Cool VS Warm Mist Humidifier
Cool mist humidifiers and warm mist humidifiers belong to the general class of non-ducted humidifiers. Inducted or ducted humidifiers are connected directly to the water line and installed next to the home furnace. Remember that using cool mist and warm mist, humidifiers come with benefits and challenges.
Cool Mist Humidifiers
Cool mist humidifiers disperse moisture, which is at room temperature. There are two main types of cool mist humidifiers based on the mode of operation: evaporative and ultrasonic. Evaporative cool mist humidifiers have a filter and a fan. The fan is used to blow the water that is absorbed by the internal wick filter.
This process creates steady stream of cool mist, which is dispersed around the entire house or room.
Ultrasonic cool mist humidifiers use ultrasonic vibration to generate a steady stream of cool mist. The mist is dispersed all around the house or room, depending on the device’s humidification capacity. The humidification capacity is measured in terms of the number of milliliters of moisture that the humidifier can spread in an hour.
Benefits of Cool Mist Humidifiers
Using cool mist humidifiers can be beneficial in the following ways.
- Low operational costs. Cool mist humidifiers do not heat the water before turning it into moisture. Heating the water requires additional units of electric power. Because cool mist humidifiers do not have heating elements, they consume less power than humidifiers with heating elements. Thus, operating a cool-mist humidifier costs less than running a warm mist humidifier.
- Enhanced safety. Because cool mist humidifiers do not have heating elements, they are safer than warm mist humidifiers. It is safer to use a cool-mist humidifier in a home full of children than a warm mist humidifier. Using a cool-mist humidifier in such conditions eliminates the danger of hot water accidents occurring in your home.
- Cool mist humidifiers are ideal for large indoor areas. These humidifiers typically dissipate moisture across larger areas than warm mist moisture.
- It is easier to clean and maintain cool mist humidifiers than warm mist humidifiers. For warm mist humidifiers, mineral deposits are left behind because of the boiling process. After some time, you must ensure that you remove all the mineral deposits from your humidifier.
Warm Mist Humidifiers
The defining feature of warm mist humidifiers is the presence of a heating element. The water is heated first before being turned into mist and then ultimately dissipated around the indoor space.
Benefits of Warm Mist Humidifiers
Using a warm mist humidifier may be a better idea than using a cool-mist humidifier. It all depends on your needs and the circumstances of your home or office. The following are a few notable benefits of using a warm mist humidifier.
- Healthy air for breathing. Pathogens that cause diseases and other unwanted particles are usually found in water. Such germs are generally dissipated with the cool moisture that is produced by cool mist humidifiers. However, warm mist humidifiers have heating elements that boil the water. The boiling process kills all pathogens, including bacteria. This process ensures that you breathe very clean air when indoors. It also helps to prevent the spread of flu and cold.
- Silent operation. Warm mist humidifiers do not have internal fans for moisturizing the water before dispersion. Although the absence of an internal fan undermines these humidifiers’ capacity to serve large areas, it ensures that the humidifiers operate silently.
- Ideal for small areas. Warm mist humidifiers are ideal for small areas such as bedrooms or offices. Although the humidifiers do not spread moisture across large areas, they create a comfortable environment in small indoor spaces such as bedrooms. Moreover, using this type of humidifier helps to create a cozy environment because the moisture is warm.
Things to Consider when Purchasing a Humidifier
Choosing the perfect humidifier for your home can be a big headache. There are many brands with different features available. You need to be specific about what you are looking for to get the right device. Here are a few factors that you should consider before deciding.
Type of Humidifier
There are three types of humidifiers, based on the moisture that they dissipate and the mode of operation: cool mist, warm mist, and ultrasonic humidifiers. Please note that this categorization applies to room or full-house humidifiers and not ducted or HVAC humidifiers.
Ultrasonic humidifiers are renowned for their silent mode of operation. They usually dissipate either cool or warm mist, depending on your needs at any given time.
Warm mist humidifiers have heating elements that are used to warm the water. The warm water is then cooled down and atomized before being dissipated as moisture in the house.
These humidifiers are the most expensive to maintain because they consume a lot of electricity in boiling the water. However, through the boiling process, all the germs that may be in the water are killed.
Thus, warm mist humidifiers are the safest because they dissipate germ-free moisture. Cool mist humidifiers use less energy than warm mist humidifiers because they do not heat the water before dispersion.
Noise Level
It is essential to consider your humidifier’s noise level because all humidifiers produce some noise when operating. However, different types of humidifiers have varying noise levels.
