Air humidifiers types comparison

Low humidity levels can cause a range of health issues and discomfort to you. Winter is characterized with snowfall and chillness that becomes unbearable. Low humidity levels can cause chapped lips, dry skin problems, flaking skin and aggravate asthma and allergies. These problems can be combated by using humidifiers. Dry air can also damage the interior decor of your home and furniture. Humidifiers maintain the necessary moisture content in the air to avert these problems.

You can choose air humidifiers according to the budget you have allotted, requirements and the size of the area that needs to be humidified. According to the size, you can categorize humidifiers into table top humidifiers, console humidifiers and in-duct air humidifiers. The unique features of these humidifiers are stated below.

The name itself suggests that this type of humidifiers is portable and lightweight. These humidifiers can be transported from one location to another location and are ideal for humidifying single rooms. They have a removable water reservoir which makes the cleaning and refilling process easy.

Console humidifiers are useful in increasing the moisture content of multiple rooms in your home or office which covers over three thousand square feet. These models are heavier, making them difficult to be moved around. They can be positioned in a centralized area on the flooring. This type of humidifiers comes in captivating designs so you can add them to your furniture and enhance the look of the room.

In-duct air humidifiers are also called whole house humidifiers. They are expensive and can be installed near the central heating or air conditioning units. They can be connected to the main water supply to your house directly. They can humidify your entire house effectively.

A range of humidifiers that will cool your rooms can be bought, according to your necessity. The most common types of air humidifiers are the mist humidifiers and ultrasonic humidifiers.

Cool mist humidifiers comprise a rotating disc that will distribute water into a diffuser which will then release cool mist into the atmosphere. Cool mist humidifiers can lower the room temperature but they carry the risk of releasing minerals and micro organism in to the air that is present in the water. The fan in the humidifier models are also considered noisy. Distilled water must be used in cool mist humidifiers. Evaporative humidifiers and impeller humidifiers are cool mist variants.

Impeller humidifiers consist of a spinning disc that will send water through a diffusing screen. Water is then broken into tiny droplets which are released as fine cool mist into the air. Air washer used in the impellers kills the viruses and bacteria and control their growth, drastically. The Ionic silver stick used in the impellers has antimicrobial properties to destroy the micro organisms. The rotating discs can be cleaned easily in the dishwasher.

A popular type of cool mist humidifier, evaporative air humidifiers have a wick filter that is used to absorb water from the reservoir. The model has an internal fan which blows the invisible cool mist into the air. The wick filter in the evaporative humidifiers will filter the impurities from the water.

The water is heated in the warm mist air humidifiers and released into the room as mist. Boiling consumes electricity in warm mist humidifiers and this makes them use more energy than the cool mist variety. The warm air released by these humidifiers is easy to breathe for patients with respiratory problems. Warm mist humidifiers boil water that kills mold, bacteria and other allergens. However, they are not children friendly and they cover less area. Steam humidifiers and vaporizers are popular types of warm mist humidifiers.

Warm steam is released into the air by steam humidifiers which makes the air warmer, during winters. You do not have to adjust the thermostat in this type of air humidifiers.

The electrodes in the vaporizers heat water and produce vapors. They come in basic designs and are considerably less useful than the steam humidifiers. However, the medicine cups in the vaporizers are ideal for inhaling respiratory medications and getting instant relief.

The ultrasonic humidifiers are available in both warm and cool mist varieties and these models utilize high-frequency sound waves to release water droplets into the air. They are quieter compare to the other cool mist and warm mist models.

Irrespective of the model and the size, air humidifiers must have humidistat to maintain a set humidity level, variable speeds that are adjustable, safety shut off for switching them off automatically and a digital control panel for displaying digital measurements. All these features make air humidifiers very effective.