The other day we found out that our youngest had the croup. Pretty nasty sounding cough accompanies the croup, but luckily, it didn’t seem that there was much damage. Mostly just dried out from the lack of humidity in the winter air. Our heat pump is badly in need of repair or else it might provide the needed humidity, but that’s another story for another time.
So we’re supposed to get a “humidifier”. Hmm. Seems to be lots of choices. Warm mist, cool mist, humidifier, vaporizer. How to choose? How indeed. According to the helpful lady at Wal-Mart, we should get cool mist (ie, a humidifier). From what I can tell, in the beginning there were only vaporizers. But as time wore on, dainty little hands were burnt from the warm mist produced. You and I both know that warm things don’t burn. That mist is downright hot. But I digress.
And so, with the advent of new technology, cool mist products were born. Now there are all sorts of selections and capacities. Auto-shut off, timed humidifying, you can probably even find a model that will brew coffee with that warm mist, too.
So after two nights of use, the cool mist clearance model we found at Target started smelling funny. Not bad funny, and not quite burning funny. It was more of that smoldering smell that electronics sometimes get funny. Which is to say that even if it doesn’t cause a fire, it’s likely to break soon. So back to Target I went.
But before buying another model, I pulled Google into the mix. Please be aware that if you should search on humidifiers vs. vaporizers, you’ll get a lot of hits on products for keeping your contraband moist. If you make it past those, you’ll find that generally speaking, there is little to no difference between the two products – except for that burning issue.
While I don’t want to seem callous, it occurs to me that a child who happens to learn this lesson the hard way will not be likely to have to learn it again. And our children are generally intelligent enough to at least not burn themselves severely even when they do test our advice. If you have very small children, however, you may want to keep this in mind. Close to the unit, the mist is hot. Try it yourself if you need convincing.
So with all that in mind, here’s my own opinion on the matter: Vaporizers are cheap. Ten bucks at Wal-Mart. Humidifiers aren’t. Water that is boiled is unlikely to harbor any bacteria of any sort. Warm air to me seems to hold water better than cold air. Normally I find warmer air to be more soothing than cold air. There are no moving parts on most vaporizers, as they just have a little heating element to do the boiling.
You’ll also not find a filter on the ten dollar model from Wal-Mart, for the aforementioned reason of not having any bacteria in the mist. And finally, because of the vaporizing action, you can add menthol or a similar additive to the warm mist to help even further. Guess which product we use now? And hey – someone else even agrees!
Comments
109 responses to “Humidifier or Vaporizer?”
I’ve never had any luck with cool mist humidifiers. Vaporizers are the way to go. It just makes sense. If you think about it a long time ago, they’d eat soup during the winter, drink hot drinks, etc so the warm mist is a more natural way to get moisture in the air. I liken the warm mist to inhaling the steam from a cup of tea. It just feels right. And I’ve tried different brands. The Vicks is the simplest to use, and the easiest to clean. In the “adding moisture to your air” world fancier does not = better.
Especially for college students and asthmatics and the chronic cold sufferers. Whether you buy a vaporizer or an ultrasonic humidifier, the increased humidity means your window frames and glass will be moldy. The crusty white stuff on the rubber seals smells sour like wet drywall. The grey stuff on the window sill triggers my husband’s asthma and keeps him ill until I remember to clean. The glass harbours mold as well. Forget the paper towels and spray. A bowl of warm water doctored with EITHER vinegar or Clorox, plus a DROP of dish soap, Applied with a cleaning rag (the mold stains) and dried thoroughly with an old towel does a much better job. Clean the glass, then scour the seals and frame and windowsill.
I’ve been using the cool mist humidifiers for years. I’ve found that the ones that work best are the ULTRASONIC (regular cool mist with fans don’t seem to work well and get lots of mold). Warm mist vaporizers are more likely to increase mold in your home and the cheaper versions don’t allow you to adjust the output. As far as the costs for replacing cartridges…..I just never replace it. Evenutally, I just replace the whole thing about every 4 years when it finally won’t work anymore, but that’s just me. No matter which you buy, some tricks to help it stay clean are to use filtered water (out of your fridge door is fine, just let it set a few minutes to go back to room temp), and you can use vinegar to clean hard water that builds up. Both the warm and cool mists end up with about the same amount of build up. I also think that when I’ve used vaporizers in my children’s rooms I’ve noticed water at the top of the walls and the room smellls like the dry wall is getting wet. Good Luck!
Loved your original post. Made me chuckle.
We do have small children, but I just run the vaporizer when they’re all in bed & unplug in the morning. No burns yet. 🙂
I want to agree with the aromatherapy posts. You can put true essential oils like lavender or eucalyptus or Thieves Oil in the inhalant cup instead of a synthetic menthol substance. You only need a few drops if it’s high quality oil, and it’s really a good remedy.
I have the Vicks Vaporizer. I have been through 2 in a year, but they work really well and are inexpensive. We use it alot w my son. We burn wood and therefore it drys the air out pretty good. This really helps him alot. I do agree w the, whole they will get burned. Mine learned. It is a great product and a good investment. Someone had given me a humidifier and it was noisy and didn;t seem effective.
