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?”
Cool mist makes my kids’ room too cold in the winter and the vaporizer makes it too warm in the summer (95-100 degrees every day in the summers in Texas).
One problem I have had with the vaporizer – sometimes it does it’s job too well. By loosening up the congestion in the chest, it actually can make my son cough more.
Thanks this is very helpful. I have been suffering every night. Since the air in my bedroom is so dry. I am going to have to pick up a vaporizer this evening.
After weeks of a night cough and waking up with severe sinus headaches, I bought a cheap warm mist vaporizer from Walgreens. It does make the room hot, but I just turned down the heat. I slept perfectly, woke up without a headache. I also have asthma. For those with kids or those prone to burning themselves, well, it does get hot. But so does my stove, my curling iron, my dryer, my microwave, etc. and I manage to navigate around them safely. I’m not going to stop using my stove because it’s hot. Just be careful and keep the little ones away from it. I’ve used the more expensive humidifiers before and only bought the vaporizer because that was all I could find at that time. But I won’t be buying an expensive humidifier again – I’m sticking with the cheap warm mist vaporizer.
What about the fact that the warm mist vaporizers can burn you though? I know I have been burned on it several times without thinking. I recently bought a cool mist humidifier for this reason but I agree it does not work as well as the vaporizer and I would like to put one in my infant’s room.
This was an extremely helpful site! And now with my head hung down and my tail between my legs, I am off to Walmart to take back the Humidifier I purchased and buy the $10 Vaporizer. Glad I decided to keep the receipt! Thank you all.
Thanks so much everyone. I have an 8 month old with her 2nd ear infection. I bought the Vicks Vaporizer last night, did not do the salt, it did not work, so I used my $40 humidifier and, of course, the $1 gallon of distilled water did not make it thru the night. I will try the vaporizer again tonight. Love that you can use tap water and don’t have to keep gallons of distilled water on hand. Do you still need to clean it after each use? Is it still useful even if you don’t add the inhalant medication?
Vaporizer is the way to go. I remember my mother always used one in my room as a child. The pediatrician recommended it at the time. This was in the early seventies; I think the doctors nowadays need to go back to the way doctors thought then. Remember: warm mist vaporizer.
Confused as hell!?!, My mom was diagnosed with emphysema and I want to get her something that would really really help her and not to make her condition worst, I read through all of your stories and I thought I got the point until I get to different stories and such, you guys are all talking of different kind, what would be the best for her?, the last thing she needs is the any kind of funny smelling of any sort material in her bedroom, uuummmm…….help?
I just bought the VICKS cool mist humidifier for my 6 month old to treat his cold/congestion and after running it for about an hour, his room smelled awful! Similar to the not-quite burning/electronic smell described in the initial story above. After reading this site, I am going back to the warm-mist vaporizer!
Thanks for the input! I am a single mom of a wonderful 6y/o little boy who has not had clear sinuses for years now. After 2 bouts of strep throat, beginning this past January, (Kindergarten.. welcome to the world of constant cough and cold!)wise or not, I stopped all the over-the-counter stuff and turned to a more homeopathic approach. I feel confident that the body needs to be assisted to health, not suppressed!! Now, first-time mom and single, sleep is of utmost value! My son and I have not gotten a good night’s sleep in MONTHS. That awful cough and fever returned last night. Before jumping in the car to go to Wal-Mart to stand for who knows HOW LONG in front of the humidifier/vaporizer shelf, I thought I’d check the web. I’m on my way to purchase a vaporizer! Lord help us!!!