Humidity and temperature control are crucial to enjoyment of life in our homes. Have you thought of purchasing humidifiers or easy to use thermostats? If not, your habitat needs work.
My youngest daughter is taking 5th grade science this year and one of the things it is focused on is the word Habitat. A habitat is, according to dictionary.com, “the natural environment of an organism; place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism”.
Is your home an environment for the life and growth of your family?
Or are you often uncomfortable? Do you or family members have seasonal allergies, get frequent colds, complain of being hot and then of being cold? Perhaps your habitat isn’t as friendly to your health as you would like to think it is.
Have you been to the Columbus Zoo recently? One of the things they have there is a Polar Bear exhibit. If you haven’t experienced it, you should as soon as possible as the polar bears are absolutely adorable. But how do zoos create polar bear habitats? Polar bears are designed to live in very cold climates.
According to Polar Bear International, polar bears live in the High Arctic, where the sun sets in October and doesn’t rise again until late February. Winter temperatures can plunge to -40° or -46 C (-50 F) and stay that way for days or weeks. Bears don’t need hats and gloves as they are insulated with two layers of fur and a thick layer of body fat. This provides enough insulation that their body temperature and metabolic rate doesn’t change, even when temperatures reach -37 C (-34 F).
How would you create a habitat where they can still thrive in Ohio summers where the temperatures can go over 100 degrees? Lennox heating and cooling found out.
If humans can create an environment where polar bears are happy to live and grow, surely humans can create a habitat for humans themselves to live and grow. The first question is:
What is the Human Habitat?
According to AET, Accredited Environmental Technology, most indoor spaces try to create an environment where the temperatures are 68-76oF in the winter and 73-79oF in the summer. As for humidity, the recommendation is 30-50% in the winter and 40-65% in the summer. The huge majority of office worker’s complaints have to do with temperature and humidity. In fact, an office space being too cold is the number one most common work environment complaint.
Is your home, your office, your school the proper environment for thriving and growing? Do you find your family and coworkers constantly fighting about what comfortable means?
I don’t have a solution to all your fights, but there are ways to make it better and to make a greater percentage of family or staff happy.
Humidifiers and Thermostats to the Rescue
5 Heating and Cooling Solutions to try
- Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers– A whole-house humidifier adds moisture to air when it’s too dry to below 35% humidity and a dehumidifier takes moisture out of air when it’s too humid or above 50% humidity. Proper humidity will make you feel more comfortable. In addition to that, keeping your humidity as close to 50% as possible year round can improve your respiratory health issues, help your wood floors and furniture stay in good condition, keep your skin and lips from drying out, improve sleep and many, many other benefits. You can buy a hygrometer for not too much money and see what humidity you currently have. This will help you know what you to purchase to help fix the issue.
- Programmable or wifi thermostat– When you let your home or office go cold at night, it take quite a while for the furnishing and walls and floors to get warm once the thermostat kicks on. If you are waiting until everyone has showed up to work or gotten up, then they will be uncomfortable while the process happens. A better plan is to program a thermostat to begin warming up the space before anyone is fully using it. A wifi thermostat is helpful because you can program it, but you also can change it on the fly from your phone when schedules change.
- Insulation– No matter how state of the art your HVAC system is, you’ll be cold if there isn’t enough insulation. Walls, floors, roofs should all be well insulated. Without the proper insulation the outside temperature will be influencing your indoor air quality way more than you are comfortable with.
- Zoning– If you have hot and cold rooms that you can’t seem to even out, zoning might be the solution you are looking for. Zoning uses dampers to make conditioned air go to the areas that need it most.
- Cracks, holes, and windows– If you live in an older home you may have the air from outside creeping in from single pane windows, cracks under doors, and old ductwork that is now leaking. If this is your situation, find these simple issues first and take care of them before thinking about replacing your furnace and air conditioning or trying one of the above solutions.
My Human Habitat: Humidifiers and Thermostats
What do I need to thrive and grow? I like it to be about 70o F and 50% humidity. It’s also important that there be cupcakes and my iPhone. And yes, I mean at both my home and the office. I may not be a polar bear who likes Alaska and fish, but I do have habitat needs.
Since the Columbus Zoo isn’t interested in creating a special spot for me and my family (I think they know that we really shouldn’t be on display) I have a whole house humidifier and a wifi thermostat. I also have two wonderful gas fireplaces and central air conditioning. Thank you, Dave White’s, for helping me create my perfect human habitat. And maybe a little shout out to Fluff Bakery in Athens, Ohio and Happy Goat (I have a gluten free daughter) in Lancaster too.
Define yours and if you need help creating it we can help.
Whether you’re looking to improve your home habitat with humidifiers or zoning or for heating and cooling service that will keep your HVAC systems running great and keep you and your family comfortable for years to come or you’re ready to upgrade to a new furnace or air conditioner altogether, our expert and courteous team members are there to get the job done right for you the first time. Explore our products or give us a call at 1-800-247-6180 to arrange an appointment today.
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