Humidifiers

[justbob]

I assume people use humidifiers, any recommendations on which are good? Removing dust is obviously a plus.

[Bill Sonoma County]

Bob,

If you use them a lot, ultrasonic cool mist units are problematic with all the particulate debris they leave behind.

Though they are less energy efficient and harder to clean, I use hot vaporizers, two for a really dry room. In cold weather look out for condensation on inside of windows which can damage windows sills and trim.

[No tears in ATL]

Two recommendations here. What works for me is a different humidifier for different seasons, but this varies by region/climate:

Winter: Warm mist is awesome. Hygienic, helps you even save a bit on heating costs as the warm mist warms the room. Keep it clean by scrubbing the heating element with vinegar every week. Use filtered water to keep the mineral content down. Do you like dusting? I don't either. Trust me and use the filtered water. If I lived in an extreme Northern climate, I might use this year round.

Spring, Summer, Fall (Keep in mind I am in the Southeast): Air O Swiss Ultrasonic Mist. I can get the room to 40-50 percent humidity very quickly and you can choose warm or cool mist. You must replace the filter each season (about three months) and the silver stick to kill bacteria. I found a silver cube on Amazon that functions almost exactly like the silver stick. I have used the ultrasonic in the winter as well; I just have to keep on top of cleaning it. The Ultrasonic is very quiet, which is a plus. At the end of the day, they are both a good value.

[justbob]

Doesn't sound very effective, remove dust from air is important feature for me. What level of humidity is optimal for eye problems? My bedroom hovers around 70% humidity, I read over 50% encourages dust mites? Maybe I need an air filter instead, anyone recommend good one?

[Max52]

Doesn't sound very effective, remove dust from air is important feature for me. What level of humidity is optimal for eye problems? My bedroom hovers around 70% humidity, I read over 50% encourages dust mites? Maybe I need an air filter instead, anyone recommend good one?

Bob...70% is very high and will encourage mold growth. I'm not aware of a connection between humidity and dust mites. Ideal humidity is between 40-60%.

[L8rgator]

I prefer as high as possible. I'm happy at 65% or more. I do this in one room, and I have to work hard to avoid mold. I painted the walls with mold resistant paint, in a glossy sheen so they are easy to rinse. Most are while so I can use bleach. I keep dehumidifers (non-electric ones) under the cabinets and in the backs of closets where it gets condensation during wither. I spray mold preventer on all the difficult areas and around the windows multiple times every month. I sealed up all cracks and areas I can't reach to clean. So far so good.

I was using an autofill humidifier (basically a guy took a regular tank humidifier and added a fridge water line and afloat stopper. Worked great until it started to keep a couple years in). That baby went through SO much water in winter, but the house in winter never got above 35 on the coldest days.

[justbob]

I decided my humidity was high enough naturally, so I bought an air purifier instead. I'm wondering about the ionizer feature though, they are supposed to be bad for asthma and I'm wondering if it could irritate my eyes too, any thoughts/experiences?

[L8rgator]

Don't mess with ozone. You don't have to have asthma for it to be dangerous. Mine comes on automatically on my air cleaners by default, so I am always very careful to turn that feature off immediately each time I turn the machines on. Not worth the risk (especially since some of the claims made about how it helps clean the air simply are not true) regardless of the effects on eyes.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

[justbob]

Don't mess with ozone. You don't have to have asthma for it to be dangerous. Mine comes on automatically on my air cleaners by default, so I am always very careful to turn that feature off immediately each time I turn the machines on. Not worth the risk (especially since some of the claims made about how it helps clean the air simply are not true) regardless of the effects on eyes.

Supposedly my purifier doesn't emit significant ozone, I assume you don't buy that. Are there known effects on eyes? What purifiers do you use?

[PiotrSWE]

For Europeans, Germany has by far the largest selection of high-quality humidifiers, but most of them are not sold on Amazon.co.uk. Korea and Japan has a good selection too of humidifiers, and it is not too expensive to ship them to Europe. The humidifiers common in the USA and the UK mostly seem to be low-cost and semi-effective humidifiers that mostly on design.

Here is a comparison between humidifiers on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Amazon.de:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...humidifi%2Caps

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...tbefeuchter%20

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...rds=humidifier

I would definitely go for the ones on Amazon.de. On the other two sites, the humidifiers generally cost £40 or $30, and the models are simple and cheap. It is also good to pick a humidifier with antimicrobial functions, otherwise one might have to add some solution to the tank. Ebay will have a selection of humidifiers from Japan and South Korea.