Here we all try to lead a healthy lifestyle in order to get sick less and live longer, but there are things that affect health, but which we often forget about. One of those things is indoor humidity. Usually in summer it is the same as on fresh air, but in winter, when we are already prone to colds, this very humidity leaves much to be desired due to the included heating.
Heaters dry out the air a lot. We get used to it and often do not pay attention, but in vain. It turns out that too dry air not only weakens the immune system, but can also cause many troubles.
What is dangerous dry air in the apartment
1. The worst thing that can threaten us is bronchial asthma. The mucosa dries, microbes fly freely, enter the body when inhaled, settle on the mucosa and begin to multiply rapidly in heat.
2. Allergy. In dry air, dust microparticles easily rise up, even if we cannot see it. And in the house dust, stormy life boils ... and death. There are a lot of harmful microorganisms, and dried mud, and particles of our dead hair and skin, and the corpses of dust mites.
3. Skin itching. The skin dries up and begins to peel off, which is not only unpleasant, but also leads to premature aging. Even worse, dry skin loses its protective functions, microbes get on weakened skin and can cause a variety of skin diseases.
4. Deterioration of vision. The mucous membranes of our eyes must be constantly moistened. With a lack of moisture in combination with microbes in the air, conjunctivitis can begin, which can lead to impaired vision.
5. Frequent colds. They swallowed the dust, warmed the microbes at the heart, left the dry warm room in damp cold weather, grabbed some other quick virus with their noses, and that's it! Here you have both, and bronchitis with a runny nose.
It is important to know: normal humidity in the apartment should be at least 60%.
Dry air in the apartment, what to do?
We found that the impact of dry air on human health is negative. But what to do? The easiest way is to place a bowl of water under the radiators. If the radiators are too low, you can cover them with a damp towel. But here it is important not to forget to moisten them periodically.
It is also good if there is an aquarium in the room. You just need to remember that if it is closed from above, there is little sense from it. Decorative fountains will also help to cope with dry air.
And of course best option- humidifier.
What else needs to be remembered. If you turn on the air conditioner, you can create a feeling of freshness. But this is not due to moisture, but due to a decrease in temperature. In fact, the air conditioner dries the air even more.
The most acutethe problem of dry air becomes in winter. The windows in the apartments are tightly closed, heating system working at full capacity. Thus, the air in the room is literally fried. But why is the lack of humidity in the air so harmful to a person, and is it only for him?
70% of our body is water. Therefore, in order to maintain a normal life, a person needs favorable conditions. And this means 40-60% humidity in the air.
“If the humidity is less, then this is poor health and dust, and if it is more, dampness and various fungi,” says Alexei Bulychev, Deputy Director Trading house "Thermotechnika". — usually in winter time indoor air humidity is about 22%. This is even lower than in the Sahara desert, where the humidity is 25%. By the way, the unfavorable microclimate in the house contributes to frequent airing rooms. Even if the humidity both outside and in the house is normal, the air that gets inside will only “dry out” the room.
Why is this happening? Because relative humidity is tied to a specific temperature. If the relative humidity is 90% outside at -20 degrees, this is in any case less than 50% humidity at +20 degrees. Indeed, in such a case, in one cubic meter air on the street will contain only 1 gram of water, and at home 9. Street air, mixed with what was in the apartment, will lower its relative humidity.
Health
If the airindoors is dry, then the “transportation” of oxygen into the circulatory system is difficult. As a result, a person constantly feels drowsiness and increased fatigue, while often not understanding where the poor health came from. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Have you noticed that sometimes, waking up in the morning, you are surprised by a runny nose from nowhere? It's simple: if a person breathes dry air for a long time, his susceptibility to various infections increases. Due to dry air, the nasal mucosa and bronchial tubes cannot self-cleanse as efficiently as with air of normal humidity. As a result, the body encounters infections and various respiratory diseases with almost a “welcome” wish. This is especially true of the smallest, whose immunity is weaker than that of adults. After all, it is not for nothing that even in the room of newborns it is recommended to hang wet linen to make the air more humid.
— Dry air is also bad for skin health. When you stay in such a room for a long time, the skin becomes like rubber. The reason is that due to the lack of moisture, evaporation from the skin is accelerated. Therefore, it quickly becomes rough and dry,” explains Alexei Bulychev.
House
Dry air is bad not only for man, but also for his home. He is able to spoil parquet, wooden furniture, doors and much more from what should create comfort in the house. When the air lacks moisture, it "sucks" it from the surrounding objects.
— In winter wooden doors dry out, and cracks often appear on the material. And in the spring, on the contrary, they swell. If the level of humidity in the room is constantly maintained, such problems will not arise, - says Aleksey Bulychev.
