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 just took my 18 month old son to the doctor, he has upper respiratory infection, sinus congestion,ear infection. we have been using warm mist vaporizor on and off. it makes his room very hot and everything in the room is very damp even the baby. the doctor told us to use a COOL MIST humidifier! and said that using a Warm MIST vaporizor can cause neumonia! so i’m very very confused! i told he we have been using the warm mist he said for us to stop and use a cool mist for his condition. so i’m very confused, please help!
I just left the WalMart where I had the $43 cool mist humidifier in my hand, but something told me to Google “WalMart humidifiers” to see if I was paying too much and getting the right product. I’m glad that the internet (and each of you) came along during my lifetime 🙂
The Vick’s vaporizor is a fantastic product! A little salt in the water, and Vapo steam really gets it working well. It can wam your house, and even bring your utility bills down in the cold winter months. I’ve been using the Vick’s vaporizor for years. The only problem I have is that once they start getting old they start to spurt water out instead of the steam. I can’t complain though, the unti is so inexpensive it’s worth replacing when necessary. I have sinusitis, and although it isn’t bothering me, the doctor recommended a humidity to relieve the inflammation. I of course with be using my handy dandy vick’s vaporizor. As far as children are concerned, I have an 8, 6, and 4 year old. I’ve been using this vaporizor long before my children were born. Teach them, and they will learn. The best course of action, is to hold their little hand just close enough for them to feel it’s warmth, and to say “hot”. As parents it’s our jobs to teach our children, not to coddle them. If they don’t listen, the parents should be close enough to observe their chilren so they get close enough to feel it gets hot, but not close enough to get burned. 2 of my 3 children listened to me, and never touched it. However, the youngest, most stubborn of the bunch likes to find things out for herself. She didn’t get burned, but she did get her hand close enough to feel it’s warmth, and never touched it again.
Thank you everyone for the comments.
My son is 8 months old and has a terrible cold/cough. I put the vicks vaporizer in his room and within minutes he was sleeping and slept through the night. The Dr. won’t give him any meds and I feel so sorry for him as he can’t breath, nose is running, post nasal drip etc. etc. I also put baby vicks on his chest, back and pj’s. I know that this machine has helped him tremendously. I am going to buy another one for my daughter’s room as she is sick too. Heck maybe I will buy one for my room too as my husband and I are also sick. Vicks Vaporizers all around for EVERYONE!!!!!!! 🙂
Great info, just in time when I was trying to get to the bottom what the heck I had purchased. I had thrown away the box it came in so I didn’t know if I had a vaporizer or a humidifier or the difference between the two. All I knew was that no fog came out of it but lots of noise. Thanks to all this good information, I now realize that I have a cheap humidifier.
My take on all this is, which ever you use, be it a vaporizer or a humidifier, I would sure the heck use distilled water and hydrogen peroxide. Tap water is full of chlorine and some tap water now has pharmaceutical drugs found in it. All this is spewed out with the water fog. Yes distilled water is more expensive but were talking about our health.
I would beware of black particles in the water as it my be a type of fungi. The way to stop things from growing in your water, start with distilled water and add hydrogen peroxide. I like 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide but is some times hard to find unless you order it. Wonderful stuff just be very careful with it.
Hi Jake –
You may want to try a bit of salt in your water to create some extra steam. I’ve found that helps a good deal. Still, if it doesn’t help you, best of luck in your search!
I bought the Vicks at wal-mart, but am a little disappointed that the steaming mist is weak coming out of it. You have to place it right next to you to actually feel the effects of it.
I really need a stronger unit.
I really don’t know how some others here on this forum claimed that it turned there room into a rainforest.
I don’t see how thats possible with this Vick’s unit. I mean, for the money its of as a travel vaporizer of something like that, but its definitely on the weak side as far as misting power..
the search continues …
Coolmist Humidifiers are great and no bacterial problems quite the opposite if you put in Hydrogen Peroxide. Read http://www.alkaliseforhealth.net/oxygenhtm
Can anyone tell me how to get the condensation stains off my walls? I love the Vicks Vapouriser but my sons room and my own room now have condensation marks on the walls. My house is for sale and I can’t seem to remove the marks. Does anyone have any ideas? I would prefer not to repaint.