Abstract
Humidity is atmospheric moisture existing in
the gaseous state to become part of the air in
which we live and breathe. The amount of moisture
that can exist in this manner may vary greatly
depending upon seasonal weather and environmental
conditions. Wintertime dry air in our indoor
atmosphere, for example, can be detrimental
to human health and comfort and to material goods.
The addition of moisture to this dry air by means
of controlled humidification is required to offset
these detrimental effects. It requires energy,
however, to accomplish this. Can this expenditure
of energy be justified and what, if any, are
the trade-offs. It can be shown that maintaining
proper humidity levels in our indoor environment,
not only reduces or eliminates the dry air problems,
but could at the same time, reduce the
total energy requirements for environmental control.
Daugherty, C. R. (1986). Controlled Humidification: It Can Save Energy. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /93094.