Maintaining the right level of humidity for your commercial operation is crucial. Too much moisture can lead to damaging mold and mildew, or in the case of your workforce, uncomfortably warm, sticky conditions. But humidity that’s too low also has its disadvantages. Depending on your industry, it can even result in damage to equipment, loss of a commercial crop or other disasters.
You’re probably aware of the right relative humidity for your commercial operation to be successful. But it never hurts to reprise the many benefits of correct, year-round humidity control.
Comfort Level
Maintaining a comfortable level of humidity for your workforce is important for productivity. When temperatures edge upward, moisture-laden air keeps the sweat from our skin from evaporating and cooling us off. We feel sluggish, and the level of activity diminishes. In the winter, however, low humidity can also make us feel uncomfortable, as it dries out our skin, throats and nasal passages.
Improved Efficiency
When humidity is too high during the summer, we’re likely to want to lower the thermostat to feel comfortable; in the winter, we feel chillier when the air is dry since cooler air holds less moisture. Increasing the relative humidity can make people feel warmer in the winter, so you don’t need to boost the heating. That also means the HVAC system doesn’t have to work as hard to achieve temperature set points, so you’re saving on wear and tear.
Reduced Sickness
It’s a fact: the flu bug is more easily transmitted from human to human under cool, dry conditions. When the air is more humid, the flu virus has a harder time surviving. You can actually reduce the incidence of sickness in your establishment by maintaining higher humidity in the winter when the flu virus is of greater concern.
Reduced Static Electricity
Depending on your industry, you may need to reduce static electricity to a minimum. As you’re likely aware, colder, drier air tends to result in increased static. In a factory setting, where you’re running electronic equipment and machinery, static can contribute to electrical shorts that may be hazardous to humans and equipment. Maintaining a higher level of humidity can actually reduce static shocks. Reducing static is also important in clean rooms, laboratories and chemical manufacturing facilities.
Dust Reduction
Dust can clog equipment and causes breathing problems for your workforce. With the right kind of humidifier, you can reduce particles of small dust and other airborne particulates. For instance, Smart Fog’s de-correlation technology produces smaller size droplets that attract dust, as well as bacteria, mold spores and viruses, which are then oxidized so that they never hit the ground. This technology can also be applied for disinfecting and sanitizing duct systems with a water-dissolving chemical.
Dust reduction is useful in a number of industries, including wood shops where it helps to boost the dust reduction abilities provided by vacuums and filtration.
Prevention of Drying
Many types of supplies and goods require higher humidity so they don’t dry out and become brittle and break. For instance, furniture, cabinets and other wooden goods should be manufactured and stored in facilities where higher relative humidity is maintained to prevent splitting. Even some cardboard products may require slightly higher levels of humidity to keep from becoming brittle.
Obviously, humidity control (and keeping the air moist) is key in the food industry, to preserve product freshness until the food gets to the market.
Reduced Fire Hazards
Humidity control can help reduce the risk of fires, particularly in industries where piles of flammable dust are produced, as in a wood shop or other manufacturing facilities. Dry sawdust is prone to bursting into flames or exploding; adding moisture to the piles of dust by increasing relative humidity slows down the “flash” process that can happen when a spark ignites the piles.
Summary
If you haven’t taken steps to bring humidity control into your operation, it may be time. To learn more about the benefits of humidity control in general and about Smart Fog humidifiers in particular, why not contact us today? We’ve got the perfect solution for your business.
