Being able to breathe better means being able to sleep, eat, and live better.
Sometimes weather, dry seasons, or just the climate of a place can lead to suffocatingly low humidity. Luckily you can treat your entire family to easier living by purchasing a humidifier.
But there are a lot of considerations to make in regards to the difference between cool mist and warm mist humidifier systems.
One noticeable difference between cool mist and warm mist humidifier systems is the electricity cost. The technology used to power a warm mist humidifier takes more electricity to evaporate the water with heat than do the ultrasonic models models.
Warm mist humidifiers have an easier time dispersing through large homes, large rooms, and even up to a second story. Cool mist on the other hand is a cool fog, and can only humidify one room, or one floor if it is powerful. The cool mist humidifiers also often feature comfort control knobs, that allow you to get just the right amount of humidity out of the system.
Another consideration when thinking about he difference between cool mist and warm mist humidifier systems is sanitation.
Cool mist humidifiers don't use warm water, a breeding ground for bacteria, and therefore don't need as extensive cleaning. Warm mist humidifiers however, need to be cleaned on a regular basis, especially the cheap ones.
Some of the more expensive warm mist humidifiers, designed often to humidify the whole home include UV cleaning systems to eliminate that painful chore and provide a safer humidity solution for your entire family.
Another difference difference between cool mist and warm mist humidifier systems is that the cool mist is much safer when it comes to the smaller members of your family. Children and curious pets have the risk of injury from the hot systems because not only do they carry the risk of scalding from the rising steam, but if knocked over the heating element can be quite hot and dangerous.
Cool mist on the other hand is excellent for children and pets. It can't hurt children, even when knocked over, because neither the mist nor the machine are hot. Cool mist systems are also much less of a fire hazard and animals might even make the gentle mist their new plaything.
Vick's makes warm mist humidifiers to go along with many of their medicines.
One difference between cool mist and warm mist humidifier systems is that the warm systems can dispense a wide variety of medications and treatments into the air because they use old fashioned heat rather than electricity to evaporate the water, which can take many solubles with it.
Using such things as Vick's vapor rub in a cool mist humidifier can damage the system by clogging the ultrasonic plate with residue.
While many different kinds of humidifiers are available at the store or online to be set up as a stand alone unit, people accustomed to a climate that is dry all year long often outfit their ventilation and ducting system with a built in humidifier.
This usually attaches to an intake or outflow point somewhere on your ducting system (usually requires professional installation) and either needs to be refilled manually, or refills itself off of a water line in the house. It takes this convenience a step further by often having an adjustable humidity level and a self-sanitizing feature.
If your family wants to stop getting bloody noses and breath better all year round, this might be a worthwhile investment.
Photo Credit: Fire Breathing
Topics: Humidifiers
