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?”
So after reading all of these great posts I opted to go out and buy the Vick’s Vaporizer over the humidifier my husband was wanting to buy. We’ve been using it every night now for a week or so, and have noticed no difference. We use a wood burning furnace, and the air is very dry. We were waking up very stuffy and parched, and my husband was getting alot of bloody noses. We are still waking up feeling parched, and the room gets exceptionally hot from the steam going into the air. Any advice on where the vaporizer should be placed? Does it make a difference? It is currently at the foot of the bed, does it need to be right next to our heads? Should we put some of the menthol in if we don’t actually have a cold? Help!
Hey Paul
You can order the wicks over the internet–thats where I get mine from. Just do a search and compare prices.
MY 2 cents–warm mist in my 9 month olds room-sufering his first real cold & fluid behind his ear, hoping it won’t go to an ear infection. In my room -I’ve slept with a cool mist for years, I just turn it on when I go to bed & turn off when I get up. My sinuses don’t give me nearly as much trouble as they used to.
Okay. Here’s my two cents. I’m 55 with a 14 year old daughter.
I had a vaporizer she was 6 months. It got all junked up so I used cider vinegar to clean it up.
Then I got sick and allergies and the doctor said to use cold mist not warm. Warm mist will add to the mold in our 1928-built house and give me more allergies.
I bought a Kaz cool mist humidifier that has a replaceable wick. I used it periodically over the years and had to replace the wick every week or so because it got hard and wouldn’t draw water.
This year, 2006, my daughter has been coughing and no stores around me carry the Kaz anymore, so no more wicks. I guess I could order over the internet. I went out to Walgreens and bought a new cold mist humidifier for $20. It said ‘quiet’ on the book. The heck it was quiet. I ran it for one night in my daughter’s room – dang thing was so noisy, I had to wear earplugs. I took it back the next morning for cheerful refund.
I’m going to try a $10 Vicks 150 warm air vaporizer. For just a few times a year, I’m not going to worry about mold.
I’m 22 and I share an apartment with my fiancee. We both wake up feeling “dry” most mornings. About a month and a half ago, I went to Wal-Mart and bought the $20 cool mist humidifier. I haven’t really noticed a difference in the air, although she has been complaining about the smell. (which, in our case, smells like mildew) I’ll also admit that I was disappointed that there was no visible mist coming from the humidifier. I do remember my mom using a vaporizer when I was little, so yeah, I’m off to try that.
This site was very helpful. I have both cool mist and a vaporizor, and was on the fence, on wich one to use. My son is 7 and has a bad cold, so I guess I will be using the vaporizor!!!!
Exact repeat of #5, except there are no kids here.
does anyone know if there is a difference between a humidifier or vaporizor to humidify the air in the winter if vapor additives arnt used in vaporizor. or do the both do the same thing. thks
Thanks. I’m a grandmother – when my oldest were young it was vaporizers – my youngest, the doctor said humidifier – someone even gave me an explanation – but I don’t remember what it was so I came on to find out which to use because my 9 month old granddaughter has a cold. The doctor gave her medicine but we have a vaporizer and started using it last night. . .it helped, but since I couldn’t remember the difference and love her with sll my heart, I needed to know which to use for sure. Thanks for easing my mind. Now I’ll be able to sleep better. My youngest son is in college and he and wife and daughter live with me. Thanks again. . .
thank you much. i’ll be a pharmacist in 5 months and get these questions nearly every day at the counter. they don’t teach these things in pharmacy school—anecdotal evidence once again proves king! thank you al gore for the internet.
Goodness, that was a simple, non-product indorcing explaination. I appreciate it. Heck, when there are no hidden agendas the explaination can be easy, eh?
Aussie