Discover the 6 main benefits of humidifying your indoors, and the pros and cons of different types of humidifyers.
Dry season, dry climate, hard winter months and heaters are some of the key role players that make the indoor air to dry up. Humidifying your indoors helps you ease up the discomforts brought about by dryness in the air by humidifying your indoors, both for home and office.
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. A very low humidity dries up air causing inconvenience for human, animals and indoor plants. A very high humidity enhances molds, bacteria, pests and causes decay. Indoor humidity level lower than 30% is too dry, however it should not be higher than 50% or else your home will be a mess. Wet windows, floors, furniture, and damp fixtures are only some of the disturbing effects of excess humidity.
Humidifying offers great benefits like the following:
It lessens the ugly effects of dry air to the skin which is commonly in its driest during winter.
It provides the moisture necessary to make the air we breathe healthier especially during winter when heaters dry up the air indoors.
The correct level of relative indoor humidity can set you free from various ailments such as asthma, sinus problems, headaches, chapped lips, nosebleeds and more. It keeps the nasal and mucous membranes moist that allergens and dust are trapped in the tiny hairs.
Moisture in the air can also make indoor plants happy. Dry air dries up leaves making plants unsightly and withered.
Humidifying prevents wooden furniture and floors from cracks.
It helps you keep a healthy tone of voice by moisturizing the throat and nasal passages.
It is a necessity for every household to own a humidifier to prevent the health issues and other concerns caused by dry atmosphere. Many health problems arise due to dry air affecting family members. You can address these problems by simply using humidifiers which come in the following forms.
Steam humidifiers also called vaporizer. It boils water and warm steam is released into the air. Medicated inhalant can be used with the unit to relieve coughs and stuffy nose. This is the least expensive and simplest form of a humidifier but care must be considered especially with children because it may cause burn. It can also consume more energy than the other types.
Impeller humidifier are cool mist humidifier where a rooting disk throws water into a comb-like diffuser, which breaks the water into tiny droplets that float in the air like a fog. This form of humidifier uses water and problems with it that come include mineral dust and bacteria build- up.
Ultrasonic Humidifiers are also cool mist humidifiers where an electronic disc vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency sending water molecules into the air. The water vapor trapped in the air appears as the mist and humidifies the atmosphere.
Wick/Evaporative Humidifiers are cool mist type of humidifiers making use of a wick in the form of paper, cloth or foam to absorb water from its reservoir. A fan is used to blow over the wick to let the air absorb moisture. When relative humidity is high, evaporation is minimal. It follows only that when relative humidity is low more than evaporation takes place. There is an advantage of self regulating the humidity from this type.
Ultrasonic Mist fountains act as home decor elements as well as humidifiers. They are great alternative to conventional and noisy humidifiers. They offer all the benefits that a humidifier offers in addition to creating vibrant and visually stimulating indoors.
To summarize, steam humidifiers are inexpensive but can be hazardous. They have no concerns about mineral or bacteria because of the boiling water. The cool mist humidifiers concerns are bacteria build- up and mineral dusts but they are energy efficient and safe. UV lights are added features to high quality units to retard bacteria growth, and demineralization cartridge to filter minerals from the water.