Generally, ultrasonic humidifiers produce the least amount of noise than warm mist and cool mist humidifiers. The silent nature of ultrasonic humidifiers’ operation is because they produce high-frequency sound waves that are hardly detectable to the human ear.
If you intend to use a humidifier in bedroom, it would be wise to go for the brands that produce the least amount of noise. Ideally, go for ultrasonic humidifiers if you intend to use them in rooms where silence is critical.
The noise level of humidifiers and other devices is usually indicated in decibels; abbreviated as ‘dB.’ The lower the dB level of a humidifier, the less noise it produces when operating. Ideally, go for humidifiers with the lowest possible dB levels if you prioritize silent operation when choosing your home’s ideal device.
Maintenance Requirements
Although humidifiers are generally low-maintenance devices, you will have to carry out a few maintenance procedures to keep them in excellent shape.
Primarily, you must clean your humidifier as regularly as possible to ensure that mildew, molds, and bacteria do not grow. These pathogens find fertile ground inside your humidifier if you fail to clean the device regularly. If they colonize your humidifier, then the moisture’s quality that the humidifier dissipates will be grossly compromised.
Choose a humidifier that is easy to clean and refill the water. The best brands come with the cleaning brush and have shapes that your brush can reach to every corner.
The space that needs to be humidified
Non-ducted humidifiers exist either as a single room or whole house types. Single-room humidifiers have less humidification capacity than whole-house humidifiers.
If you would like to humidify one room at a time, it would be best to go for room humidifiers. However, if you do not have the time to keep moving your humidifier from one room to another, go for a whole-house humidifier.
Room humidifiers are ideal for humidifying small to mid-sized indoor spaces because of various reasons. Mainly, such portable humidifiers are easy to use. You can place your humidifier at the top of your table or any other flat surface in your room for maximum performance.
Tips for Maintaining Your Humidifier
You must maintain your humidifier to get the best out of these appliances. The following are a few things that you should do to ensure that your humidifier remains in perfect working condition and serves you correctly.
The purpose of maintaining a humidifier
Regular cleaning of your humidifier helps to prevent mold growth. The growth of mold, mildews, and bacteria inside the humidifier can undermine its function correctly.
Mildew and molds can grow within your humidifier very fast if you use tap water or fail to clean it regularly. Therefore, the purpose of maintaining your humidifier is to prevent the accumulation of deposits if you use tap water and the prevention growth of molds and mildews.
If you breathe water containing bacteria and other forms of impurities, you may develop humidifier fever. This mild flu-like condition occurs when your humidifier dissipates moisture that contains pathogens.
How to Maintain your Humidifier
- Frequently replace the water. If you leave the water in your humidifier’s reservoir for a long, it may become the perfect breeding ground for mildew and molds. If mildew and mold growth in your humidifier’s reservoir, they may interfere with the air quality you end up breathing when using the humidifier. Daily replace the water in the reservoir of your humidifier to prevent this from happening.
- Clean the humidifier after a few days. A thorough cleaning of the entire humidifier is necessary to keep the device in excellent shape. Regularly disassemble your humidifier and clean every component thoroughly. It may help if you consult your manual on the recommended procedures for cleaning the humidifier. This cleaning process entails wiping the exterior as well as washing the internal components of the humidifier.
- Using distilled water. Hard water contains salts and other dissolved minerals. If you use such water in your humidifier directly, you will breathe air that is contaminated. The minerals will be dissipated together with the moisture as white dust. Use distilled water to refill the water reservoir of your humidifier. Alternatively, use a humidifier that has a mineral filter. This is a small device that removes all the dissolved minerals and salts in hard water. Thus, a mineral filter turns hard water into soft water that can be conveniently used in humidifiers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Humidifiers
A humidifier can help create a comfortable indoor environment if adequately used. Here are a few frequently asked questions about humidifiers and their answers.
What is the ideal humidity level?
The best humidity level is from 40% to 50%. Very high humidity levels of more than 50% encourage the development of molds, bacteria, and other pathogens. Very low humidity levels create many unpleasant respiratory conditions. When the humidity level is below 30%, furniture and other wooden equipment start to get damaged.
Can I put my humidifier on a timer?
You can put your humidifier on a timer. Modern brands of humidifiers come with inbuilt programmable timers. You can set the time when the humidifier should start running and choose when it should stop. This approach helps to minimize the amount of electric energy used because the timer is programmed to run only when it is needed to do so. Also, using a programmable timer helps to maintain a comfortable indoor environment.