I have to agree with everybodys comments in regards to vicks warm vaporizer or katz either or, its the same. My son is 3months old and has a HORRIFIC cough took him to the ER and there was nothing they could give him, so we decided to be old school and get the vicks out w/ little baby vapor rub with 1/2 the amount of vapor steam solution w/ the machine so its not so over powering it worked great plus to really help the little one i used Johnsons Vapor Bath it seemed to help him. I mean used in moderations so the poor kid doesnt get immune to it or cause camphor OD but I have to say thnks to this web site i feel good about my decisions and I can sleep w/o a frantic baby screaming in my ear cause hes in pain. And it works for adults too so just if you were wondering help yourself your momma did it to you!! Enjoy
I have two grown children (ages 28 & 26) I bought a KAZ warm mist vaporizer 28 years ago to use when they were congested. I haven’t used it everyday but it has been used a lot. It has been stored on a shelf in the laundry room for about a year. I had been reading online about aromatherapy and I came across some information about using the oils with a warm mist vaporizer. I took old faithful off the shelf and fired her up; she works great. I put lavender oil in the little plastic cup, mixed with some water in the cup too. My bedroom smells great, my skin feels great, I breathe better and it has been a little chilly, so it warms the room too. This little machine is a miracle worker at my home!! Oh by the way, it was stored in its original box and I paid $7.49 for it at Kmart 28 years ago. Hows that for quality service, I definitely have gotten my money’s worth of service!!!! I hope this helps everyone with questions.
I always admired my Mother-in-laws sonic mist* that appeared to me to be commercial size, though probabally just a large home model, and would put out this amazing room temperature mist at an astonishing volume. Mind you my husband runs space heaters on top of our central heater and our so our home humidity is likely negative. I figured the likelihood of myself finding a 1980’s sonic mist was pretty much null, but I wanted one just the same! And finally one lucky day in spring I stumbled upon a small unit for $5 at a thrift shop. I was in love, and frankly still am. I had tried the honeywell humidifiers that have a fan and filter and blow frezzing cold air out and turn black before the week is over. I am over that! Though I am still in need of more moisture bearing devices as my house has more than one room. So the sonic lives downstairs as of this winter, and I am looking to get something for upstairs. Which is where this post comes in, and I too like many others have decided to go pick up a vicks vaporizor, however, I am thrilled to read the last post about distilled water for the sonic! It did not occur to me that viruses and bacteria could be introduced into the air with this model. I am curious to know if there are additional precautions I could take like adding an antimicrobial or antiviral agent to the water such as tea tree oil or ginger or something. In the end I am happy to know that I can keep my sonic and get my vicks too!!
I cannot believe in ALL these posts that no one has pointed out all the misinformation presented (except for two little posts, which everyone ignored). There are FOUR types of humidifiers; ultrasonic, cool-mist, evaporative, and warm-mist. The ultrasonic, and evaporative are being lumped into the category cool-mist and this is incorrect.
Ultrasonic (a type of cool mist). Uses high frequency sound waves to literally shake water molecules into a fog which is ejected from the machine by a tiny (usually) silent fan. This fog is both visible and cool. Very quiet. Any minerals, chemicals viruses and bacteria in the water will be added to the air. This type can raise the humidity level in a room to an unacceptably high level, which will cause moist fabrics and condensation in the room.
Cool-Mist (original meaning). Uses a 3-7 inch high speed disk to pump water from the reservoir and sling it very fast against a row of closely spaced teeth which breaks the water into minute droplets which are helped to flow out of the machine by a small fan. The fog is both visible and cool, and is “heavier” than ultrasonic due to larger droplet size. Reasonably quiet. Any minerals, chemicals, viruses and bacteria in the water will be added to the air. This type can also raise the humidity level in a room to an unacceptably high level which will cause moist fabrics and condensation in the room. These machines are somewhat old technology and are becoming difficult to find.
Evaporative (a type of cool-mist). Uses a small fan or centrifugal blower to draw air across a water soaked pad or wick. The water naturally evaporates into the air, so no fog is visible. Much louder than any other type of humidifier due to the large fan, though different models can vary drastically in sound levels. Will not add minerals, chemicals, viruses or bacteria to the air since these things will not evaporate naturally off of the wicks or water pads (They stay behind on the wick). The amount of moisture added to the air is self-regulated by how dry the air is; dryer air will evaporate the water faster than moisture-laden air, therefore this machine is self-regulating and cannot over-humidify a room.
Warm-Mist. These machines simply boil water in a small chamber to produce steam, which is naturally aspirated from the machine. The fog is visible and very warm. Very quiet. Will not add minerals, most chemicals, viruses or bacteria to the air (they stay behind in/on the reservoir and heating element). This type can also raise the humidity level in a room to an unacceptably high level which will cause moist fabrics and condensation in the room.
More random facts:
-Salt should only be added to warm-mist humidifier if the water will not boil sufficiently to produce enough steam. Salt hardens the water a little so that it will boil off better. It is completely useless in all other types of humidifiers as it will just remain in the reservoir when all the water is gone.
-All types of evaporative and cool mist humidifiers will not make a room colder. Adding moisture to a room actually raises the dewpoint, which makes the room feel warmer. At a constant 70 degrees, people will feel much warmer in a room at 60% humidity than they will at 20%.
-The vast majority of “whole-house” humidifiers that some have on their furnaces are “cool-mist” evaporative types. They are nothing more than a wet pad that some of the furnace air circulates through as it passes through the furnace.
-Wick/Pad replacement is essential for evaporative types once the wick becomes caked with minerals which cause it to no longer absorb and evaporate water properly. The length of service for wicks and pads varies greatly due to water hardness and, of course, the amount of time you use your humidifier.
-Ultrasonics and the older style impeller type cool-mist machines are by far the worst “white dust” offenders due to the fact that they disperse everything in the water into the air. Nearly all ultrasonics have a demineralization cartridge that filters out most of the heavy minerals from the water as it leaves the reservoir and goes the ultrasonic misting unit. These cartridges do not last long with hard water. The only remedy is to always use distilled water.
my son is 3 and has nosebleeds due to the dry air in the house. thanks to this site, ive decided against the cool spray and will be purchasing the vicks vaporizer. im just curious as to whether the vicks can be used without the vapor packets. im not trying to clear up a cold or cough, i just want to add moisture to the air when my son sleeps. does anyone know?