There's nothing we love more at Experts In Your Home than a teaching moment. When a local electrician walks across a customer's carpet, touches a thermostat or remote control and gets a zap of electric shock, we can't resist reverting to teacher mode.
Even if static electricity doesn't literally make your hair stand up on end, you don't have to live with this predicament. There are solutions to bring it under control if not eliminate it from your home.
Cause of static electricity
Static electricity is a direct consequence of dry air, which is most common in the fall and winter. Getting zapped by an electric shock can be annoying and even painful, but it's really the least of the problems dry air can spell for you and your family. Dry air can literally dry out the nasal passages, which renders them less able to fight viruses. Dry air also can trigger scratchy throats, red eyes, dry skin, nosebleeds and even headaches. Your body needs moisture to bolster your immune system, which regularly encounters and combats indoor irritants and pollutants and fends off colds and respiratory illnesses.
Increase the moisture in your home
Moisture also helps electrons roll right off your body rather than build up a charge, so the key to reducing static electricity in your home is to increase the humidity level. A local electrician recommends that a healthy indoor humidity level ranges between 45 and 55 percent, which you can measure with a hygrometer. This little device resembles a thermometer and can be purchased at most hardware and home improvement stores.
Or you could skip to the chase and heed the advice of the Mayo Clinic, which recommends the regular use of a humidifier if a home has an abundance of dry air and static electricity. Humidifiers emit vapor or steam, and there are several types you can choose from:
- A central or whole-house humidifier, which is attached to a central heating and cooling system. In addition to adding moisture throughout your home, a central humidifier features the advantage of making indoor air temperatures feel a little warmer than they really are – a great advantage in the winter since you can lower your thermostat and enjoy the ensuing energy savings. In fact, for every degree you adjust your regular thermostat setting, you can save as much as 4 percent on your utility bill, the U.S. Department of Energy says.
- A console or moveable humidifier that can add moisture to several rooms in your home. These consoles often resemble short, 36-inch-high cabinets and usually feature casters so that you can roll them close to a sink and fill the tank with water as needed.
- A tabletop humidifier to provide moisture in one room-- an economical option for a family room, office or anywhere else that your family spends most of its time. Cool-mist humidifiers are usually more energy efficient, but you might find warm-mist humidifiers to be more comforting.
What you can do immediately to control static electricity in your home:
- Wearing clothes made of natural fibers because synthetic fabrics can carry more static charge.
- Wearing shoes or slippers with plastic soles or wearing no shoes at all.
- Keeping your hands lubricated with moisturizer, which will repel static electricity.
- “Grounding” yourself by wearing a thimble on your finger to protect it against an electric shock before touching metal objects. It might look a little silly, but it works.
If you'd like to continue learning about the best humidifier to harness static electricity in your home, don't hesitate to contact a local Chico, CA electrician at Experts In Your Home. The only shock you might receive is how quickly you'll see the results.
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