Dry air is real here. So is what happens if you overdo the cure.
Broadview works on heating, cooling and ventilation across Centennial and the south metro. Half the winter questions we get are about dry air, and almost nobody is told the one thing that actually decides the answer — which is not the equipment.
The windows set the ceiling
Five reasons people ask for humidification crossed with three kinds of window — because the limit on how much moisture a house can hold is set by the coldest surface in it, and in almost every house that is a window.
One of the five reasons gets a flat answer: a humidifier does not fix dust. That is filtration and airflow, and we say so rather than selling a humidifier against it.
Heating
Gas furnaces and boilers, combustion tested with an analyser and the readings written down. Altitude set-up checked against the installation instructions for the model actually installed.
Cooling
Central air, heat pumps and evaporative coolers. Charge measured against the conditions and the plate rather than topped up on sight.
Ducts and airflow
Static pressure, register-by-register airflow, leakage, and returns that were never large enough for the rooms they serve.
Humidity
Whole-house humidification specified against what the building can carry, and maintained afterwards — which is the half of it nobody mentions at the point of sale.
Ventilation
Extract that actually terminates outside, make-up air where a building has been tightened up, and outside air in premises where the complaint is stuffiness.
Maintenance
Annual on houses, twice a year on premises, with readings recorded so the file shows a trend rather than a stack of invoices.
Homes
Houses across Centennial, Aurora, Parker and the south metro — a housing stock that has been re-windowed, insulated and tightened up over forty years, with heating that was installed before any of that happened.
Businesses
Retail units, restaurants, professional suites, clinics and light industrial along the Arapahoe and Smoky Hill corridors. Surveyed before anything is scheduled, with a record kept per unit.
What this website will not tell you
Each one would be a number we invented.
| Not stated | Why |
|---|---|
| A price | A capacitor and a boiler replacement are not the same visit. You get a fixed figure on the phone once we know what is installed. |
| A response time | We will not promise two hours on a January morning when half the metro has no heat. |
| A target humidity | The right level depends on the coldest surface in your building and on the weather that week. Anybody printing a number has not seen your windows. |
| A health claim | We will tell you what equipment does to the air. What it does to a person is a question for a doctor. |
How much humidity can I safely add in winter?
There is no single figure, and anybody printing one has not seen your building. The ceiling is set by the coldest surface in the house, which in almost every house is a window — and the first sign you have gone past it is water forming on the glass overnight. Single glazing gives a low ceiling, older double glazing a moderate one with the bottom edge as the place to watch, and modern high-performance windows the highest. There is a page on this site that works it through.
Will a humidifier help with dust?
No. Dust is a filtration and airflow question — the filter grade, whether the cabinet actually seals around it, whether the return side of the ductwork is pulling unfiltered air out of a crawlspace or attic, and how much the system runs. Very dry air does let fine dust stay airborne a little longer, but it is a small effect next to the real causes, and adding moisture to a dusty house gives you a damp dusty house.
Will humidification stop my children getting nosebleeds?
That is a medical question and we are not the people to answer it. We will not put a humidity figure against a symptom. What we can do is tell you what your building can carry without causing damage, install equipment that holds a set level reliably, and give you a way to measure what you actually have. What level to aim for is a conversation for you and a doctor.
Does the altitude change how my furnace should be set up?
It can, and it depends on the model. The input rating stamped on the plate is a sea-level figure. Some manufacturers require an orifice kit above a stated elevation, some specify a manifold pressure change, and some certify across a range with no change at all. It is written in that model’s own installation instructions, so we read the model number and check.
Is an evaporative cooler worth keeping?
Often, yes. In this climate it is a different machine doing a different job, using far less electricity and bringing outdoor air in — which is why it needs a window or relief opening left open. The commonest complaint about them is a house that goes muggy, and the commonest cause is that the relief path was closed up. Where one genuinely cannot cope we will say so and price refrigerated cooling.
Which areas do you cover?
Centennial, Aurora, Parker, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Lone Tree, Foxfield and Englewood.
Find us
19751 E Smoky Hill Rd, Centennial, CO 80015. Monday to Friday, 7am to 4pm.
We cover Centennial, Aurora, Parker, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Lone Tree, Foxfield and Englewood.