How Humidifiers Work
Evaporators, Impellers, Vaporizers, Nebulizers & More
Humidifiers help with respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis. They can keep your furniture from drying out, help you with your mental acuity and raise the perceived temperature in your home. However, humidifiers can be dangerous if you do not follow manufacturer’s guidelines and take care of your humidifier.
There are many types of humidifiers, including the following:
- An evaporative humidifier has a water reservoir, which feeds water into a basin and transfers it to a wicking filter. A fan spreads the moisturized air around. An evaporative filter can also be hooked up to a heating or cooling system to pump humidified air throughout your entire home or business.
- A steam humidifier or vaporizer boils water and adds steam to a room. Asthmatic children can benefit from this type of humidifier. If a mask is attached to either a steam humidifier or vaporizer, it is generally called a nebulizer. Medication can be added to the steam to help ease cold or asthma symptoms. Buyer beware: vaporizers can cause burns (steam is very hot), and they have high energy costs.
- There are also impeller humidifiers or vaporizers (like the one made by Vicks). These are inexpensive (some might say cheap). Most use a rotating disc which sprays water at a diffuser. This looks like a mist coming out of the humidifier. Impeller humidifier models need to be sterilized after every use due to bacteria in stagnant water. More expensive models have an ultraviolet light built-in to kill the bacteria. Among other drawbacks, impeller vaporizers are energy intensive.
- Homemade humidifiers – add a pan of water to the stove or put it on a radiator.
Ultrasonic humidifiers use vibration to create an ultrasonic frequency that dispels water (from the unit’s tank) into the air. These models are generally quiet and you can see them working by watching the mist escaping from the unit. Ultrasonic humidifiers have the same detrimental issues as impeller humidifiers.
