Choosing a Home Air Humidifier

When it comes to the cold winter month’s homeowners are quick to crank up the thermostat and shut themselves off to the outdoors to ride out the dipping temperatures without ever realizing that choosing a home air humidifier should be part of the equation.

All of the heating that is done, especially when it’s running all of the time in the really cold months, is going to dry up virtually all of the moisture that is in the air making us incredibly uncomfortable. We’ve all had the winter ailments of the dry skin, the dry lips, the headaches and the sore throats. The simple fact is that most people don’t realize and put into place is that all of these can be prevented and even treated through the use of a humidifier. Following some of the advice contained in the rest of this article will help you to choose the best home air humidifier for you and your family and get yourself through the winter months not just warm but healthy too.

When it comes to making your decision the first is between the types of humidifiers. There are two types:
1. Cool air humidifier
2. Warm air humidifier

A cool air humidifier works through evaporation of water into cool air without the heating of the water. The warm air humidifier works through the boiling of the water giving off steam in order to add moisture to the air.

One of the biggest complaints about the warm air humidifier is that the humidifier can make the air a little muggier in comparison to the cool air humidifier. It is actually the case and the reason for this is that the cool air humidifier is self-regulating. Water is absorbed into a wick and then the water is evaporated through the means of a fan and when air humidity increases evaporation decreases making it so that the air isn’t becoming too humid.

Children
There are a lot of people that will purchase a humidifier in order to help in the alleviation of cold symptoms in their children or infants. For safety reasons the cool air humidifier would be recommended. The reasons for this are there is no heating element which will take away that severe burn risk from either the boiling water or from the steam. If you’re using this for a child or an infant you definitely are better off going with a cool air humidifier.

Electricity
If your power bill is of concern you’ll definitely want to go with the cool air humidifier as they are going to consume less energy due to the fact that they don’t have any heating element. The one thing though is that there isn’t an insane difference though. Using a warm air humidifier will cost you about as much as say boiling a kettle of water on the stove.

Noise
There are some people that are very turned off to the cool air humidifier due to the fact that there is noise generation. They require the fan in order to run constantly which can generate undesired noise. This really is complete personal preference on your noise sensitivity levels.

Cleaning and Maintenance
Both the cool air and warm air home humidifiers are going to need cleaning. The warm air humidifier is going to require it more often though. Even though the steam itself is free of bacteria and molds the water reservoir itself is kept warm and thus are a prime breeding ground. Don’t forget that you need to replace the filters per recommendations as well. The filter has to be changed in order for the unit to be running at its very best.