Humidification of Hardwood Floors In Arid Zones with AC

A common complaint about hardwood floors in arid zones is checking and splitting due to low humidity. Many people believe running a humidifier in arid zones in summer is futile. This is largely due to the fact that an AC unit is a de-humidifier. Humidifier's and HVAC units will counter act each other but not totally as your AC does not run continually and this counter reaction by the AC unit can be neutralized to a point. However some very minor checking, gapping should be expected in your wood flooring as nothing can be 100% effective. Hey, it's wood not steel.I expect to see some verbage to this effect in all manufactures requirements like this for arid zones soon..

In my zone (Southern Arizona) it is still very dry during the summer months down into the single digits until the rains (monsoons) come in mid July to August. Even though one may think it is useless, a humidifying system attached to your HVAC system is still working to keep up the Rh in your home, lessoning the chance your hardwood floor will check. There are other options such as using a stand alone humidifier which I think is more effective than the built-in humififier as it runs all the time and does not shut off with the HVAC unit. Speak with a qualified HVAC salesman. Recently one of my clients found a stand alone humidifier that holds 10.5 gallons at Home Depot. So far it has kept the Rh in the house up to 35% as compared to the 19% Rh level it was at previously.!

Also, quite a few houses like mine have dual cooling systems. I am able to run an evaporative cooling system (MasterCool II) which easily raises the Rh of the home to any manufactures requirements. Then when the rains come I switch to AC. Humidification of your house in arid zones like Arizona will also help your wood furniture as well as your sinuses. In fact it is very healthy and typically called a healthy relative zone of 35 to 55 % for wood and people too!

After a discussion I had with a consumer who had a bad experience with their wood floor checking I called a Steinway Piano dealer I put a hardwood floor in for last fall. He humidify's his entire store, winter through summer. In fact I got a good chewing out when I was installing the solid maple in his showroom cus I left the door open when transporting tools in and out. His $100,000 Steinway he had near the entrance needs a constant ambient temp and Rh or the wood will__________ you fill in the blank. Needless to say I don't have to worry about that maple hardwood flooring. And there really is no excuse for not at least trying to maintain your hardwood floor close to manufactures ambient zone requirements. Even though it might not be attainable. So go out and buy a hygrometer for your house if you do not have one and check the relative humidity, your floor will love you for it and so will your wood furniture.. G'day!