How To Choose a Humidifier for Your Home

The choice of your humidifier largely defines your home’s indoor air quality. If you dread chronic air dryness, a branded humidifier is a must-have appliance in your household. Maintaining the right humidity level indoors is imperative to ensure the sound health of your family. What’s more, dry air can adversely impact the structure of your home and furniture. When prioritizing indoor comfort and your well-being, it makes sense to invest in a branded humidifier.

The function of an optimally functioning humidifier is to maintain the proper humidity level indoors. At Hurliman Heating, we can guide you in choosing the right humidifier for your home. Feel free to reach out to us for installation, maintenance, and repair services for your humidifier.

What happens when your indoor air becomes dry?

In the absence of a humidifier, the air inside your home can become dry. This can lead to several health problems.

  • Dry indoor air in winter often leads to irritation in your nose and throat. Besides, the lack of adequate moisture gives you ugly cracked lips. Under severe conditions, you might also experience itchy skin and bloody noses.

  • If someone in your home is allergic, dry indoor air can lead to sinus infections, asthma, and frequent colds.

  • Excessively dry air can lead to the peeling of your wood flooring or wallpaper. Even your furniture might warp or develop cracks.

Choosing the right humidifier for your home

Here is how you can choose the right type of humidifier.

     1. Warm mist vs cool mist humidifier

Broadly, you have two types of humidifiers to choose from: cool and warm mist humidifiers.

Cool mist humidifier: These humidifiers come devoid of any heating element. They contain a wick that helps diffuse the mist into the ambient air. In case you use hard water at home, you should go for a cool mist humidifier. Mineral deposits are less likely to affect these appliances. Moreover, if you have any emphysema or asthma patients at your home, a cool mist humidifier will help them breathe with ease. However, note that the fan in a cool mist humidifier can be slightly noisy.

Warm mist humidifier: Warm mist humidifiers contain a heating element capable of heating the water. When the temperature nears the boiling point, it gets released into the ambient air as vapor. Warm mist humidifiers are ideal for areas with soft water. Alternatively, you need to use demineralized water in the reservoirs.

     2. Noise level

You need to consider where you are planning to install your humidifier. You need to install a warm mist humidifier in quiet spaces like indoor offices or bedrooms. Many reputed manufacturers have come up with ultrasonic humidifiers, which are even more silent. These appliances deploy sound waves at a high frequency to generate a soothing mist.

Besides, warm mist humidifiers are quieter than cool mist ones since they don’t have fans. So they won’t bother you with constant buzzing.

If you wish to settle with a cold mist humidifier, we recommend purchasing one with low operational noise. Generally, any humidifier with noise levels lower than 30dB won’t disturb your sleep or work.

     3. Array of features

It feels great to have a feature-packed humidifier at your home. Here are some features that modern humidifiers must have:

Auto shut-off: When you use a humidifier, you need to refill the water reservoir every couple of days. In case you forget to check the water level, the humidifier can burn out. The integration of the auto shut-off feature in your humidifier prevents your appliances from damage or breaking down.

Water tank indicator: The water tank of your humidifier keeps draining continually when in operation. The water tank indicator feature in your humidifier can tell you when it’s time to refill the reservoir.

Humidistat: It’s crucial to maintain a healthy moisture level in your home. When the appliance manages to fulfill the desired humidity level indoors, the humidistat turns it off. This is a crucial feature that ensures that the indoor air contains the right level of moisture all the time.

Filter indicator: While the humidifier works silently to keep the air adequately saturated, it’s easy to overlook its filters. At times, pollutants tend to clog the filters. When you inhale indoor air, these contaminants get into your system. The f filter indicator indicates when you need to replace it once it becomes polluted.

     4. Size of the water tank

The frequency at which you need to get the humidifier refilled depends on the water tank size. When these appliances work on a low setting, you must replace the water every two to three days. So, take care of the size of the water tank; it would be frustrating to refill the tank every few hours.

Moreover, the inadequate size of the water tank means you might have to refill the tank even during the night. Also, unless you get a branded humidifier, water spills might be a regular issue from time to time.

     5. Portability and cleaning

If you want to move the humidifier around your home or use it in different rooms, get a smaller, portable one. When you install casters, you can even move the bulky units around your home.

We also recommend purchasing humidifiers that are easy to clean.

Low-quality filters need more frequent cleaning, which might turn out to be a nightmare for you. Get a humidifier with a removable tank rather than one with a fixed tank. This would further ease up the cleaning process.

Endnote

As evident, customizing your humidifier to perfection calls for more than basic knowledge. Reach out to us at Hurliman Heating for professional support. We can help you narrow down your options. Our experts will recommend the best humidifier for your home based on your budget. Additionally, we can provide professional service for cleaning and maintaining these units at the scheduled time.

If you are ready to start your service, please call us today
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