Growing up on the East coast and moving to California, I’ve experienced the extremes of moisture in an environment. I grew up in humidity, where the summers were thick and heavy with moisture in the air and everything you wore or touched was sticky and uncomfortable, and I’ve spent the last seven years of my life in the dryness of Southern California. You could say I’ve tasted the best of both worlds and if I had to voice a preference, I would prefer the more-bearable dryness of Southern California.

Dryness might be the easier pill to swallow but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its consequences. Dry air can affect you physically by drying up your skin, cracking your lips and even giving you a sore throat and the dry air can affect your home by cracking your paint and furniture, peeling your wallpaper and generating unwanted static electricity. If you’re looking for a way to make your living space more comfortable, you’ll have to get your hands on a trusty humidifier.

There are three types of humidifiers that are popular: steaming humidifiers, wick humidifiers and ultrasonic humidifiers. Steaming humidifiers boil water in the unit to release a warm vapor to balance the moisture in the air. The boiled water is free of any harmful bacterium or minerals in the water so you can use tap water and save money with a steaming humidifier. Wick humidifiers absorb water into a mesh or sponge-like material and evaporate the water by fan. Wick humidifiers are useful because as the humidity in the air increases, the evaporation rate will naturally slow so you don’t have to regulate the humidity yourself. Ultrasonic humidifiers produce the balancing vapor by using ultrasonic vibration on the water. These types of humidifiers don’t add heat to the room and are almost completely silent. They require distilled water because they disperse the minerals within tap water, which has health risks.

Consider the different humidifiers and you’ll quickly be able to tell the difference. Maintain a relative humidity level between 30%-50% in your home and your lips, skin, wallpaper, paint and furniture will thank you!