Winter dry air
Winter heating in the UK regularly drops indoor humidity below 25%. Sore throats, cracked furniture, increased infection risk — all avoidable once you can see the number.
Heated air is parched air.
Cold air holds less moisture. Heat it up indoors and relative humidity collapses — often into the teens and twenties during a cold snap. The ASHRAE comfort band for wellbeing and health is 30–60% RH. Most heated UK homes sit below it for four months of the year.
Low humidity dries mucous membranes, which are the body's first line of defence against respiratory infection. It makes sore throats easier. It cracks wooden furniture, warps floors and kills house plants. It also amplifies static electricity — a small clue your room is below 30%.
You would suspect this when any of these feel familiar.
- Morning sore throat or hoarse voice
- Dry skin, lip cracking, nosebleeds
- Static shocks on door handles
- Hardwood floors creaking or furniture gaps opening
- House plants wilting despite watering
Quietly watching the exact signals.
The BME690 humidity channel logs every room, every minute. Envora flags when any living space dips below 30% RH.
Temperature and humidity together let Envora differentiate a truly dry room from a simply warm one — the intervention is different.
-
RH < 30% for more than 4 hMucous membrane dehydration band.
Where the danger begins.
Practical steps, not panic.
- 1 Run an evaporative or ultrasonic humidifier in rooms you spend most time in — aim for 40–50%.
- 2 Avoid steam humidifiers; they over-humidify locally and can drive mould in the room they sit in.
- 3 Leave internal doors open while cooking or showering to distribute moisture through the home.
- 4 Keep houseplants — a dozen healthy plants measurably raise the ambient humidity of a small flat.
- 5 Lower the thermostat by a degree; a 21 °C room and a 19 °C room behave very differently for RH at the same moisture content.
The channels that carry this.
Strongest fit in these settings.
Catch winter dry air before it shows.
Envora One reads the channels that catch this risk early — fused into one IAQ score, calibrated at our bench. £249 one-time. Free for personal households.
Free UK & EU shipping · 2-year warranty · Reply within one UK business day.