Humidifier Basics

Why use a humidifier?

Why do we want to add humidity to our homes and what is humidity? Humidity is the amount of moisture or water vapor in the air. People tend to feel more comfortable when the relative humidity is within a certain range (between 35-55 percent). If the humidity is too low, people may be left with physical discomforts such as a dry nose, throat, lips, and skin. In addition, low humidity may also wreak havoc on your home causing static electricity, cracks in furniture, flooring, cabinetry, paint, and peeling wallpaper. High levels of humidity cause a room to feel stuffy and create an environment in which biological contaminants can thrive. Moisture is often added or removed from indoor air to make a room feel more comfortable.

Types of Humidifiers

Cool Mist and Warm Mist Humidifiers
One gives out a warm mist, the other gives out a cool mist. People who like warm mists generally live in colder parts of the USA or like to put a warm mist humidifier into a baby's room. Conversely, people who like cool mists live in warmer climates, where the last thing they want is to warm the place up a few degrees.

Steam
Often referred to as a "vaporizer," a steam humidifier boils water and releases the warm steam into the room. This is the simplest, and therefore the least expensive, technology for adding moisture to the air.

Impeller
In this humidifier, a rotating disc flings water at a comb-like diffuser. The diffuser breaks the water into fine droplets that float into the air. You normally see these droplets as a cool fog exiting the humidifier.

Ultrasonic
An ultrasonic humidifier uses a metal diaphragm vibrating at an ultrasonic frequency to create water droplets. An ultrasonic humidifier is usually silent, and also produces a cool fog.

Features To Consider

Automatic Shut-Off
Some models have an auto shut-off feature that will shut the unit off when the water is empty or humidity level has been reached.

Built In Humidistat
This allows you to set the actual percentage at which you want your humidity level.

Room vs. Whole House Humidifier
Most smaller models are only meant to humidify a single room. If you have a larger area, or need to take care of an entire house, you will want to go with a whole house humidifier.

Germ Free Protection
Some humidifiers offer ultraviolet light and radiation protection to remove harmful bacteria that can be distributed in the air during use.

Information You Need To Know

Steam vaporizers can be dangerous around children because they can cause burns. They also have the highest energy costs. However, there are no bacterial or mineral concerns with this technology.

The quality of water used in the humidifier will have a large impact on the pollutants spouted into the air. Distilled water is ideal, but whatever you use, remember that any pollutants in the water softener (dissolved minerals and metals) will end up in the air. This is why it is important to clean the tank regularly and refill it with clean water when you haven't been running it. Many high-end ultrasonic units therefore have antibacterial features built in. Some units use ultraviolet light to kill bacteria. Cool mist and ultrasonic units have the capability of releasing most of the pollutants found in the water into the air. Many ultrasonic models feature a demineralization cartridge that filters minerals out of the water to prevent the dust. Steam and warm mist units release far less of the biological pollutants, dissolved minerals and metals but they are still capable of releasing chemical contaminants such as chlorine or volatile chemicals produced by biological contaminants living in the humidifier water.