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?”
Found out steroids caused fungus to grow on my vocal cords. Anti-fungal medication worked but now my asthma is worse than ever. Installed a funace humidifier turned up high enough for water to condense on the windows. Expensive Air Purifier is nice but did nothing for my wheezing. Haven’t slept for more than an hour at a time for years. I am mad as hell at my doctor because when I finally bought a $20 vaporizer I now can sleep. You do the math.
I just went and bought a cool mist humidifer and I have been waking up completly dry, sore throat, and cough. I will not use a cool mist humidifer again.
I dont know about you guys but i am still confused .since i have a 1 1/2 yr old boy who suffers from asthma I still dont know which one to buy…i have used humidifiers like for ever with him and they seem to work the Dr says it is not good to use a vaporizer with any medicine. well thats that…
Horray for you! Thanks for the info, as a new mom I’m very confused with a constantly sick baby. Vaporizer it is!
Thank You!!!!!! My daughter is 2 and has caught the cold & flu more times this winter than I have in my life time. I haven’t slept in 2 nights. With all the money already spent on medication & doctor visits, $10 on a vaporizor is an investment I’m more than willing to make. Thank you all again.
I had been scouring the net for about an hour before I stumbled upon your forum. Unfortunately I have been suffering from some sort of life threatening disease that more then likely could be a strain of what I would like to call the “apocalyptic cold” and decided that because of the dryness of the house that a humidifier was in order. Because I am on a student budget I was dreading shelling out the $50 for something displayed as a “wonder of technology”………because of this site myself and my classmates are all running out to Wal-Mart.
Just goes to show ya, when in doubt, ask a mom.
This is driving me crazy- all this contradicting information! I think the hot room is an issue also- I have a 2 month old who is very stuffy.. but kind of a dry stuffy.. I think it would get way too hot in the already -too warm for my taste-perfect temp for the baby- room… I did buy a humidifier with the filter.. we’ll see I guess I put tap water in it… I didnt read the instructions though. If it doesnt work I guess I will just go buy a vaporizer.. blah!
A warm mist vaporizer is best for stuffy noses and sinuses. Studies have shown that an ultrasonic (read expensive) humidifier provides a clean fine mist that is better at getting down to the lower airways. So an ultrasonic humidifier would be best if you or your kid has bronchitis.
This is the most divisive issue I have had w/ my boyfriend.
As long as (great caveat) keep it clean that’s the rug. with me I think I would do be to clean but just throw it out when it gets to be icky.
True enough – I have found that tap water works just dandy. At least here in Charlotte, however, it’s a must to include some salt (as instructed). If you don’t, the steam doesn’t work. I don’t know the mechanics, but a few pinches of salt in with regular tap water and it works great!