A humidifier is a device which works just like the opposite to an air cooler. Air cooler reduces the humidity by cooling. On the other hand, a humidifier increases the humidity or moisture in a room.

Basically, with the help of a humidifier, the moisture of a single room or an entire building is increased. The common point of use humidifiers is used to humidify a single room. And whole-house or furnace humidifiers provide humidity to the complete house.

Now the question is where a humidifier is needed. In a word, the humidifier is used in the places where low humidity may occur. Low humidity is generally found in hot and dry desert climates or indoor of artificially heated spaces. When during the winter cold outside air is heated indoors, 10-20% humidity may drop.

It is now clear that humidifier is necessary in a place where lack of humidity occurs. If there is a lack of humidity in a place, it causes some severe health problem as well as other problems.

Adverse health effects can be caused by this low humidity. It may dry out mucous membranes like the lining of throat and nose. It may also cause respiratory distress.

Low humidity has also the adverse effect on the wooden furniture. It causes loose joints and shrinkage or cracking of pieces. In low humidity papers, books and artworks may warp or shrink. Those become brittle in a very low humidity.

In low humid conditions, static electricity may become a problem. It destroys semiconductor devices and causes static cling if textiles. It also causes small particles and dust to stick rigidly to electrically run surfaces.

The benefits of installing a humidifier are many. Humidifier benefits actually are so many to describe. Here are some humidifier benefits.

1. The spread of Airborne Viruses is prevented.

According to a recent study, if the indoor humidity level rises to 43%, the airborne viruses will be ineffective. Actually, 85% of the airborne viruses are abolished. So, the researchers are emphasizing on the increase of humidity in the hospitals. It is done to protect the doctors, nurses, and visitors from being affected by airborne viruses.

Moisture has also the ability to stop the movement of the germs. It also prevents the spread of many illnesses like influenza.

2. Fast recovery

Humidifier benefits in another way also. Place an air humidifier in your home and recover your allergies, cold, cough and asthma more quickly. In a well-humidified home, your nasal passages are well-lubricated and it ensures your faster healing.

3. Higher humidity level helps to release congestion

Well, humidified home will provide you some relax if you have the problem related to nasal congestion. Dry air makes the mucus thick and dry. As a result, the mucus does not flow properly. As a result, the sinuses are not drained properly and congestion takes place. This may cause irritated nasal passage, stuffy nose, painful sinuses and sore throat. But humid air reduces the congestion and helps you feel healthy.

4. Allergy reduction

The people having allergies reap the best humidifier benefits. Humidified air reduces the symptom of the allergy.

5. Preventing Snoring it ensures better sleep

Sleeping in a dry room may break your sleep due to dry nose, scratchy throat and even a headache. Among many reasons, dry and scratchy throat is one of the causes of snoring. So, if you sleep in a humid environment, you will get rid of the problem. As a result, you can have a very sound sleep.

6. Prevent dry skin

50-60% of human body is made of water. Dry condition pulls out the moisture. So, you may have chapped lips, dry skin, and bloodshot eyes. Only a humidifier can save your skin and body from being dried and water less.

7. Protect your hair and scalp

Human hair is made of collagen. To remain flexible, the collagen needs moisture. Again, dry, dull and brittle hair results from dry air. Dry scalp is often itchy and becoming flaky, it produces unseen dandruff. So, a well humid environment will keep your hair and scalp healthy.

8. Makes your home warmer

Researchers have found that dry air is cooler than the humidified air. So, a humidified room helps the people to feel warmer. At the same time, it also saves heating bills.

9. Keep your pets healthy and comfortable

Like you and your indoor pets also enjoy the same health benefits and comfort. It also saves your veterinary bill. Pure air of a humidified room saves your pets from allergies.

10. Keep your houseplants healthy and happy

Humidifier benefits are also found in the life of plants. Like the human body, the plants also dry up for a scarcity of humidity. Most of the plants like 40-60% humidity. So, a humidifier will provide your plants the required humidity. 

11. Prevents damage to wooden furniture

Dry weather generally dries out the wood furniture and makes it crack. It also loosens the joint of a wood floor. Wood doors may change its size and create difficult to open and close. The reason is that the woods need a certain amount of humidity constantly. Only a good humidifier can ensure your furniture to work at their best.

12. Prevents static

During the dry winter months static electricity is often found increasing. This static can make several damages in the household. If an area is properly humidified, it has the ability to limit and sometimes prevents most of the problems originated from static.

