Humidification in your house

One of the most common issues that homeowners and home-builders deal with is to varying degrees of course depending on the climate you live in is humidity levels in there house in different seasons through out the year.  Here in Oklahoma where I build the winter time humidity levels drop and the air becomes really dry.  You will notice that with the dehydration of your self, as well as itching problems, dry skin among other uncomfortable symptoms.  You might ask how does humidity levels affect my house.  Just about everything in your home that is built from wood contains moisture in it.  In the winter time the dry air will pull out that moisture and cause the wood to shrink up and or crack.  You might notice your hardwood floors to develop small cracks along the seams of the boards this is because the boards shrink up across the grain of the wood causing them to in effect become smaller.  You may notice your doors in your house draw up and may have a larger gap around them than normal.  These are all normal occurrences if you do not moderate your house to a recommended humidity level that fits your area where you live.  One of the most annoying aspects of dry air in a house is the static shock.  Have you ever walked across the carpet only to be surprised by a shock when you reach for the light switch.  Not a very pleasant feeling.  Your body can hold a static charge up to several thousand volts, and can wreak havoc on home computers and any sensitive electronic device.  Are there other benefits to having correct humidity levels in your home, you bet there is.  It can save on energy costs.  Warm humid air in the summer time feels hotter that it really is.  That same principle applies in the winter time by keeping the correct humidity level in your house, you can turn down your thermostat a few degrees and the comfort level will still be good for you.  I like to recommend a humidifier be installed when building a new house and install it hooked into your central heat/air system for whole house benefit.  If this is not practical in your case a unit that you can set in your room will help tremendously.  So for your sake and your homes sake give a humidifier some serious consideration.