In winter, the simple act of in turning up the thermostat dries out your house.

That's because warm, dry air acts like a giant sponge that soaks up moisture from everything it touches.

The unpleasant results: You expenence dry skin, chapped lips and clogged sinuses. Hardwood floors separate at the seams. Woodwork and furniture shrink, was d crack. The piano goes out of tune. Wallpaper peels at the edges.

Fact is that wintertime relative humidity inside the average home hovers around a bone-dry 15%.

By contrast, the average humidity in the Sahara Desert is 25%!

Fortunately, you can solve the problem by installing a Honeywell whole-house humidifier. Honeywell humidifiers replenish the humidity in the air in a safe, water vapor form (no mist or droplets). They are the right choice for a more comfortable and healthy home.

Dry air aggravates upper respiratory problems. Itchy skin, dry throat coughs and cracked nasal membranes are all consequences of dry air. Cracked nasal membranes are a common cause of bloody noses, and can increase your risk of infection by bacteria and upper respiratory viruses. Many doctors recommend humidifiers to allergy and asthma sufferers as a way to relieve their symptoms.

You feel colder, even with the thermostat turned up. Dry air makes you feel colder than the actual thermostat setting because evaporating moisture on your skin causes a cooling effect. A humidifier can help lower heating bills because humidified air feels warmer. For example, a 69 degree temperature at 35% relative humidity feels just as warm as a 72 degree setting at 19% relative humidity. Setting your thermostat back by three degrees can reduce annual heating bills by as much as 5 percent.