‘Frosty Returns’
As the temperature continues to drop and you crank up the heat, your home will become dryer and dryer as the heater works harder. This doesn’t just impact your pockets, but your body as a whole. Dry flaky skin, itchy eyes, scratchy throats, and even nosebleeds are just a handful of results of firing up the home heating system for the season.
Don’t let the natural discomforts of winter keep you up at night or negatively impact your day to day life. Instantly improve the air quality in your home and experience a more soothing night’s sleep by utilizing a humidifier.
Humidifiers help simulate a moist atmosphere in an environment with artificial heating and cooling. Humidifiers emit water vapor or steam into the air to improve the moisture levels in a room that are disrupted by the artificial heat pumped out by furnaces and heaters to keep us warm. As a result, we are less likely to itch due to dry skin and may breathe better.
How do Humidifiers work?
Simply, they add moisture to the air in the form of either warm or cold mist. Cool mist humidifiers tend to either perform in one of two ways, evaporative or ultrasonic, i.e. they either produce moistened air or they shake up water and release small droplets into the air. Warm mist humidifiers create warm moisture by boiling water and releasing the steam.
Either one will aid in soothing the ailments that come with winter months, but making the choice may be determined by how much maintenance you feel like performing which I’ll touch on later. If you have small children, a cool-mist humidifier may be the better choice as there is no heating element which may result in potential burns.
Precautions to note before usage
Aside from heeding the heating mechanism warning while there are many benefits of using a humidifier, there are a few things to note before using. The main issue is the maintenance as I mentioned above. Water that is left sitting in the humidifier too long can lead to the growth of bacteria and mold. The most common type of bacteria is Legionella Pneumophila, otherwise known as the bacteria that causes pneumonia, completely contradicting the purpose of the humidifier.
No matter which kind of humidifier you select, make sure to clean it regularly. Many humidifier tanks are dishwasher safe, but make sure to reference the instructions before machine washing and don’t forget the filters as well. It is also recommended to vacuum the area around the humidifier as the evaporated water can fall as a form of white dust.
