Choosing a home air humidifier

A comfortable life and well-being of both children and adults depend on the humidity in the house. Unfortunately, the ecological situation in urban environments is not ideal, and the air rarely meets hygienic standards. To establish the optimum humidity, special devices are used - humidifiers. Let's look at what types of devices are, how to choose the right humidifier, and whether it is needed.

How to determine that it is time to buy a humidifier

As a rule, the desire to improve our health by changing the quality of the air in the room leads us to the idea of ​​purchasing a humidifier. When most of the day we breathe dry air, the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract dry up, there is a risk of viral and infectious diseases, because the protective barriers of the body are significantly weakened.

A humidifier for a child’s room is especially relevant, as children are especially susceptible to weakening of their immunity and, as a result, allergic diseases and infections.

To understand the question whether you need a home humidifier or just an air purifier, you should first buy hygrometer. This is a simple, inexpensive device for determining the level of humidity in a room. Comfortable percentages of humidity lie in the range of 40-60% (that is, this is the amount of water vapor contained in the atmosphere).

If the final result is significantly lower than these figures, then you definitely need to think about buying a humidifier for your home. If the resulting number is within the normal range or exceeds it, then everything is fine. By the way, for greater certainty, it is desirable to take several measurements in a row, it is especially important to do this in the winter season. After all, it is in the winter when the batteries and heaters are working at full power in the houses, the environment is very dry (for example, at night).

In addition, you need to navigate and on their own well-being. If you often notice symptoms such as dry mouth, headaches, peeling of the skin, difficulty breathing, drowsiness, fatigue, then it is possible that the air in the room is just too dry and it greatly affects overall health, sleep and performance If there are small children in the house, then think about their health: it is especially important for the child to be in a house with a comfortable climate.

And finally, low humidity affects the state of furniture, wallpaper, paintings, parquet floors and laminate, because dry air contributes to the rapid emergence of cracks and drying of objects with time.

Types of humidifiers

How to choose a humidifier? In fact, household air humidifiers are divided into three groups: mechanical, steam and ultrasound. For small rooms there is a mini air humidifier (compact models). To decide which one is better, consider each type in more detail.

Traditional or mechanical

These devices suggest natural moisturizing the premises. They are arranged quite simply.In a special case - a tank is poured a small amount of water, which then falls on a special replaceable filter cartridges. With the help of a fan, the air is directed through a humid filter and comes out already humidified.

In fact, this is a kind of air purifier - after all, as it enters the atmosphere, the amount of dust is significantly reduced.

Depending on the manufacturer, there are advanced models with an antibacterial filter inside the structure and built-in ionizers to saturate the air with negatively charged oxygen ions.

Benefits:

1. Economical power consumption.
2. Silent work. Suitable for children's bedrooms.
3. Waterlogging does not occur.
4. You can always track the water level in the tank.
5. Steam moderately hot, the device is safe for the child.

Disadvantages:

1. The need for regular change of filters.
2. Humidity values ​​rarely exceed 60%. Not recommended for greenhouses and rooms with a large number of indoor plants.

Steam

In search of an answer to the question of how to choose a humidifier for an apartment, we advise you to look at this type of device. The principle of their operation resembles a boiler or a regular electric kettle: water in a tankheats up by means of the built-in TENA, or electrodes, and sterile steam intensively leaves outside. Going on hot evaporationaccordingly, the humidity in the room immediately rises.

Benefits:

1. The most important thing is the ease of operation and the rapid moistening of the room.
2. Compliance with safety. As is the case with traditional ones, the steam from these devices is hot, but not scalding, it is unrealistic to burn yourself.
3. No need to replace filters.
4. Hygiene, antibacterial effect, the destruction of microbes.
5. After work, there is no unpleasant white bloom on furniture and hard surfaces.

Disadvantages:

1. It can easily pereuvlazhnit atmosphere in the house, bringing it closer to the tropical: it also causes discomfort and unhealthy.
2. On heating elements can form scum.
3. Large water consumption in the tank.
4. High power consumption.

