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In a dry atmosphere moisture migrates from the body through the nose, eyes, mouth and skin. Moisture migrating from the skin causes adiabatic cooling which will reduce the comfort of room occupants.
At 21°C, with low humidity, moisture migrates from the skin making a room occupant feel cool. Raising the humidity level would reduce the ability of the moisture to migrate from the skin and the occupant would feel warmer.
The normal reaction, to combat the cooling effect, would be to encrease the temperature of the space by one, two or three degrees. The amount of power required to produce the temperature rise can be greater than the power required bringing the humidity up to a reasonable level.
There have been instances where the temperature in a working environment has been reduced to normally 19°C and the humidity increased to 60%. The comfort level was considered acceptable and the power saving substantial.
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