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Fall 2011

Humidify For Your Health

Winter is approaching, and that means dry air. Aside from causing itchy, dry skin and chapped lips, air that is too dry presents other health concerns. Keeping the air in your home moist with a humidifier can counteract these effects and help keep your family healthy. The result is an effective, low cost contribution to your family’s health and comfort.

Benefits of Humidification

Keeping the air in your home at a properly humidity level provides several health benefits, such as:

• Increased energy levels. Your body has more trouble transferring oxygen to the blood from dry air, which can make you feel tired or fatigued. Humidification helps the oxygenation process.
• Reduced chance of infections. By keeping mucus membranes moist, humid air reduces your body’s susceptibility to cold, flu and other infections.
• Relief of cold and sinus symptoms, as well as shorter recovery time from these ailments.
• Reduction of asthma symptoms.
• Facilitates sleep, especially for infants and young children.
• Helps prevent nosebleeds.
• Reduces levels of airborne dust and allergens.

In addition to all these potential health benefits, moist air can also extend the life of wooden floors and furniture, as well as reducing static electricity.

Please note that while humidifiers have health benefits, they are not meant to cure, treat or diagnose any illness or ailment. Humidifiers can help keep you from getting sick, and help relieve symptoms, but you should still seek professional treatment from a doctor if you or anyone in your family is feeling ill.

Finally, keep in mind that humidifiers are not without risk. Air that is too humid can create water damage, and the hot steam from a humidifier can cause injury.

Humidifying the Whole House

Much like air conditioners, humidifiers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can get a small model for a single room, such as a nursery or bedroom. You can also get a humidification system which covers your entire home.

A whole house humidification system is incorporated into your HVAC system to deliver moist air throughout your home in winter or any other dry times. These systems can be particularly helpful if you live in the desert or any area with a dry climate.

Whole house humidification requires professional installation, so consult with a licensed contractor in your area. He can help you choose the right model for your needs, which will help keep your family safe and comfortable year round.

5 Tips for Dealing with Messy Autumn Leaves

Fall is a beautiful time of year, as the leaves change color, creating a kaleidoscope in your backyard. That is, until it comes time to clean all those leaves up. Then you have a mess on your hands.

Try some of these tips to get those leaves off your grass more easily:

1. Rake Leaves as they Fall - This requires raking a few leaves very often, rather than doing it one or two times and gathering a ton of leaves. The advantage of raking leaves as they fall to the ground is that the work is spread out over the fall, rather than you busting your back on that one day when you decide to round up every last leaf. Plus, this gets them up before the rain falls, and dry leaves are much easier to work with.
2. Mow Them - Scientifically speaking, the reason we rake the leaves off our lawn is so the grass can breathe and be ready to grow again in the spring. If the leaves are left on the grass, they form a thick, smothering blanket which can kill the grass. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you must rake them up. If you just set your mower blade low enough to shred the leaves, and mow the lawn as usual, the mowed leaves will break down naturally.
3. Blow Them Away – Or suck them up! Leaf blowers and vacuums are powerful ways to get rid of leaves. If you don’t have a big mess to contend with, you can just use a shop vac, rather than purchase a new piece of equipment. Be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions for the best way to use a leaf blower or vacuum.
4. Mulch Them - By turning some of those leaves into mulch, you can turn them from potential lawn killers into powerful lawn nutrients! Use a mulcher or do it yourself with a mulch bin.
5. Make Compost - You can also add the leaves to your compost bin for another environmental benefit. This can be tricky, though, so make sure you know how to compost leaves before starting.

Hopefully, one of these ideas will work for you. Remember that the important thing is to get those leaves off your lawn so they don’t suffocate your grass and turn your front yard into a wasteland. Take care of them now so you don’t have to seed all over again in the spring.

Happy raking!