We looked for reviews on this type of device:

Ultrasound

Another option where you can stop the choice of a humidifier. Now it is the most common and popular type of climate technology. If to characterize the principle of operation in brief, it looks like this: a special internal membrane (piezoceramic) under the influence of alternating current creates ultrasonic vibration. The water, previously poured into the tank, under the influence of ultrasonic vibrations is divided into fine particles, turning into cold steam, or water fog. Some models have warm steam option. In addition, such devices are often equipped with important functions: separation of steam streams in different directions, sterilization and steam disinfection, regulation of the level of moisture, built-in hygrometer.

Benefits:

1. Low noise.
2. High performance.
3. Built-in hygrometer and constant control over the level of humidity.
4. Multifunctional.
5. An interesting option: a compact, or portable ultrasonic humidifier, which does not take up much space, but performs its basic functions.

Disadvantages:

1. It is recommended to use only purified (bottled) water.
2. Small area of ​​action.
3. Careful care of the device, the need to soften the water and clean it from impurities.

Referring to customer reviews:

Combined appliances

Recently, models with the functions of air cleaners, or the so-called combined systems, have become increasingly popular and in demand.

An air humidifier, which is also referred to as a climate complex, is able to additionally ionize and aromatize indoor air.

The design of such a device has the form of a system from several plastic discs with an adsorbing surface rotating in a container of water. Dust particles, falling on the disk, rotate with it, settle and wash off with water. In addition, dry air, passing through the disk system, receives intense moisture and at the same time is cleaned of various impurities.and pollution. The main type of humidifier in such complexes is the traditional type of devices.

The lack of such cleaning systems is obvious: complex care for them, a large number of consumables that require regular replacement.

The main criteria when choosing a humidifier

Choose those features that will be useful to us if you have already decided to buy a device:

1. Light indication, indicating the need to top up water. Of course, there are devices where the water level can be easily traced, but this possibility is not found everywhere.
2. Before choosing a nursery air humidifier, pay attention to the security system: protection against accidental activation and automatic blocking when switched on without water. The same is true in the presence of pets.
3. Indicator of contamination of the device and the change of cartridges.
4. Convenient housing with transport options.
5. The possibility of separating the flow of steam in different directions.
6. Night mode. Models with a similar function at night switch to a special low-noise mode with the lights off and the display.
7. Compactness. It can be a small desktop humidifier that will always be at hand.A good solution for small rooms is a mini device. It does not occupy a large space and copes well with the main responsibilities. Mini humidifier is suitable for children's rooms, does not require special care and works almost silently. The only drawback is obvious: short range.
8. Cost Often in the question of how to choose a humidifier for the house, the decisive factor is the price. The cheapest device will be mechanical or steam. Ultrasound units are slightly higher in price, and the highest cost is for wetting combines, or “air washers”. In addition, the price strongly depends on the range of capabilities of a device: the presence of a hygrometer, a liquid crystal display, the presence of heating water, steam, etc.

Additional features

We note not the most important, but also interesting criteria for choosing a device:

1. Air purification function. If you are interested in the destruction of germs and dust in the apartment, then you will need a floor cleaner or humidifier. In such devices there is a special antibacterial filter. However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to fully purify the air - after all, the action will be rather auxiliary.If you suffer from severe allergies and respiratory diseases, it is better to buy a full-fledged air cleaner. To understand how to choose a quality cleaner and at the same time a humidifier, be guided by reviews from real buyers.
2. Aromatization. As it is correct, the pre-purchased flavoring (aromatic or essential oil) is loaded into a special capsule, through which air is supplied. This function is intended for lovers and is not suitable for everyone, and headache and nausea can easily appear from the air oversaturated with flavors.
3. Ionization. Here is the same story as with the cleaners: special ionizers, ozonizers will be much more efficient. However, this function is very useful: the fact is that negatively charged oxygen ions are able to better attract and retain moisture, which means that moisture will be of higher quality.

Conclusion

What kind of device to improve the quality of air in the house to choose? Carefully analyze all the basic parameters, and most importantly, determine for what purpose you need this type of climate technology.In addition, remember that the size of the room will also greatly depend on the dimensions of the room.