Dry air can cause a lot of problems. Being constantly exposed to a dry climate can affect your health, skin, hair and more. Whether it is changing weather or just the fact that you live in a dry environment, a humidifier can transform the air around you. Humidifiers turn water into a mist that makes it easier to disperse within a room. The mist ends up increasing the overall humidity within the area transforming dry air into not-so-dry air. They are known to have health benefits, especially for people with dry sinuses, dry skin, coughs caused by a dry scratchy throat, chapped lips and bloody noses. All these problems are caused by dry air and can easily be prevented by a humidifier. However, there’s a little more to buying humidifiers for your home and we are here to help you with the process.
Humidifiers and Diffusers
Before we even begin to toy with the idea of different types of humidifiers and how they work, we need to understand the difference between humidifiers and diffusers. No, they are not the same thing. Diffusers are essentially used for aromatherapy as a way to diffuse pleasant fragrances in the air. Humidifiers are used to disperse water particles in the air to increase the humidity levels of the room which has nothing to do with aromatherapy.
While you can add a few drops of essential oils into some humidifiers to make your room smell better, their main purpose is to increase the humidity in the room. Diffusers on the other hand only work with essential oils and are used primarily to make the room smell nice.
Different Types Of Humidifiers
When you’re searching for humidifiers for your home, you will need to know what type of humidifier will best suit your needs. There are small differences between each of these types, so choose the one you know you need.
EVAPORATIVE HUMIDIFIERS
As the name suggests, they use the evaporation technique to add moisture to the air. The dry is passed through a wet filter and forced out with the help of a fan built into the humidifier. This results in an increase in humidity level within the room. Since the air passes through a filter, you will always have clean air in the room but you’ll have to regularly change the filters.
Now within evaporative humidifiers, you can go for cool mist and warm mist humidifiers. The workings of a cool mist humidifier are explained above. The warm mist humidifier requires boiling water (instead of room temperature water) and the steam is what adds moisture to the air.
For colder areas, go for the warm mist humidifier and for hot arid areas, opt for the cool mist one. However, keep in mind that these humidifiers are slightly noisy. So, if you want one for regular use, you might want to consider a different type.
ULTRASONIC HUMIDIFIER
Unlike the simplistic system of a fan that blows mist through a filter, this model uses a vibrating diaphragm that turns water into vapour. It is super quiet and perfect for regular use. However, you will have to clean it more often. Another reason to go for the ultrasonic humidifier is that it consumes less energy.
Get the Right Size
The size of the humidifier you need to buy depends on the area of coverage. You need to be careful of the size of the humidifier since increased moisture levels can sometimes be a bad thing. For example, if a humidifier is too big for a room, the increased humidity will lead to condensation and the added moisture can lead to mould.
PORTABLE HUMIDIFIERS
If you live in a small apartment and just require a humidifier for your room, then these are perfect. Moreover, they are perfect for people who travel a lot and like to keep an optimum level of humidity in their rooms wherever they go.
ROOM HUMIDIFIERS
These are medium-sized humidifiers that are heavier than portable ones but perfect for slightly bigger rooms. Master bedrooms, guest rooms and even the living room can be covered by this one.
IN-BUILT HUMIDIFIERS
These are meant for the whole house and are built-in with the heating and cooling system of the entire house. The humidifier is connected to the house’s main water supply. People living in extremely dry areas usually go for this option.
Choosing the Final Product
Once you have selected the right size and type of humidifier, it is all about convenience. If you’re going to be using a humidifier regularly when you’re sleeping, opt for an ultrasonic humidifier that is easy to maintain. A regularly used humidifier will need to be cleaned regularly as well. A dirty humidifier can lead to problems such as mould formation which result in multiple health problems. On the other hand, if you’re going to be using a humidifier for your office desk, then a small portable evaporative humidifier would do. A cool mist humidifier would be the better option unless you really need a warm-mist one.
