Is it dry in your house? (apartment, heat pump, rated)

[AZgarden]

I don't even have the heat on yet, but already I feel like I am needing more moisture in my house and its only going to get worse. The cat "sparkles" sometimes and I have dry nose problems at night. What do you all do to get more humidity in your house in winter?

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

I don't even have the heat on yet

People use heat down here? Last couple years we have not turned our heat on other than to make sure it works. Our house is always around 74 degrees with no heat and many times we have to open the windows to cool it down in the evening before bed.

Do most people run their heater during the winter?

To answer your question, my wife runs a couple humidifiers whenever it gets very dry out.

[ReadyFreddy]

I run my heater. I like the house around 80 year round, though I shoot for 76-82 during high-rate times, if the temps are extreme. I've had a space heater running under my desk for a few days, but haven't turned on the central heat yet.

I do have a nice humidifier for my daughter's room but it's a pain to fill the tank nightly. I wish it was on an auto-fill, like the pool.

[AZJ0SH]

I have two humidifiers running most of the day, I keep a lot of reptiles and they required at least 40-50% humidity, and it's almost impossible to keep that without a humidifier in the house.

I don't run my heater at all during the winter, unless it gets down to below 60 in my apartment which is rare. The heat seems to dry my place out even more.

[Ponderosa]

I run my heater. It's all on setback cycles so it warms up when I get up. After that I don't care and it turns down to 60 or something. As for humidity - no thanks! I will never like it. Even in winter a little bit just makes me feel sticky and dirty.

[Finger Laker]

definitely run the heat in the winter ...... not super uncommon for my house to dip in the 60s and I don't like it much cooler than 70-72 inside

we also run humidifiers - one in each of our kids bedrooms and one in our bedroom as well ...... helps a lot with sinus issues, skin, etc

[CheyDee]

I keep my house at 70 deg. year round, whether that calls for air conditioning or heat, so heat usually will kick on from time to time during the winter. (It hasn't yet.)

I run a "whole house" humidifier, which doesn't really do the entire house, plus an additional humidifier in both the master bedroom & den. I have each of them set to maintain 35% humidity, which I find very comfortable.

[AZgarden]

Originally Posted by CheyDee

I keep my house at 70 deg. year round, whether that calls for air conditioning or heat, so heat usually will kick on from time to time during the winter. (It hasn't yet.)

I run a "whole house" humidifier, which doesn't really do the entire house, plus an additional humidifier in both the master bedroom & den. I have each of them set to maintain 35% humidity, which I find very comfortable.

Could you tell me what's a whole house humidifier? Does it hook into the heat pump someway? I am tired of filling those little vaporizers all the time, and would like to find something else to get humidity into the house. It would help me, as well as the wood furniture.

[S. Chris Webb]

Last year we turned on the heat maybe 3 times, and twice it was because we had elderly house guests. Newer homes often need the heater less as they are usually constructed more efficiently than older homes that don't have the highly insulated windows, and may have deteriorated insulation. Doesn't matter if your home is old or new, though - when it's cold and dry outside it is going to be dry inside! Bring on the skin lotion.

[HX_Guy]

We've been using the heat already...set it at 75 overnight and it's comfortable. Without it the house gets below 70 in the early morning (since it's in the high 40s outside).