Insufficient hydration air can harm not only furniture, but also flowers. In such conditions, they turn yellow faster. After all, the main part indoor plants adapted to the conditions of native subtropics and tropics. And the humidity in those parts reaches 90%.
And finally dry air indoors - the main carrier of dust. Working in conjunction with hot heaters in the house, it scatters small particles throughout the house. As a result, not only more often there is a need to do wet cleaning, but also exacerbate various diseases such as asthma and allergies.
Humidifiers
Raise the humidity level indoor air can different ways. Some of them were used by our mothers and grandmothers. Put a glass of water on the battery, hang wet linen in the room, place a basin of water under the heater. These methods may work, but the effect will not be permanent.
Besides, we live in the XXI century, and today many ways have been invented that allow you to make the microclimate in the house the most favorable and constantly maintain it.For example, household humidifiers. They are divided into several types.
Traditional Humidifiers
They are also called cold humidifiers. Such devices humidify the air in a natural way. First, water is poured into a special tank, which then enters the evaporation elements. At the same time, dry air is sucked in from the room by the fan, which is passed under pressure through the evaporative elements. Thus, moisture enters the air.
Steam humidifiers
According to the principle of work steam humidifiers remind Electric kettle. The water in the appliance heats up to the boiling point and begins to evaporate. At the same time, the air is effectively humidified. However, these humidifiers have one feature. — they must be placed at a safe distance from people. Otherwise, you may get burned.
Ultrasonic Humidifiers
This humidifier with ultrasonic vibrations breaks water into tiny droplets. With the help of a fan, air is sucked into the device and under pressure is passed through this mist. Humidified air is thrown back into the room in the form of fog. At the same time, the temperature of water and air remains unchanged.
All these devices are quite effective. But of course they cost money.
But there is also a cheaper one. Alternative option, which can be used both as an additional and as the main source of air humidification.
Alexey Bulychev shared his own experience of using inexpensive air humidifiers:
— Previously, we only had houses ultrasonic humidifiers. When the appliances were running, the humidity level in the room was 35%. This is more than usual, but still not enough. But one day I noticed the classic humidifiers that our company began to sell. These are simple cassettes that are mounted on batteries using special fasteners. And if there is water in them, they evaporate it, saturating the air with moisture particles. When I got an additional humidifier at home, the problem of dry air was finally solved. In one day, the hygrometer began to show 45% humidity.
I understandthat it is not necessary to buy expensive appliances to make the microclimate of your home more comfortable. Even these compact cassettes can work great if you choose the right amount of humidifier for the amount of square meters in home. These are worth simple devices from 250 rubles depending on the volume.
Feeling the efficiency classic humidifiers, Alexey decided to take care of the favorable microclimate in educational institutions their children:
— I bought 4 household humidifiers for kindergarten which my children attend. They used to come home sluggish after class. And now, on the contrary, they are full of strength. They even hurt less. And, accordingly, less money was spent on medicines. I myself feel that my health has improved: you get out of bed refreshed, there is no drowsiness during the day and no fatigue in the evening.
Creating a favorable microclimate in the house , people always begin to feel the difference between what was and what has become. So, for example, some of them even disappear allergies, which tormented for years. Indeed, sometimes you can bring to life only little change to make it much easier and more enjoyable.
A common problem: dry indoor air, which is slowly but surely affecting everyone in the household. How is it harmful and what are the consequences of exposure to dry air? How can this be fixed? Read our article!
Dry air in the apartment is harmful to everyone, regardless of age. A dry microclimate is one that has less than 40% humidity. Its harmful effects extend to the skin and breathing, as well as the general well-being and activity of a person. It's simple: if the body does not receive enough moisture from the atmosphere, then it gives it away itself, depleting its own water balance.
Signs of dry indoor air
You can determine the low humidity of the air by the following steps:
- a person often coughs, feels dry mouth, especially during sleep.
- possible sore throat, dry lips (up to the point that they begin to crack and bleed), nasal congestion - occurs due to the fact that the mucous membranes are overdried.
- the skin on the face, hands flakes off, loses elasticity, becomes dry, cracks and burrs appear on the hands.
- the foliage of indoor plants dries up at the edges.
- electrified hair.
In addition, in a dry microclimate, a person often experiences fatigue, yawns more often, rubs his eyes, he is simply uncomfortable. Over time, this leads to a decrease in immunity, loss of concentration and attention. The dry microclimate in the house is especially dangerous for the elderly, young children and the sick.
What is harmful dry air in the apartment
- Eye damage. Especially if the person wears contact lenses. The eyes become irritated, red, their fatigue increases, a feeling of constantly “dusty” cornea is created. With prolonged exposure, "dry eye syndrome" can develop and vision deteriorates significantly. If you do not humidify the air, then the eyes will suffer constantly.
