Chicago Winter Air Is Drier Than You Think. Here Is What It Costs You.

Cold air holds very little moisture. Heat that air up to a comfortable indoor temperature and the relative humidity falls through the floor. In a Chicago home in January, indoor humidity routinely sits below 20 percent, which is drier than a lot of deserts.

Most people notice the symptoms without connecting them to the cause.

What dry air actually does

• Dry sinuses, scratchy throat and cracked lips that persist all winter and clear up in spring.

• Static shocks every time you cross a carpeted room.

• Cracked window and door trim, because wood gives up moisture and shrinks.

• Hardwood floors that separate at the seams. This is the expensive one, and it is cumulative across winters.

The floors are worth dwelling on. Hardwood is hygroscopic, meaning it takes on and gives up moisture with the air around it. Run a house at 15 percent humidity for several winters and the boards shrink, gaps open at the seams, and no amount of refinishing puts that back.

Why a portable unit does not solve it

A tabletop humidifier treats one room, needs refilling constantly, and is a maintenance chore that most people abandon by February. It also does nothing for the trim and flooring in the rest of the house.

A whole-home humidifier ties directly into your ductwork and treats the air the furnace is already moving. It holds the entire house at a comfortable 35 to 45 percent, and it draws its own water, so there is nothing to refill.

The part people do not expect

Properly humidified air feels warmer at the same temperature. Dry air pulls moisture off your skin, and that evaporation makes you feel cooler than the thermostat says.

Which means most homeowners find they can run the thermostat a degree or two lower and feel exactly as comfortable. Over a six-month heating season, that adds up.

We install Aprilaire whole-home humidifiers, and one is included free with every new HVAC installation from CCC Mechanical, professionally installed and set up. Offers apply to new installations and cannot be combined with other promotions. Call 630-827-9024.