This is an important thing to know before installing a humidifier in your home. Babies have generally very sensitive skin and respiratory system as well. When indoor humidity drops less than 10 percent during the winter season, irritation may be found in the skin, nose, and lungs of the babies. The viruses also grow massively in this cold and dry air condition. If a baby is attacked with the respiratory infection, it can’t take the strong medicine like the adults. So, the humidifier for babies is now frequently suggested especially during the dry winter season.

Benefits Of Humidifier For Babies:

Humidifier has a good number of benefits on the baby’s health. The benefits can be pointed as below.

• It releases the baby from cold symptoms and congestion by moisturizing the condition.
• Helps them to cure fast.
• Keeps them more comfortable to fight against cold and cough.
• Humidifier for kids helps to keep the skin healthy.
• Humidifiers help the children to have a sound sleep.
• The soft hum of a humidifier provides the baby a great sleep.

Thus, there is no doubt that humidifier for the kids is one of the most important factors. But some cautionary steps should be taken to keep the device in good condition.

The precaution measures are as below-

• It should be kept dry between uses.
• Distilled water should be used instead of tap water in the humidifier for babies.
• It should be cleaned and disinfected carefully and regularly.
• And It should be kept unplugged and out of reach.

For the best humidification of your room, there is no alternative to the PURE ENRICHMENT ULTRASONIC COOL-MIST HUMIDIFIER. The features of the product are here.

• It can moisturize the air safely for more 10 to 24 hours.
• It ensures a great restful sleep
• 1-gallon water tank and powerful steam provide ideal humidity for offices, bedrooms and other rooms up to 500 square feet.
• It has automatic shut-off that turns the machine off in the case of low water level or if the water tank is removed.
• The silent operation of the machine is very much comfortable for a baby room
• Its single and dual mist nozzle makes it easy to adjust the mist direction and the speed in order to fit your comfort level.
• For the highest relaxation, the optional night light offers you a soothing glow.

The key features of the product are here.

• Evaporative humidification technology is used
• Up to 99.9% of mold, fungus, bacteria, and virus in the water are killed incessantly.
• Provides cool and filtered invisible moisture
• Break resistant water tank along with wide opening is easy to clean and fill
• Up to 25% quieter than the rivaling evaporative humidifiers
• 3-speed settings
• Made for medium sized rooms
• Large and Easy to clean surface
• Dishwasher safe parts
• Wicking filter removes the impurities from water by minimizing white dust and giving clean moisture output.
• 1-gallon tank capacity
• Runs up to 24 hours after every filling on low setting.
• HAC-504 series Replacement Filter A (1 wicking filter included w/humidifier)
• 3 year limited warranty

So, this device makes the humidification process more convenient than before.

The noteworthy features are as below.

• Medicine cup for use with Vicks humidifier Vaposteam or Kaz Inhalent
• This produces a medicated soothing vapor
• Automatic shut-off
• Quiet humidifier operation
• Convenient carrying handle
• Tank floor designed to drain fully
• No standing water
• Translucent tank exhibits the water level
• No filter is required
• Operates at least 12 hours on a single filling
• 1-gallon capacity
• 2 comfort settings
• High for maximum moisture or larger rooms and low for the comfortable level of humidity in an average-sized room.
• Auto shut-off

The details of the product are here.

• Upgraded LED display
• Microporous Cartridge is using to filter the water properly
• Humidity level and the amount of mist can be control
• It humidifies the air of the rooms up to 20~25m²
• Water capacity is over 1 gallon
• 1 refill lasts for 15 hours that is more than over a night
• Built-in timer
• Sleep mode
• 360-degree rotatable nozzle
• LED display
• Produces less than 38 dB of noise
• The perfect humidifier for the children.

Buy this to ensure a sound and perfect sleep of your baby.

The outstanding features of the product are here.

• You can set the desired humidity with the help of integrated hygrostat
• Humidity level can always be control
• Mist output can also be control
• Up to 3 gallon/24 hours for a 600sq ft room
• Mist is distributed in 2 directions
• Fully automated operation
• Intuitive electronic controls assist make winter humidification a breeze
• Multifunction display with practical reminders
• 3 performance levels
• Programmable hygrostat
• Sleep Mode for low-noise night time mode
• Less than 25 decibels sound is create
• High-quality components
• Timer function

The noteworthy features of the product are here.

• Water empty automatic shut off switch
• Refill light
• 11-gallon tank capacity
• Humidifies op to 18 hours
• Adjustable mist volume control
• Whisper-quiet operation
• Won’t disturb sleep
• Easy to fill transparent tank
• Removable tank with handle for easy filling
• .230ml/h moisture output

The great features of the product are as below.

