The right humidity for wood flooring and furniture

View of a living room with wooden chest of drawers.

Wood is a natural material valued for its positive influence on room climate. It is very popular in homes for both floors and furniture. However, central heating often makes indoor air too dry, which can create unsightly cracks and gaps in wood.
Below, we explain why optimal humidity is so important.


Wooden trunk as a living room table with decorative items.

When and why do cracks appear in wood?

Wood adjusts to its surroundings. Depending on the ambient conditions, it absorbs moisture from the air or releases it. If the air is too dry, wood loses moisture, which causes tiny gaps and cracks to occur. When the humidity rises again, the wood expands and closes the surface flaws.
However, if humidity remains too low and temperature too high over a longer period, the wood can be damaged permanently.

Tips and handy hints for new wood flooring

Before you start installing wood flooring, we recommend storing the wood inside the room for at least 48 hours. This allows the wood to acclimatise, preventing damage due to expansion and shrinking. Also make sure that wood flooring, e.g. parquet, rests on a flat surface so it doesn’t warp. During both storage and installation, ensure an ideal room climate. The recommended values are: a room temperature of 18 to 23 degrees and a humidity of 40% to 60%. If you have underfloor heating, keep the temperature above 15 degrees and below 20 degrees.

Wooden trunk as a living room table with decorative items.

Tips and handy hints for new wood furniture

You want lasting enjoyment of your new wood furniture (especially solid wood) in perfect condition. The first step is ensuring gradual acclimatisation after you bring it into your home. Over the first few days, leave doors and drawers open so they don’t shrink or expand unevenly. It’s also a good idea to place furniture a few centimetres away from walls. This is especially important in new builds because the walls may contain residual moisture.

You have your own ideas about where your furniture should go to create your perfect interior. However, if possible keep furniture at a distance from radiators or stoves because the heat from them can dry out the wood.

Over the long term, you can help your wood furniture stay beautiful by ensuring the right temperatures and consistent humidity.

View into a living room with passage to the dining room.

The optimal humidity and temperature for wood

Heating, air conditioners and ventilation systems remove moisture from indoor air, often making it too dry. An optimal room climate all year round is important to prevent cracks and gaps forming in wood.
This means a relative indoor humidity of 40% to 60% and a temperature between 20 °C and 23°C. Under these conditions, wood barely expands or contracts. Avoid exposing wood flooring and furniture to excessively high or low humidity.

Humidifiers for wood flooring and furniture

Humidifiers are an uncomplicated and reliable way to achieve a constant, year-round humidity of between 40% and 60%. They can prevent unsightly gaps and cracks from forming during the heating period.
What’s more, humidifiers/Airwashers help reduce harmful substances in indoor air. While pure water evaporates to humidify the room, contaminants such as house dust and pollen are naturally reduced in the air or captured in the water inside the appliance. The result: good air quality in your rooms. At the same time, you keep wooden items in good condition.

Venta humidifier Original Connect next to a large wooden chest of drawers.
Woman sitting with her laptop at a wooden table in her living area.

What should you look out for when buying a humidifier / Airwasher?

Check the specified room size of the appliance, remembering that the capacity calculation assumes a room with closed doors.
If you keep the doors open, add the areas of the adjacent rooms to your original room size. We recommend that you add another ⅓ to the total room area to ensure the appliance achieves the required results even at a low or medium setting. This also means it doesn’t operate at its limit so the noise level remains low.

Example (Room size: 40 m2): If the doors are open and the room is adjacent to a 15 m2 room, add the two room sizes together (intermediate sum: 55 m2). Then add another ⅓ of the intermediate sum so that the appliance doesn’t have to operate at its limit. Therefore, the appliance should be designed for an area of approx. 73 m2.


You’ve set up a humidifier, but the humidity doesn’t increase?

There can be various reasons for this. One possibility is that the room contains lots of natural materials, for example wood flooring, wooden furniture or books. If the air starts out too dry and the appliance adds humidity, the natural materials absorb the moisture first. Only when they have achieved their natural moisture content can the humidity in the room increase.

Please note that the more natural materials you have in your room, the longer it may take to reach the optimal humidity. Especially when you use an Humidifier for the first time, you may have to be patient and wait for several days. We recommend switching your appliance to the highest setting so the humidity increases as quickly as possible.

