8 Easy Steps To Choosing A Humidifier
A humidifier is an appliance that helps to increase humidity in
your home and make the air less dry. Dry air can cause several
problems such as chapped skin, nose bleeds, skin allergies,
ruined wood furniture, etc; all of which can effectively be
taken care of by a humidifier. However, you cannot simply go out
and buy the first one that you come across. There are several
factors that need to be considered while choosing a humidifier.
These are:
1) Size of the unit: The size of the humidifier will be
determined by the size of the area that you wish to humidify. If
you want to add humidity to specific areas in your home, you
should go in for portable humidifiers or room humidifiers.
However, if you want the comforts of properly humidified air in
your entire home, you should choose a whole house humidifier. In
addition to the area of your home, you will also need to
consider how well insulated the area is. Rooms that have
complete insulation can do with a smaller sized humidifier,
whereas areas that do not have very good insulation may need a
larger unit.
2) Cool Mist v/s Warm Mist Humidifier: Before you settle on a
specific humidifier, you need to choose between cool mist and
warm mist humidifiers. As the names suggest, a cool mist
humidifier adds humidity to your indoor air by spraying a cool
mist. Such a unit is great for those who live in areas with a
warm climate.
On the other hand, a warm mist humidifier is one which moistens
air by spraying a warm mist. This type of humidifier is ideal if
you live in cooler climes. People who live where it is naturally
hot sure do not want to go in for a warm mist humidifier! Also,
if you need a humidifier for a child's room, a warm mist unit is
better than a cool mist one.
3) Humidstat: A humidstat is a device that helps to control the
humidity levels in your home. Keeping humidity at levels of
45%-50% is ideal as this helps to solve all problems created by
dry air. If humidity increases to more than 50%, the air serves
as a breeding ground for dust mites, mold spores etc as they get
adequate moisture for survival. Hence it
becomes necessary to maintain relative humidity, which can
easily be done with a humidstat. Thus, you should choose a
humidifier with a built-in automatic humidstat so that you do
not have to worry about over humidifying your home.
As a humidstat helps to control humidity, it shuts off the
humidifier when relative humidity is achieved. This also helps
to lower your electricity bills.
4) Mineral Dust: With some humidifiers you will notice that
after a few hours of keeping the unit running, you can see a
thin white film of dust on your furniture etc. This is known as
mineral dust and can have negative health effects. Thus, you
should ensure that the humidifier that you choose does not
disperse any kind of mineral dust.
5) Automatic Shut Down: Humidifiers that do not have an
automatic shut down option can be a fire hazard if not shut down
manually when the water runs out. If the motor is left running
for any length of time, and if it burns down, you could have a
serious problem on your hands. Thus, while choosing a
humidifier, make sure that it has automatic shut off.
6) Cleaning and Maintenance: Some humidifiers need to be filled
with water and rinsed out daily or every second day. Such
frequent cleaning is quite a chore and may cause you great
inconvenience. The filters of such humidifiers also need to be
cleaned and changed regularly, thus adding to your cleaning
efforts and maintenance costs. So, while picking out a
humidifier, make sure that it is easy and convenient to clean
(in keeping with your schedule) and that it does not have very
high maintenance costs. Buying a humidifier with filters that
never need to be changed may be the way to go for those who do
not have too much spare time.
7) Level of Noise: Although all humidifiers are bound to make
some noise, there are some units that can be extremely noisy.
But noisy is a relative concept and differs from person to
person. However, if you are very sensitive to noise and find
that noisy appliances disturb you a great deal, then the sound
level of your humidifier could be a concern for you.
Thus, you should check out how noisy a humidifier can get before
you choose to buy it.
8) Cost: This again differs from person to person. Within your
budget, you should try and look for a humidifier that has the
maximum capacity and added features. But while considering cost,
you not only have to account for the initial buying price of the
humidifier, but also its operating and maintenance costs.