• Premium quality humidifier
• For home, bedroom, office, spa, baby room and more.
• Moisturizes the air up to 14 hours
• 7 colors LED light (yellow, red, orange, Indigo, purple, green and blue)
• Adjustable Vapor Flow mist stream that provides perfect coverage
• Best for medium-sized to large rooms
• Oil Diffuser
• Perfect for masking stubborn pet odors and smoking odor
• Kid-friendly to fill the room with lovely fragrance
• Easy to adjust mist level knob
• Perfect for a great night sleep

The best features of the Aprilaire® 700 Whole-House Humidifier Automatic Digital Control are here.

• For a large area humidification
• Digital control
• Can deliver up to 50 more moisture than its parallel products
• Helps to alleviate different irritating health issue due to stale and dry air.
• A tightly constructed house of about 4200 square feet can be humidified
• Gives temperature, vital service and relative humidity indicators in manual mode also
• Simple annual maintenance
• Performs very quietly

The features of the product are here discuss below. 

• Up to 3600 sq ft coverage
• 9-gallon water capacity
• Daily output is Up to 12 gallon
• Automatic shut-off
• Adjustable humidistat
• Air humidifier with digital controls and display
• Easy-fill water bottle
• Water refill and check filter indicators
• Easy to use
• Made of imported and domestic parts
• Runs economically
• Provides moisture throughout the air

NB-

• Replace filter every 90 days-wick #MAF1
• To protect bacteria/algae and odor growth, add Essick Air Bacteriostatic treatment.

The noticeable features of the product are below.

• Quiet performance technology
• 30% quieter than competitive models
• For optimum performance, there are dual tanks
• Wide opening top
• Cleaning, filling and using are easy
• Multi-room use
• Maximum comfort
• 9 gallon-per-day output
• For the rooms up to 2300 square feet
• Runs up to 24 hours per filling
• Adjustable humidity control with 3 moisture settings
• Antimicrobial-treated filter
• Prevents migration of fungus, mold, bacteria, and algae
• Air washing pre-filter traps dirt, dust and pollen
• Measures 21 by 17-1/2 by 13 inches (HxDxW)
• Uses HC-14 replacement filter

To select the best humidifier for you and your family at first you need to know the types. When you can know the types of the humidifier, you can easily select your desired product. Otherwise, you have to work like a blind.

Generally, humidifiers are two types and they are-

• Cool mist humidifier
• Warm mist humidifier

Humidifier basically disperses invisible and cool mist in the air. Before passing through a saturated system, dry air is pulled into the system. The air gets the moisture and sediment, minerals and other impurities are trapped inside the filter. As a result, the pure, clean and refreshing mist is got. In the larger rooms, this type of effective and safe humidifiers work better. Again, this refreshing and cool mist is very much comfortable in arid weather.

The cool mist humidifiers are of 3 kinds and they are

• Evaporative cool mist humidifier
• Ultrasonic cool mist humidifier and
• Impeller

These 3 types of Cool mist humidifiers work in different ways.

a. Evaporative cool mist humidifier –

Evaporative humidifier consists of a reservoir, fan, and wick. The wick is for absorbing water from the reservoir and gives a bigger surface area for it to evaporate from. The fan is for blowing air onto the wick to help the evaporation of the water. This type of cool mist humidifier is sometimes self-regulating. When the room humidity increases, the vapor output automatically decreases.

b. Ultrasonic cool mist humidifier –

This type of humidifier produces lighter, fine mist. It very quickly disperses humidity into the room. Here a transducer vibrates the water at an ultrasonic speed. As a result, the water breaks down and pure, refreshing and visible cool mist is created. This type of humidifier is very quiet and refreshing. Its maintenance is also very low.

c. Impeller-

This type of cool mist humidifier produces mist using a rotating disk. It is usually noisier than other types.

Warm, soothing and visible mist is produced in this humidifier. It adds more comfort during the winter season. Warm mist humidifier heats the water to boil. Then it emits the resulting steam. The gentle boiling process traps the impurities and releases the clean warm vapor. To trap water deposits sometimes mineral filters are included in a warm mist humidifier. As these filters need replacement, sometimes cost of this type of humidifier may increase.

As there is the risk of burning, some caution needs to maintain to use it near children.

Besides the above types of humidifiers, there is vaporizer. It produces soothing and warm vapor through a boiling process. The vapor takes away the impurities from the water before releasing fresh and clean moisture. This type of humidifier is cost-effective and compact.

This is a great question, how you should choose the best humidifier.
Several factors should-be look into before choosing a humidifier.