What is meant by the capacity of a humidifier?
A humidifier’s capacity refers to the amount of moisture that the device can dissipate within 24 hours. The higher the humidifier’s capacity, the easier it is for the humidifier to reach the desired humidity levels. The output capacity is completely different from the size of the water tank of a humidifier.
How do I add water to my humidifier?
Refilling your humidifier is a straightforward process. Most humidifiers have easy-to-open tops that connect directly to the water reservoir. Once the top is open, you can either use a pitcher to refill the tank or take the entire humidifier to a tap for the refill.
How often should I refill my humidifier?
The way you use your humidifier determines how often you will have to refill its water reservoir. If you use your humidifier continuously for 24 hours, then it means that you will have to refill it at least once every day. However, if you use the humidifier intermittently, you will not have to refill it every 24 hours.
Can I add essential oils to my humidifier?
Some humidifiers come with an inbuilt aroma box. This is an aroma diffuser that you can use to create a pleasant aroma across the home or room in which your humidifier is placed. Check the specifications of your brand to ensure that you get a humidifier that can be used to deodorize the air and increase the level of moisture.
Can I refill my humidifier with hard water?
You can refill your humidifier with hard water if the humidifier has a mineral cartridge. A mineral cartridge traps all the salts and minerals that are found in hard water. This process prevents the dispersion of water with minerals, which may cause white dust to settle on objects in the home after some time.
Why should I clean my humidifier?
The presence of hard or soft water in your humidifier for a long time creates the perfect breeding ground for molds and mildews. Moreover, the boiling process in warm mist humidifiers creates deposits of salts within the device after some time. Cleaning your humidifier removes the salts and prevents the growth of molds and mildews.
How often should I clean my humidifier?
It is wise to clean your humidifier thoroughly after every few days. Adopting this practice helps to keep your humidifier in excellent shape and ensure that you breathe high-quality air. You can use the soft-bristled brush that many humidifiers come with and any type of mild cleanser to clean every part of the humidifier thoroughly.
Best Dual Mist Humidifier – Reviews
1. LV600HHLEVOIT Humidifiers for Large Room
Three things make the LV600HH one of the most reliable humidifiers for your home: performance, safety features, and accessories. It has a sizeable 6-liter water tank that makes things easy for you: you do not have to refill it often.
Additionally, this humidifier dissipates 500mL of cool or warm mist every hour. This capacity is enough to cover large indoor spaces that measure up to 750 square feet.
This humidifier has beneficial additions. The aroma box allows you to add essential oils to create a pleasant atmosphere in your home. It also comes with a cleaning brush that you can use to remove all the residues from the tank’s inside.
However, the cleaning process takes longer than one would expect. This is because of the square shape of the tank. You will have to be keen enough to ensure that the brush reaches all the corners at the bottom of the humidifier.
Pros
- Very convenient to use because it has a built-in humidity sensor
- It has beneficial additions, including an aroma box and a cleaning brush
- Powerful humidification capacity of 500mL per hour
- The humidifier has a remote control that complements the manual control buttons
Cons
- Cleaning the corners of the humidifier takes a long time
2. TaoTronics Cool and Warm Mist Humidifier
Humidifiers ideal for use if you have colds, flu, or an allergic reaction are like the TaoTronics Cool and Warm Mist. It effectively dissipates cool or warm moisture in relatively large areas. The moisture is atomized and purified so that it does not spread pathogens and other small particles that may be harmful.
When you have a cold, using a warm mist humidifier can help you recover fast and avoid reinfection. This is because the mist that warm mist humidifiers dissipate is usually heated first.
The heating process kills all the germs that may be found in the water. However, cool-mist humidifiers have inbuilt water purification processes that ensure the air in your home is not infected with pathogens.
Operating this humidifier is a breeze. It has very few control settings; you will hardly get confused when using the buttons to change any operation aspect. Besides, it has a large removable top that makes the refilling process straightforward.
Pros
- Easy to operate because of its top-fill style and LED light indicators
- Ideal for use in children’s bedrooms and when you have a cold or flu
- Ideal for large rooms because of its large water tank and long runtimes of 60 hours
Cons
- The humidifier is slightly noisy unless set on the sleep mode
3. Elechomes Warm and Cool Mist Humidifiers SH8820
Elechomes SH8820 is a stylish and powerful humidifier that produces either cool or warm moisture at the touch of a button. It has a relatively big water tank that can accommodate up to 5.5 liters of water when full.
