What Do Humidifiers Actually Do?
Let’s get it out there: dry air can be annoying. This annoyance can actually become unbearable for people with sinus issues, cracked lips and bloody noses. Humidifiers are a good solution for dry air as they maintain humidity in your environment. Today, we’ll explore the different types of humidifiers, how they work and what you can use them for.
What Is a Humidifier and What Does It Actually Do?
A humidifier adds moisture to the air by releasing water vapor or steam to increase your environment’s humidity level. These devices prevent the problems generally caused by dryness, like dry sinuses, bloody nose, sensitive skin and many flu and common cold symptoms. Simply put, a humidifier device is a good solution if you’re dealing with symptoms associated with dryness.
Why Do You Need a Humidifier?
Here are the top uses and benefits of humidifiers:
- Reduces how many times someone snores while sleeping
- Keeps your hair and skin moisturized
- Relieves dry cough and pain in any part of the air passageway
- May reduce heating bills in cold areas
- Prevents furniture from cracking
- Helps with optimal blood circulation
- Eases breathing, especially during respiratory infections
Types of Humidifiers
Now, let’s take a look at the different types of humidifiers and how their functions differ:
- Ultrasonic humidifiers
Ultrasonic humidifiers usually consist of a water reservoir paired up with a vibrating element, mostly a diaphragm. This type of humidifier works when the diaphragm vibrations and lands water droplets into the air. The vibrations produced by the diaphragm are so high frequency that they’re inaudible to the human ear.
- Evaporative humidifiers
Evaporative humidifiers propel water vapor or stream into the air by using a fan for quick evaporation. This quickly increases the room’s humidity levels. More often than not, this type of humidifier is classified as a cool mist humidifier.
- Vaporizer humidifiers
The vaporizer humidifiers introduce moisture to the air by heating water to release steam. This special type of humidifier is effective for relieving cold and flu symptoms as it offers a hot stream. Other than that, vaporizer humidifiers are also perfect for cold environments as their warm stream increases the temperature a bit.
What Is a Cool Mist Humidifier?
Any humidifier that releases unheated water vapors or steam is categorized as a cool-mist humidifier. These devices generally use ultrasonic vibrations to uplift water vapors and a fan to evaporate them quickly.
So, they’re mostly a mixture of ultrasonic and evaporative humidifiers and release cool moisture. If you’re suffering from coughing or congestion caused by cold, cold mist humidifiers are a good solution.
What Is a Warm Mist Humidifier?
Warm mist humidifiers tend to release hot water vapors or steam into the environment. More often than not, they do it by boiling the water so that it turns into hot steam and introducing that steam into your surroundings. As warm mist humidifiers usually lack a fan, they’re quieter than their cool mist peers. That said, warm mist humidifiers are generally great for removing bacteria and germs from the air.
Final Words
Humidifiers are an excellent way to deal with a dry environment and the medical conditions it results in. There are different types of humidifiers designed to perform different functions. Here, we looked at these functions and explained how each type works.