Humidifiers help the body to maintain balance in the air by increasing moisture levels. The device is an ideal accessory to have during the winter season to help your body deal with the dryness and cold weather.
Of course, it is a big deal if you can purchase a humidifier for your home or building. It can easily regulate low humidity problems and ensure that you will not suffer from the symptoms of dry air (i.e., skin irritations and nose bleeding).
However, you need to be a smart consumer. Even though humidifiers aren’t that expensive, that doesn’t mean that you can be too careless when it comes to buying them. Right from the get-go, you want something that can serve you in the long run. Keep in mind that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to your humidification problems. You would need to know your requirements first.
Important Considerations In Choosing A Humidifier
1. Do You Need A Humidifier Or Not?
Just because I’m an advocate for humidifiers doesn’t mean that I always push people to get these devices. That’s shameful shoving.
Some individuals may not require a humidifier (or dehumidifier) at all. And if that’s your case, then good for you.
A humidifier is only essential if you are experiencing air dryness. Low humidity, or the absence of water vapor in the water, is not a favorable condition to get exposed to. It can cause a myriad of problems. It can result in throat irritation, nose bleeding, and various discomforts.
Often, dry time can also trigger or flare allergies and asthma attacks. Moreover, it is not a secret that poor humidity can cause the peeling of wallpapers and the cracking of wooden furniture.
If you are experiencing any of those problems, you might need a humidifier. The latter adds moisture in the air, effectively restoring the indoor humidity of your home. Depending on the humidifier that you have, it can either humidify a room or an entire living space. During the cold season–where the air is naturally dry–these humidifiers are downright essential.
Another way you can determine if you need a humidifier is through the use of a hygrometer. The latter is designed to measure the relative humidity of a given environment. If the hygrometer reads that the humidity level is below 40%, your indoor air is already dry. At this point, a humidifier is quite important.
2. What Is The Size Of The Area You Want To Humidifier?
Did you know that a humidifier is only effective when it is placed in the “right” place?
In fact, you need to determine the size of the area that you want to humidify before you head on the market. Specifically, you should decide whether you want a whole-house or single-room humidification. There are humidifiers for both of these applications.
Medium To Small Rooms
If your room is not that big, a room or tabletop humidifier should be enough. This particular humidifier is quite compact, which enables you to place them virtually any more. They are great space-savers, which makes them ideal for areas with limited spaces.
Furthermore, these portable humidifiers are easy to move, given that they are light. And you’ll not get disappointed in them because they can operate at least overnight before you need to refill them.
Whole Houses
If your home is riddled with low humidity, you would need to pick larger humidifiers. Whole-house humidifiers and console humidifiers excel on this matter,
Needless to say, these humidifiers offer a more powerful performance. They can humidify spaces that are as big as 3,000 square feet. You simply need to place them in a central part of your home, and they can easily eradicate your dry air problems.
For Bigger Humidity Problems
If you are dealing with severe air dryness and the structures of your home are suffering from it, then you might need an HVAC humidifier. This humidifier is attached to an HVAC unit and works with the central air system of your building. It gets its water directly from the water lines so that it can produce moisture consistently.
These humidifiers require professional installation. But it is a good deal already, especially if you badly need to eradicate the dryness in your home.
3. What Kind Of Humidifier Do You Need?
Interestingly, there are numerous types of humidifiers out there. You have to pick which one suits you best based on your requirements and preferences.
- Cool mist humidifiers – These humidifiers are considered to be a common option for many people. The moisture they produce is akin to room temperature. They produce mist without consuming too much electricity, considering that they are only using fans or vibrating plates to create moisture.
- Warm mist humidifiers – Contrary to cool mist humidifiers, warm mist humidifiers have heating elements on them to boil water. As a result, the water they release is in the form of steam. Many people find the mist that these warm mist humidifiers produce comfortable. Often, these warm mist humidifiers are used for relaxation or therapeutic purposes. But at the same time, these humidifiers consume more electricity because they boil water. However, this boiling process enables them to reduce microbes and bacteria in the water.
- Ultrasonic humidifiers – An ultrasonic humidifier offers a quieter performance than the standard evaporative humidifier. Instead of fans, an ultrasonic humidifier uses vibrating plates to turn water into moisture. Keep in mind that an ultrasonic humidifier is available in either cool or warm mist models.
4. What Are The Features That A Humidifier Should Have?
There are many different kinds of humidifiers available for use in your home. If you are someone who suffers from dry skin, allergies, asthma, or nosebleeds, a humidifier is likely a great tool to add to your arsenal against those ailments.
A humidifier offers more usefulness and convenience if the following features are present:
- Humidistat – A humidistat works like a hygrometer. It is the internal component of the humidifier that reads the moisture levels of your home. Its readings help the humidifier to adjust its output and runtime automatically. Humidifiers with humidistats are beneficial for busy individuals. They are those kinds of plug-and-play humidifiers that would give you no hassle.
- Automatic shutdown – This function is important for any humidifier. Once the humidifier runs out of water, it should shut off immediately to prevent any mechanical or electrical problems.
- Water level indicator – Aside from the automatic shutdown function, it is also essential that the humidifier comes with a water level indicator. It lets you check whether or not you need to refill the humidifier already. Some water indicators are in the form of light displays. Others are more of the conventional types–there’s a transparent panel that lets you the water level inside the humidifier.
5. How Long Do You Need The Humidifier?
The runtime of a humidifier is actually dependent on numerous factors.
For instance, if the humidifier has a large water tank, then it can displace more water for extensive periods. The larger the humidifier, the more moisture it can provide before it runs out of water. If you have a humidifier directly installed in your HVAC systems, then the runtime is no longer an issue.
A small humidifier can give you at least 10 hours of humidification, while the larger ones can run for up to 60 hours straight.
Another factor that determines the runtime of a humidifier is its output. Basically, if you set the humidifier to its highest output, it will release significant quantities of water vapor in a short amount of time. Most humidifiers have their runtime measured on the output that they can release on the lowest setting.
Fortunately, you don’t always need to operate these humidifiers at the highest capacity. Most of the time, slow and gradual humidification is already enough to treat the dryness of your indoor air.
6. What’s Your Noise Sensitivity?
There’s no such thing as a silent humidifier. Even the quietest ones still produce noise.
Evaporative humidifiers use fans in their operation. Hence, you should expect that they generate audible noises. They are not suitable for bedrooms, children’s rooms, offices, and other noise-sensitive areas. The best choice for these applications is ultrasonic humidifiers. Rather than fans, they use vibrating plates to create high-frequency waves. In turn, these sound waves convert water into mist without being too loud.
7. How Are You Going To Maintain The Humidifier?
Essentially, humidifiers aren’t difficult to maintain. All they require is for you to clean them every time their water tanks are empty. In this way, you will be able to reduce the chances of mold growth inside the humidifier.
If the humidifier comes with filters, you are also required to replace them regularly. These filters are not that expensive, so there’s nothing that you should worry about. For cool mist humidifiers, you need to change their wick filters from time to time.
Furthermore, you should check the humidifier’s nozzles or moisture outlets. Make sure that there are no clogs that prevent the mist from flowing out.
In Summary
A humidifier is an essential appliance that combats the effects of dry air. With this device, you will be able to improve your indoor humidity at the proper levels. However, you can get the most out of a humidifier if it fits well to your prescribed specifications and needs. The guidelines above can certainly help you when selecting one.
That’s it for now. If you have inquiries, feel free to ask me in the comment section below.