- Harm to the respiratory system. If the air in the room is dry, then the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx dries up, it becomes more difficult to breathe, chronic runny nose, nosebleeds may occur. Immunity deteriorates day by day, the body picks up respiratory diseases more easily and viral infections are likely to develop asthma and different types allergies.
- Skin damage. It is the skin that becomes the indicator that quickly reacts to dry air. It begins to peel off, an unpleasant feeling of tightness appears, small cracks appear in the corners of the mouth, spots and redness, the skin ages faster and loses its elasticity.
What to do if the air is dry at home
Theoretically, the answer is this - you need to saturate the air with moisture vapor. This can be done using "old-fashioned" methods or special devices that help to always maintain a comfortable microclimate in the house.
If we talk about improvised methods, then these are basins of water near the batteries or wet towels / sheets on them. This allows you to slightly humidify the air in the house, but for a person there is additional work.
Another option is a boiling kettle or pot of boiling water. Helps to humidify the air in the kitchen, but not suitable for a nursery or bedroom. On the short term You can get rid of dryness by carrying out wet cleaning, often wiping floors and furniture surfaces. But this is also a rather laborious process.
Humidify the air and indoor plants, such as broad-leaved diefenbachia, monstera, citrus fruits, hibiscus. It is very useful to additionally spray these plants, thereby moistening the air even more. An aquarium also helps to normalize the microclimate in a single room, but regular and painstaking care is important for it.
The most effective and long-term way is to install a breather house, supply ventilation which controls the humidity of the incoming air. It is the constant air exchange from the street that will provide protection from dryness and a comfortable microclimate at home. You can choose the breather that suits you on our website.
In winter, the humidity level in the apartment drops to 15-20%. And that's bad. Why?
Firstly, because dehydrated air dries out the skin and mucous membranes, contributes to a decrease in immunity and the development of diseases such as sinusitis and sinusitis. By the way, young children are especially sensitive to its effects.
The second reason - insufficient humidity harms plants, books, wooden furniture and musical instruments.
The optimal level of humidity in the apartment is about 40-60%.
You can measure the humidity of the air using a special device - a hygrometer. If you don't have it, use the following method. Fill up a glass cold water and leave it in until the temperature of the liquid drops to 3-5 ° C. Then take out the glass and place it in the room away from the batteries. Observe the surface of the glass for five minutes. Evaluate the result like this:
- If the walls of the glass are foggy at first, and dry after five minutes, the air in the room is dry.
- If the glass remains foggy after five minutes, the humidity is medium.
- If streams of water appear on the glass, the humidity is increased.
Is the air dry? Then use one of the following tricks to restore normal moisture levels.
1. Use the bathroom
Probably one of the most simple ways. Leave the door to your room open every time you take a shower or bath. Evaporation will penetrate into the apartment and humidify the air.
You can also not immediately drain the water from the bath, but let it cool first: this will increase the amount of steam.
2. Dry things in the room
Another way that does not require any effort from you. Just put the dryer with the washed things next to the radiator: the clothes will dry faster and the air will be saturated with moisture.
The main thing is that there are no cleaning products left on things. Otherwise you will breathe chemistry.
A similar way to humidify the air is to hang wet towels on a radiator. You can extend the life of this humidifier with a bottle of water.
Freee.ru
How to build such a structure is described in detail.
3. Boil
All you need is a stove and a pot or kettle.
- Option 1. Bring water in a saucepan to a boil and put it on a table or window sill so that the steam humidifies the apartment.
- Option 2. Boil the kettle and leave it on low heat for longer evaporation. This technique can be used when you are cooking (often the air is dry at this time).
You can also add a few drops of tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil to the water. Their aroma is soothing, and the vapors kill germs and reduce the risk of colds and flu. In addition, cinnamon sticks, herbs or other spices can be thrown into the water to make the air fragrant.
4. Arrange water containers around the apartment
You can do without boiling. Simply fill vases, bottles and other containers with water and place them near heat sources. If you add stones and flowers, you get a beautiful composition - guests, most likely, will not even guess that these are not decorative elements, but homemade humidifiers. Just do not forget to periodically wash the containers and change the water.
5. Get houseplants
Home flowers not only humidify the air, but also ionize it. Some are also excellent and disinfect.
The following plants give especially a lot of moisture:
- nephrolepis (house fern);
- fatsia;
- cyperus;
- sparmania (room linden);
- ficus;
- dracaena;
- hibiscus.
6. Set up an aquarium or fountain
Both of these decorative element also humidify the air. Of course, buying them specifically for this purpose is irrational. But if you want to get fish or decorate your house with a small fountain, you should not forget about this additional property.
7. Ventilate and do wet cleaning
Even in winter, it is not superfluous to ventilate the apartment 2-3 times a day in order to maintain a comfortable level of humidity. Well, you probably know yourself that from time to time you need to wipe the dust and wash the floors.
