How Humidifiers Work

Low humidity is one problem that homeowners find themselves battling during the winter season. This is because indoor heating often evaporates the water particles in the air, causing damage to personal belongings as well as your health. There is one solution to this particular problem and that is by getting a humidifier. Having this appliance will help keep the levels of humidity in your home to normal levels, thus allowing you to live comfortably enough. Want to know the secret to the success of humidifiers? Read on and find out how these work.

Before discussing further how humidifiers work, you need to learn more about humidity as well as relative humidity first. Humidity, simply put, refers to the moisture that is normally found in the air. Areas of high humidity include your shower as well as the outdoors after a rainstorm. Areas that have low humidity are those that experience less rainfall.

Relative humidity, on the other hand, is important in determining the levels of comfort in any household. A low relative humidity is typically characterized as dry air which often holds more moisture. Cooling down your skin means that you need moisture to evaporate fast which doesnt happen much when the relative humidity is high. However, when the relative humidity is extremely low, not only do you feel cool since the moisture in the air evaporates fast but your skin also tends to become dry.

The average relative humidity that is recommended in households and offices everywhere is about 45 percent. However, maintaining it at this level is often difficult especially during the winter months where it drops significantly and during the summer where the percentage often goes up.

How Outside Temperature Affects Humidity Levels Indoors

The outdoor temperature can have a serious effect on the indoor temperature. This is how it works. For example, during the winter months, the temperature can sometimes drop to 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The usual amount of water that is present in a cubic meter of air is at 5 grams in this temperature. Imagine putting this amount of air inside your home then heat this up to 25 degrees Celsius. The amount of relative humidity present falls to 23 percent only, less than the required amount for you to feel comfortable within the confines of your home.

Now imagine the temperature outside dropping even further. You see, dry air is often felt in the office and even in your home every time outside temperature drops. This is why you need something to help you balance the levels of humidity to keep dry air at bay.

A Simple Humidifier at Work

It is time to focus on how a simple humidifier works. There are actually several kinds of humidifiers up for sale nowadays but you can stick to the simplest one first which is the evaporative humidifier. This particular type makes use of a reservoir where cold water is put into before it is dispensed into a basin. The water that flows into the basin is then absorbed by a wicking filter. The air that passes through the filter is provided by a fan that is attached to it.

The water that is absorbed by the wicking filter often evaporates as air passes through it. This means that when the relative humidity is higher, the more difficult it is for the water in the filter to evaporate. And since most humidifiers being sold today are self-regulating, it only means one thing and that is when the levels of humidity indoors are high, the output of water vapor from the humidifier decreases.

Types of Humidifiers

Like it was mentioned above, there are different types of humidifiers that are being sold nowadays that can help bring back the levels of humidity inside your home or office to more normal levels. Among the most popular ones are Steam, Ultrasonic, Impeller, and Evaporative or Wick system.

The Steam humidifier is by far the cheapest not to mention the simplest humidifier that is sold today. This type works by boiling water first the warm steam is dispensed into the room. One particular benefit that most people enjoy about this product is that you can make use of an inhalant to help reduce coughs.

The Ultrasonic humidifier somewhat resembles to that of a high-frequency speaker where an ultrasonic frequency is used to spread water droplets into the air. This unit is often silent when operational and a cool fog is often produced.

In the case of Impeller humidifier, a disc that usually rotates is responsible in flinging water at a diffuser which appears to be like a comb. The function of the diffuser is to break the water into fine droplets that can be dispensed into the air.

As for the Evaporative/ Wick humidifier, the water is drawn from the reservoir using a cloth, paper, or foam wick. The fan is responsible for the airs ability to absorb the moisture to create a better or normal relative humidity level indoors.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Humidifiers

Just like any products that are being sold nowadays, learning more about the advantages and disadvantages of humidifiers is important especially when seriously considering on getting one. You should bear in mind that steam vaporizers can be dangerous especially when you have kids around since the steam being produced can be the cause of burns. Aside from this, this particular appliance can also have a significant effect on your electricity bills. On a positive note, you wont be worrying about any mineral or bacterial concerns.

Regular maintenance on humidifiers like ultrasonic and impeller is important. You dont want to be breathing in stagnant water now, do you? You should consider getting one that has anti-bacterial features to keep any harmful bacteria from being dispensed into the air.

These humidifiers do come in different shapes, sizes and height that can work well with the space you have. And since most of them are portable, you can easily place them in different parts of your home or office whenever you feel like.