For A Comfortable, Healthy Home, You Need GENERALAire.

Air quality is only a CONCERN outdoors, isn't it?

Not true! Since most people spend as much as 90% of their time at home indoors, the air inside your home can be even more of a concern to your health and comfort. In winter, the relative humidity in the average house can drop to as little as 5%. Compare that to the average 25% relative humidity of the Sahara Desert and you can see why the air inside your home can seriously affect your health and comfort.

What is "RELATIVE HUMIDITY" anyway?

Relative humidity is the actual amount of moisture in the air expressed as a percentage of the amount of moisture the air is capable of holding. if the relative Humidity of the air inside your home is 5%, the air can hold 20 times more moisture than completely saturated with moisture. Air will continue to add moisture (humidity) until it reaches it saturation point. Temperature affects relative humidity too. Warm air can hold more moisture than Cold air. In the winter, when 30º outdoor air with relative humidity of 50% enters your home and is heated to 70º, its relative humidity plunges to just 12% without supplemental moisture, your home quickly becomes "bone dry."

How does humidity AFFECT my comfort?

Warm air in your home will absorb water whenever it's found. It steals moisture from the bodies of you and your children, your pets, your furniture and even your houseplants. By giving up moisture to the air, your skin, throat and nasal passages dry out and crack, leading to various physical discomforts. That's why many doctors recommend Humidifiers for allergy and asthma sufferers. Relative humidity in the range of 30%-60% is ideal. Outside this range, bacteria, fungi, viruses and mites thrive and multiply. As these creatures increase in number, so dose your risk for being adversely affected.

How dose humidity affect my house?

Everything in your home made from wood contains some moisture. Dry air sucks that moisture out, causing the wood to shrink and crack. Hardwood floors separate at the seams, furniture loosens and cracks, and door warp. Pianos and other wooden musical instruments also shrink from the loss of moisture and go out of tune. Maintaining proper humidity levels helps eliminate frequent and costly re-tuning. Perhaps the most annoying effect of dry indoor air is static shock. As you shuffle across a carpet or slide off upholstered furniture, a static charge builds up in your body and results in that sudden, uncomfortable "zap" of static electricity you feel when you touch a piece of metal or other conductor.

Are there any other BENEFITS to properly conditioned air?

Yes, it helps you save energy! Warm, humid summer air feel hotter than it actually is because of the moisture it contains. That same principle applies to your home in the winter. By keeping the relative humidity inside your home at an ideal level, you can turn your thermostat down a few degrees and still feel comfortable. Dialing down your thermostat just three degrees can reduce your heating bill by as much as %5!

How does a HUMIDIFER work?

All humidifiers for central forced warm air heating systems work on the same principle - as air is heated it absorbs additional moisture from an evaporative media placed in it path. What sets a GeneralAire humidifier apart is it's efficiency and economy of operation in using this basic principle to add comfort to your home. Forced warm air heating systems divert a portion of the heated air through a water-soaked media pad in the humidifier cabinet. It then absorbs additional moisture before returning to the heating system for distribution throughout your home. GeneralAire flow-through humidifiers use a patented water trough design that assures uniform dispersion of the water across the media pad for maximum evaporative efficiency. Any unevaporated water, drains from the bottom of the unit so there is less mineral buildup. Reservoir or drum type humidifiers use a water laden polyurethane evaporator drum sleeve to provide added moisture. The sleeve picks up moisture as it slowly rotates in a reservoir of water. An automatic float valve controls the water level in the reservoir.

How Much HUMIDITY does my home need?

That depends on its size and construction. The more frequently the warm air in your home is replaced by colder, drier outside air, the greater the need for humidification. The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, a nonprofit trade association, developed and published the guidelines used by most contractors today. The guidelines classify home construction as"tight," "average" or "loose."

• Tight homes have insulated walls and ceilings, vapor barriers and weather stripping around windows and doors. Windows and doors fit snugly and the fireplace has an effective damper. A tight home experiences about 1/2 air change per hour.
  
• Average homes have insulated walls and ceilings and vapor barriers and a fireplace damper but loose storm doors and windows. Average homes experience one air change per hour.
  
• Loose homes have little insulation, no vapor barriers, no weather stripping and no storm doors or windows. These homes typically experience two air changes per hour.