8. Build an Electric Humidifier
Option for owners crazy hands. This air humidifier cost Lifehacker about 300 rubles. An ultrasonic steam generator can be ordered on AliExpress for 180 rubles, a fan for 50.
Important to remember
High humidity in the apartment (more than 70%) is not better than dry air. It contributes to the appearance and occurrence of allergies. Yes, and it just creates an unpleasant feeling of dampness. So do not overdo it with moisturizing - and the force will be with you!
We spend in our dwellings great amount time, being one hundred percent sure of their safety for our health. However, in some cases, the human body may suffer from seemingly the most common factors, for example, due to the air in the room. The most ordinary air that circulates in our apartments can be a threat to our health. So, if it is particularly dry, this can provoke the development of many pathological conditions. Why is dry air dangerous in an apartment room? Let's talk about this, and also about what the consequences of it for our body can be.
Dry air - the consequences and harm of exposure
Radiators, heaters and intense summer heat dry out the air in our homes by burning oxygen. Such processes can pose a serious threat to our health. Too dry air in the apartment can cause a significant decrease in immunity, since the lack of moisture and oxygen adversely affects the functioning of all cells in our body, they become dehydrated.
In the event that you find yourself in the first manifestations of hypoxia - a lack of oxygen, which can be expressed by frequent headaches, weakness and fatigue, as well as sleep disturbances - do not hesitate and take measures to optimize your condition. After all, prolonged negatively affects the work of all organs and systems, it is harmful to the brain.
According to experts, people rarely get sick from the cold. Usually, diseases develop due to the weakening of the barriers designed to protect the body from the invasion of aggressive particles. On the human mucosa there are many immune cells-defenders that can prevent the penetration of dangerous infectious agents into the body. With dry air in the room, there is a constant drying of the mucous membranes, as a result of which bacteria and viruses cease to die in the nasopharynx and are able to penetrate into the body. In addition, if the humidity in the apartment drops significantly, a lot of tiny particles of dust, pet hair, etc. are concentrated in the air. Therefore, in dry rooms, the likelihood of developing allergic reactions increases by an order of magnitude. And for allergy sufferers, dry air is generally very dangerous.
The lack of moisture and oxygen adversely affects the activity of the entire respiratory system. Too dry indoor air is dangerous for patients with bronchitis, as well as bronchial asthma and other problems of this kind. Due to the narrowing of the bronchi, such people often develop hypoxia even against the background of normal humidity, and dryness leads to especially catastrophic consequences.
The mucous membranes of the eyes also suffer greatly from the lack of moisture in the surrounding air. Their constant drying can provoke the development of inflammatory processes, and then a decrease in visual acuity. Of course, the low level of humidity in the room adversely affects the condition of the skin and hair. The skin dries up, flakes, becomes wrinkled and unkempt, hair often suffers from dandruff and section, and begins to fall out.
Among other things, too dry air in the room harms the dwelling itself. Indeed, in such an environment, the destruction of household items occurs especially quickly. With dry air, active destruction, drying out and deformation of wood begins, as a result of which the furniture may crack. Musical instruments in such conditions they do not keep the system, and the parquet cracks.
Dry indoor air is especially harmful for young children, because before they were born, they were in conditions high humidity. In dry conditions, babies do not sleep well, often get sick and slowly recover. They also often suffer from allergies, drying of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, cracks and peeling on the skin.
How to humidify dry air in the apartment?
If you decide to change the conditions of your life for the better, the first thing to do is organize your space in the house. Get rid of dust collectors - extra carpets, pillows, heavy curtains and things lying around the house. Ventilate your apartment systematically, at least six times a day, and especially before going to bed.
If possible, get special device- humidifier. In addition, a hygrometer will not be superfluous - a device for determining the level of humidity.
In addition, the level of humidity can be increased by carrying out systematic wet cleaning and spraying from a spray bottle. It is strongly recommended to place several indoor plants on the windowsill, however, such pets need systematic watering and spraying.
During heating season to increase the level of humidity in the room, you can wet a few towels and sheets and hang them on the batteries. Periodically, such products need to be moistened.
You can also increase the humidity by installing an aquarium, a decorative water fountain, etc. in the room.
It is also extremely important to supply a sufficient amount of fluid directly to the body by drinking one and a half to two liters of ordinary clean water per day. To moisturize the mucous membrane of the eyes, you should use special drops, like "Clean Tears", and for the nose you can buy sea water in a spray, for example, Aquamaris.
Thus, maintaining the level of humidity in the home at a sufficient level has a positive effect on the health of all family members.
Ekaterina, www.site
P.S. The text uses some forms characteristic of oral speech.