Humidifier necessary for new house in high desert?

We've recently purchased a new house in the high desert of Central Oregon built by an individual contractor. The 2,000 sq ft house has hardwood floors throughout and cabinets in the kitchen and living area. We aren't living in it yet, expect to move in later this year. We have been told by the furnace man who installed the heating/air conditioning air pump unit that we should spend $1,800 for a system humidifier with ultraviolet light to kill mold and bacteria. He says the dry air will cause the wood to crack.

Is this really necessary or is he just trying to sell a fancy system to out of towners who don't know anything? Wouldn't it be possible to simply get room humidifiers? It's an open floor plan so it may take a few, but it would seem to be more cost effective than a whole system. Our builder told us to make sure to keep the house at 60 degrees over the winter to protect the wood, but he didn't say anything about a humidifier. I don't want the wood to crack, but I don't want to spend $1,800 if we don't have to either. What do you who have desert experience think?

Thanks.

We live in the high desert near Las Vegas. We were told by our builder to keep the temperature no lower than 62 degrees in the winter and 84 degrees in the summer to avoid cracking. Its very dry here, so we were also told that if we were going to be gone for any extended period of time (more than a week or two) we should fill the tubs and sinks with water. We have a guest house that isn't used regularly, and we keep a couple of paint buckets full of water in the bath tub. We were also told that if the place would be vacant for any long period to seal the toilet (with saran wrap) to avoid escaping sewer gas.

I don't see that you'd want or need a humidifier.

Fern

A building inspector just came through out house. He doesn't like the furnace humidifiers, as he thinks the vents are moist and when dust gets in them, it makest it necessary then to have your ducts cleaned each year. He thought room humidifiers were just as good and you can determine how many you need by the output they have. The clue if your house is too dry is if you get static electricity touching things (at least that is what he and a contractor told us).

Caroline,

For what it is worth, here is our experience: we live in the high desert of New Mexico at about 6,200' altitude with average rain fall of 11 inches. Most of the house has hardwood floors installed about 9 years ago. We have a fountain in the living room designed and made by husband which we run continuously year round with distilled water, primarily for the benefit of my piano and cellos in that room but also for aesthetic purposes and humidity in general. Plus, we run a room humidifier in the master bedroom, but only in the winter. And, there are a few plants around. This keeps things pretty balanced for us. We have never seen any mold so I don't think an ultraviolet light would ever be recommended here.

In some places the spaces between the Angelique (very hard wood from South America) boards widen in the winter, but not by much. And a crack in the sound board of the piano widens during the winter and closes in the summer. That's about it. No static electricity.

Diane