Dining room with wooden floor and bookshelf.

Venta Airwashers and Humidifiers

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LW15 Original Air Humidifier
  • For rooms up to 25 m² 
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filters
  • Uses tap water 
For rooms up to 25 m² Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filtersUses tap water 
Color
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LW25 Original Air Humidifier
  • For rooms up to 40 m² 
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filters 
  • Uses tap water 
For rooms up to 40 m² Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filters Uses tap water 
Color
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LW45 Original Air Humidifier
  • For rooms up to 55 m² 
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filters
  • Uses tap water 
For rooms up to 55 m² Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifier mats or filtersUses tap water 
Color
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LW25 Comfort Plus Air Humidifier
  • For rooms up to 45 m² 
  • Interactive touch display
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters
  • Hygienic cold evaporation with innovative VentWave™ technology for increased evaporation performance. The design uses less material for a better eco-balance 
  • Uses tap water 
  • Digital hygrostat monitors and controls relative humidity 
For rooms up to 45 m² Interactive touch displayOptimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filtersHygienic cold evaporation with innovative VentWave™ technology for increased evaporation performance. The design uses less material for a better eco-balance Uses tap water Digital hygrostat monitors and controls relative humidity 
Color
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LW45 Comfort Plus Air Humidifier
  • For rooms up to 60 m²
  • Interactive touch display
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters
  • Hygienic cold evaporation with innovative VentWave™ technology for increased evaporation performance. The design uses less material for a better eco-balance 
  • Uses tap water 
  • Digital hygrostat monitors and controls relative humidity 
For rooms up to 60 m²Interactive touch displayOptimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substancesHygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filtersHygienic cold evaporation with innovative VentWave™ technology for increased evaporation performance. The design uses less material for a better eco-balance Uses tap water Digital hygrostat monitors and controls relative humidity 
Color
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LW73 AeroStyle Air Humidifier
  • Room size up to 70 m² 
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters 
  • Use with tap water without chemical additives 
  • Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene disc
  • Digital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidity
  • Interactive touch display
  • Pleasantly quiet operation
  • Optional remote control via app 
Room size up to 70 m² Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substancesHygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters Use with tap water without chemical additives Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene discDigital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidityInteractive touch displayPleasantly quiet operationOptional remote control via app 
Color
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 WiFi
LW73 WiFi AeroStyle Humidifier
  • Room size up to 70 m² 
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters 
  • Use with tap water without chemical additives 
  • Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene disc
  • Digital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidity
  • Interactive touch display
  • Pleasantly quiet operation
  • Remote control via app 
Room size up to 70 m² Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters Use with tap water without chemical additives Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene discDigital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidityInteractive touch displayPleasantly quiet operationRemote control via app 
Color
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LW74 AeroStyle Air Humidifier
  • Two fans and more power for rooms of up to 90 m²
  • Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 %
  • Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substances
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters 
  • Use with tap water without chemical additives 
  • Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene disc 
  • Digital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidity 
  • Interactive touch display 
  • Pleasantly quiet operation
  • Optional remote control via app 
Two fans and more power for rooms of up to 90 m²Optimal air humidity of 40 to 60 % Indoor humidity of 40-60% naturally reduces harmful airborne substancesHygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters Use with tap water without chemical additives Low-maintenance operation with special Venta hygiene disc Digital hygrostat for monitoring and controlling the relative humidity Interactive touch display Pleasantly quiet operation Optional remote control via app 
Color
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 WiFi
AW902 Professional Air Humidifier
  • Room size up to 120 m² 
  • Highly efficient humidification using VentWave™ 3D technology 
  • Low-maintenance operation thanks to patented hygiene disk – without chemical additives 
  • Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filters
  • Up to 99.9 % sterilisation thanks to UVC technology 
  • Convenient control with the Venta Home App 
  • Reduces pollen and house dust – important for people suffering from allergies 
Room size up to 120 m² Highly efficient humidification using VentWave™ 3D technology Low-maintenance operation thanks to patented hygiene disk – without chemical additives Hygienic cold evaporation without humidifying mats or filtersUp to 99.9 % sterilisation thanks to UVC technology Convenient control with the Venta Home App Reduces pollen and house dust – important for people suffering from allergies 
Color
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