Special Air humidifiers for consumers: a necessity

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CORRECT HUMIDITY

CLIENTS OFTEN DON’T REALISE HOW IMPORTANT AN AIR HUMIDIFIER CAN BE

Hans van Beurden (Venta Benelux - NL)

‘Think beyond purely the wooden floor.’

In the air humidifier market, the originally German company Venta leads the international field, including with its Airwasher, which Venta launched in 1981. In a previous edition Hans van Beurden from Venta Benelux highlighted the importance of using an air humidifier with a wooden parquet floor, but this time he takes an even broader view.

The reason for that lies partly in the revised legislation in the Netherlands at the start of this year. That new law stipulates that all new houses which are built from 1 January 2022 onwards must comply with various new regulations. The new law discourages the use of gas and obliges project managers to install either a heat pump or a heat recovery system, a so called WTW. Let that give air humidifiers extra wind in the sails.

Insufficient humidity

‘By now, the market is aware that there are various types of air humidifiers which ensure that that splendid wooden floor does not crack up in both smaller and bigger rooms. However, there are several other reasons why it is best for you to possess such a device. They include that new legislation, many elements of which will apply to Belgium in the near future,’ Hans van Beurden says.

‘The main thing to remember with those new regulations is that something like that inevitable affects the moisture content of the air indoors. Certainly because there is increasingly better insulation and very little air is sucked in, there is a dry setting, which is not only pernicious for the floor or the wooden furniture, but also is not very pleasant for the occupants. The solution is obvious: Get an air humidifier for your house.’

Health arguments

Hans van Beurden refers in particular to the health aspect for occupants of new or even renovated houses. Everyone might well be occupied with sustainability and less energy consumption, but the immediate effects of that are not exclusively favourable.

‘Obviously, it’s a good thing to think about sustainability, but you also have to consider a number of elements. For those who wonder why they are often confronted with dry eyes, allergies, ticklish airways, and dry skin, I would like to point out that this is simply a result of insufficient humidity. And so, taking action is not only good for the floor and all the wood in the house, but also it simply increases the quality of comfort in the home.’

‘The best advert for such a device is perhaps made by people who have bought one for their house. For instance, I had a friend who had built a new house, which included walls of old teak. After a short time, he heard the wood creak and he saw it almost literally split. Finally, the man contacted Venta, purchased an air humidifier, and the problems disappeared like snow melting before the sun. Moreover, when he came to us three months later, he even said that his wife had felt much more comfortable at home since he purchased this device. I wasn’t surprised at all.’

‘By the way, do you know that an air humidifier is also excellent for improving the air quality itself? For example, if you cook with oil, then the smell will hang around in the air for a long time. If you deploy the help of an Airwasher, you don’t have that problem any more. Or does anyone smoke indoors? If so, you will notice that our devices make excellent air filters.’

We all know that wood is a natural product and a material to be treated with the necessary care and knowledge. One of the elements which are vitally important for a parquet floor is that the humidity is ideal in and around the location of the floor. After all, wood has a porous structure and that means that the floorboards dare to react sensitively to big changes in temperature and humidity.

Obviously, the question is: What is ideal? And when is it best to use an air humidifier? The only way to know how much damp there is in the air is to measure it. You do this with a hygrometer, which records the relative humidity in the room where the floor is fitted. Such a (customary!) hygrometer is easy to use since it has a scale division usually divided into only three sections. The scale indicates whether or not the humidity is between 0 and 55%, between 55 and 65%, or between 65 and 100%.

The humidity is too low

If you note from the reading (note: put the hygrometer in the middle of the room and preferably near to the thermostat) that the pointer stays in the first section of the scale (i.e. between 0 and 55%), it is clear that you need to take action because the humidity is too low. Various things mean that the wood from the floor will cause the damp present in the material to evaporate so that the planks shrink and there is an increasing risk of seams and splits forming. The solution to this is obvious: Use an air humidifier to solve the problem in the short term. One tip here: During the winter, there is a greater chance of the humidity being on the low side and so then, too, it’s a good idea to use an air humidifier to be absolutely sure. What about humidity between 55 and 65%? That is perfect, not only for the wooden floor (and wooden furniture), but also for the occupants’ health. If the temperature fluctuates around 20°C, you have more or less created the ideal conditions. In this case the floor will hardly swell and shrink, if at all, because the material is in surrounds in which it feels comfortable.

The humidity is too high

Obviously, there is also the third possibility of the pointer staying on the scale between 65 and 100%. That means, of course, that the humidity is too high. The consequence of such high humidity is that the wood sucks up the damp air, whereby the planks can start to curl up. You need to deal with such high humidity quickly because there is a real risk of the space between the floor and wall becoming too small. This results in pressure on the floor, which becomes increasingly round. This is true, even if you, as a professional, have played safe and provided at least 8mm of expansion space from the wall. Obviously, in that case you don’t need an air humidifier, but you make sure that there is as much ventilation as possible. Once the damp and warm air are removed, you will soon see a fall in the damp percentage on the next hygrometer reading. A tip here, too: In contrast to when the humidity is too low, here you can use a dehumidifier, and certainly in the summer that can be a good decision. Moreover, if we’re talking about a dwelling with a crawl space under the floor, you should certainly make sure that the ventilation grids (if there are any, of course) are open and stay open. Grids should be fitted on both sides of the house in order to guarantee the correct ventilation stream. After all, the last thing you want is for the parquet floor to absorb extra damp and the wood to curl up.

Photo – Venta