But the most fantastic feature of this humidifier is its capacity. When operating optimally, it can dissipate up to 600mL of moisture every hour. This humidification rate is outstanding, considering that many humidifiers with 6L water tanks can only spread 550mL of water per hour.
Additionally, you will find the universal remote control that comes with this humidifier a great plus. It is easy to switch the humidifier on or off and adjust its performance from your seat’s comfort using a remote control.
Moving your Elechomes SH8820 from one room to another will be a problem because of this humidifier’s size and shape. You will be forced to carry it to adjacent rooms where extra moisture in the air is needed. However, this is not a big problem, considering the massive humidification capacity of this device.
Pros
- The humidifier comes with remote control for easy operation
- Whisper-like mode of operation because of the ultrasonic cool mist technology
- Massive output of up to 600mL per hour rapidly increases the humidity level of air in an indoor environment
Cons
- It is slightly bulky
4. TTLIFE Top-Filling Warm & Cool Mist Humidifier
It is easy to clean and maintain the TTLIFE Top-Filling Warm & Cool Mist Humidifier. The humidifier has a wide and detachable top. Thus, refilling its 4-liter water tank or thoroughly cleaning its interior is an effortless process.
Moreover, the humidifier comes with a universal remote control. You can use the remote control to change the mist settings, temperature, and other aspects of this humidifier’s performance. Alternatively, you can use the touch buttons on its surface to adjust the performance to your preferences.
This humidifier provides uniform humidification rapidly because of the design of its nozzle. The nozzle can turn at 30 degrees, thus enabling the humidifier to dissipate moisture all around the house.
One significant drawback of using this humidifier is that you will be compelled to refill its water tank more often than using a humidifier with a bigger water tank. The water tank of this humidifier can hold 4 liters of water only when full.
Pros
- It is easy to clean the humidifier and refill the water tank because of the sizeable detachable top
- The humidifier comes with remote control for convenient operation
- The humidifier provides uniform humidification in large spaces because of its 360 degrees rotatable nozzles
- It has a built-in aromatherapy box
Cons
- Its 4liter water tank is relatively small
5. PowerPure 5000 Warm & Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier
The PowerPure 5000 is an excellent humidifier that combines elegance and performance. It has a sleek modern look with a matching white finish. When placed atop tables, this humidifier can add a sense of style to your room.
Additionally, it is designed to effectively humidify areas that are as large as 700 square feet. Thus, the PowerPure 5000 is enough to create a wonderful feeling in large indoor spaces at home or even the office.
The digital humidistat and timer are great additions. The digital humidistat lets you determine the level at which the humidifier should operate. One can program this humidifier’s performance using the timer to select the periods when the humidifier will be on or off.
It is relatively safe to have this humidifier around your home. It has inbuilt safety features that help you to keep it secure. If the water level in the water tank diminishes to a critical level, the humidifier automatically and instantly shuts itself off. This safety feature prevents the humidifier from getting damaged as well as causing accidents at home.
Pros
- Elegant modern design with a sleek look provides aesthetic value
- It has a digital humidistat for personalized performance
- The humidifier has advanced inbuilt features, including auto shut off if the water tank is empty
Cons
- The humidifier is slightly noisy when operating
6. PowerPure 5000 Warm & Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier
One of the hallmarks of PowerPure 5000 Warm & Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier relates to maintenance. You will spend very little time carrying out routine maintenance procedures because the ceramic filter is permanently fixed. One does not have to think about replacing the filter occasionally when using this humidifier.
The permanently fixed ceramic filter removes all the salts usually found in hard water used to fill the humidifier. This process prevents the dissipation of the salts with the moisture into the air around your home.
Cleaning it is a straightforward process. The water tank is easily detachable to let you reach all the deep corners inside using the special cleaning brush that comes with this humidifier.
Although ultrasonic humidifiers are supposed to the less noisy than either cool-mist or warm-mist humidifiers, the PowerPure 5000 Warm & Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier is slightly different.
You will find it quite loud if placed in the bedroom and let it operate optimally. Luckily, the sleep mode helps to minimize the noise that the humidifier produces at night.
Pros
- It has soft-touch buttons and a complimentary remote control
- Ideal for use all-year-round because it spreads the either warm or cool mist
- Low maintenance needs because the ceramic filter does not have to be replaced
Cons
- The humidifier is slightly loud