. Hydrates wood floors, woodwork, furniture, musical instruments and house plants. Low humidity levels have an enormous impact on wood products. Lack of humidity can cause cracking/buckling in hardwood floors. Low humidity levels can also damage musical instruments such as pianos, violins, and the like.
7. Reduced heating bills (savings yielded by turning down the thermostat are slightly offset by the cost of running/maintaining the humidifier). Dry air makes you feel colder than humidified air. If you have the temperature at 69 degrees Fahrenheit at 35% relative humidity, it feels just as warm as 72 degrees Fahrenheit at 19% relative humidity. You have the ability to turn your thermostat from 72 to 69, but you still feel just as warm. So ultimately, that calculates into energy savings.

Types:

There are two basic types of humidifiers on the market today: console/room (meant to humidify a single room) and whole-house units (humidify the entire house). Of the two, a whole-house humidifier is the best option if you are able to install one to your existing forced air central heating system (ServiceLive can help with the install).  Console, or single room, humidifiers are available for those that do not have the option of going with a whole-house unit (these are best placed in bedrooms if you cannot afford to purchase one for every room).

Whole-house humidifiers are the most recommended for many reasons. The first being lower maintenance. Because of lower water requirements, a whole house humidifier can generally run for eight to twelve weeks depending on the hardness of your water before needing a thorough cleaning and filter replacement. Console/room humidifiers, on the other hand, need to be refilled daily and may need to be cleaned out weekly during the season to remove any mold and bacteria build up.

While many console/room humidifiers are sold stating they are full house, few live up to that expectation. The general rule of thumb is to look at the manufacturer’s statement of square footage served and cut that in half. This is another reason the whole-house humidifiers are a better bargain. Since they are attached to the existing heating system, they do indeed circulate moisture through the entire house using the existing furnace ductwork. Console/room humidifiers use a small fan to disperse the water into the air.

Tags: Energy, Health, home improvement, Humidifiers

A Homeowners Testimonial

Posted by Frank under Homeowner

Recently, I needed a new kitchen garbage disposal installed and decided to give ServiceLive a try. I registered and submitted my project and within a couple hours, I received a response from a service provider with a counterproposal, which I subsequently accepted. The service provider called me the next morning to schedule a date and time for the service call, and he was willing to come early in the morning to accommodate my work schedule.

He and his associate arrived as scheduled and were very professional, courteous and careful to keep the area clean. The disposal was replaced in no time and works perfectly. They also took time to answer all of my questions which I greatly appreciated.

Although I was very pleased with the overall experience, I had some difficulty navigating through the ServiceLive website. I was told that these issues are being resolved and the site will add changes to improve usability and performance.

ServiceLive is convenient, as you can request services in the comfort of your home over the internet. ServiceLive is a perfect tool for homeowners who need repairs or new installations.

Highly recommended…

Tags: garbage disposal, home improvement, Installation, servicelive, services

Do it Yourself or Bust?

Posted by Frank under Homeowner

We all, at one time or another have tried to save money by doing something we are not experienced at. I am all for saving money but, at what cost? What if you discovered a leak under your bathroom sink? You might think it was an easy fix. So, you head out to your local home improvement store to speak with a plumbing professional about the (leaking) issue. From the advice of the Plumbing expert you purchase Teflon tape which sounds like an easy solution to my leak.

You get home and start your repair by applying the Teflon tape around the threads of your pipe which should seal the leak. You turn on the water to test the seal, and all seems to be good to go. Not so fast!

Your wife calls you at work three days later to tell you that the bathroom floor is now covered in water which is also dripping through the ceiling in the theater room. Panic begins to set in. You race home to discover that the problem has now escalated into several major repairs i.e. plumbing, flooring, ceiling, etc.

You’re upset and kind of lost, but you explain carefully to your wife that you were trying to save money. She replies by “Doing it Yourself”, now it will cost us more money. She than asks the most important question, what are you going to do now? You explain that we need to hire a licensed plumber to fix our leak.

One word could have avoided this and that is hiring a “Professional”. Even though you think you have the materials needed to fix the problem. You still may lack the knowledge to diagnose the problem correctly.

You can find a professional service provider with just a few keystrokes online at ServiceLive.com!

Tags: home improvement, Home Repair, leaks, plumbing, servicelive