humidifier question

[arina83]

I've been thinking about getting a humidifier, hoping it will help some things (stuffy nose at night, especially), but I have one major concern.

One thing that kind of scares me about humidifiers is mold.... I am extremely allergic to mold. Is there a way to prevent mold issues?

[divingdancer]

Hi I bought a humidifier for my bedroom and another for my office.  I always sleep with a window open and have not noticed any mould.

[MiJoy]

I researched both on this board & on the Internet to find out info about humidifiers. I learned a lot about what to look for, mainly ease in cleaning so you don't worry about mold.
I bought a cool mist humidifier by Sharper Image last year. It has been WONDERFUL.
I live in the southeastern U.S., in a very humid climate, but haven't had any problems with mold.
The Sharper Image is very quiet, & very easy to keep clean.
It has really helped both my dry eyes & dry mouth, especially in the cooler, drier weather, but I used it all summer, too.

Hope this info. helps.
Blessings,
Joy

[jazzlover]

Joy.. did you buy the "tower" one?

[MiJoy]

I think so... My family nicknamed it R2 because it kind of looks like R2D2 from Star Wars!

[jasonsmith]

When I get one. I'll have to get an Ultra Sonic type as those are supposed to be the quietest.

[olmphoto2]

Here's what I do that I posted nearly two years ago...crock pot still works great for me.

"For about six weeks now I have been using my old Rival 6 qt (7 qt.?) crock pot to humidify my combination sleeping and living area.  It works GREAT. When I get up I add about three quarts of hot tap water, 2 qts. or so mid-day and about three just before I go to bed.  I just put hot tap water into a sauce pan, bring it into the room where the crock pot is and pour the water in to up close to the top where it would then hold a cover.  [I certainly don't measure the amounts, just list them here to give you a clue approximately what amounts of moisture I am adding to the air.  And how much work it is to keep filled.  Answer: not much.  If I'm experiencing days when my wrists are weaker I  just make a few more trips with less water.] Of course I don't use a cover!   I have the setting as "high".  Without a cover it doesn't actually simmer the way it would even on the low setting if the cover were on.  It just nicely evaporates/ gently releases steam.  I do have the area under it protected but haven't spilled anything yet. This is the best winter sleeping I've had in years.  I still have insomnia but, not infrequently now, I'll come up with 5 or 6 or a rare 7 hours...I can hardly believe it. Now I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to put pots of water on the stove.

We have very hard water.  I use a teaspoon or two of baking soda---once---in the bottom of the crock pot before I fill it for the first time each week.  That's after I've cooled the crock a bit, dumped the water, and soaked/swished it with quarter strength vinegar for about 20 minutes. [That is,  a half cup vinegar to 1-1/2 cups water would work.] Sometimes I use a plastic scrub pad on the sides a bit.   That's IT for the cleaning and disinfecting process!

[I had a more than disappointing experience with an ultrasonic humidifier---will post that in another thread.]"

My ultrasonic experience was horrible. It spewed sticky white residue all over my furniture and even my 15 feet away Christmas tree (including lights and ornaments of course) beginning almost immediately. AND CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT WAS GOING INTO MY LUNGS?  We do have hard water and what the ultrasonic humidifier box (a major brand purchased at the largest department store) never said were that special filters would be needed if the tap water was anything but soft.  The filters were not cheap, had to be sent for and needed to be replaced frequently if I had hard tap water the brochure inside the box said.  Distilled water as an alternative would have been a big expense and inconvenience for me also.

I stick to the crock pot and find that cleaning need is infrequent as I've upped that amount of the baking soda to several tablespoons.  That creates a hostile environment for bacteria, mold or mildew growth.  I do supplement my humidity in the a.m. when I first turn up the heat by simmering some hot water in a pot on the stove.

[jasonsmith]

What brand Ultra Sonic humidifier did you get? They say the best is Air-O-Swiss. Though they have filters and things that need to be changed.

[olmphoto2]

I believe it may have been Sunbeam but Honeywell is a possiblity.  I found this on Wiki from the humidifier site regarding ultrasonic ones:
"Unlike the humidifiers that boil water, these water droplets contain any impurities that are in the reservoir, including minerals from hard water (which then forms a difficult to remove white dust on nearby objects and furniture), and pathogens growing in the stagnant tank. Ultrasonic Humidifiers should be cleaned regularly to avoid bacterial contamination which may be projected into the air."
The full link is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidifier
Seems to cover everything here, advantages and disadvantge of different types, including seveal styles of whole house humidification.

We will probably need a new artifical Christmas tree this year. We cut off all the old lights last year (professional type ones that were meant to last at least a few years) because they were so dulled by the white 'greasy' stuff.  That's over 1500 lights gone and now the tree too.

[jasonsmith]

I believe it may have been Sunbeam but Honeywell is a possiblity.  I found this on Wiki from the humidifier site regarding ultrasonic ones:
"Unlike the humidifiers that boil water, these water droplets contain any impurities that are in the reservoir, including minerals from hard water (which then forms a difficult to remove white dust on nearby objects and furniture), and pathogens growing in the stagnant tank. Ultrasonic Humidifiers should be cleaned regularly to avoid bacterial contamination which may be projected into the air."
The full link is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidifier
Seems to cover everything here, advantages and disadvantge of different types, including seveal styles of whole house humidification.

We will probably need a new artifical Christmas tree this year. We cut off all the old lights last year (professional type ones that were meant to last at least a few years) because they were so dulled by the white 'greasy' stuff.  That's over 1500 lights gone and now the tree too.

The Air-O-Swiss has a demineralization cartridge to help prevent the white dust. You could also try a reverse-osmosis filtration system to get your humidifer's water from to prevent the white dust. Sounds like if you have hard water than the filtration system would be a good idea to try.

I was considering the ultra sonic because it is supposed to be the quietest humidifier type. Was yours quiet?

[waterbby100]

I have a ultra sonic humidifier that I got at Lowes Home Improvement it has a silver disk inside it that supposedly prevents mold. I have had it for over a year and it works awesome! I do not know the name of the mfg. and I no longer have internet at home so I can't get it for awhile, but it looks like a circle white on the bottom and clear blue on top where the water goes. It was not cheap..costs about $100 but worth every penny! It has both cool mist or heated and three settings it is very quiet and does not spit any minerals!!!

Kimber

[Julie]

I have a ultra sonic humidifier that I got at Lowes Home Improvement it has a silver disk inside it that supposedly prevents mold. I have had it for over a year and it works awesome! I do not know the name of the mfg. and I no longer have internet at home so I can't get it for awhile, but it looks like a circle white on the bottom and clear blue on top where the water goes. It was not cheap..costs about $100 but worth every penny! It has both cool mist or heated and three settings it is very quiet and does not spit any minerals!!!

Kimber

Waterbby, I think the one you have is Germ Guardian.  I had purchased that and it lasted about a year.  What I originally liked when I bought it was that it could be either cool or warm mist. In the winters, I don't want that cold blowing on me. But..turns out the warm on that unit really wasn't much warmer than the cold setting.  Then, my husband thought he was helping and ran vinegar through it to clean it... which we have done many times in the past with other machines. Well, this one didn't like that.  It stopped working after that. Then I read in the directions..."do not put anything else in machine other than water.."  oops.   Right now I have a travel sized humidifier that is Walgreen's brand. Cost $24...MUCH less than the name brand travel sized ones that I've had.  I like that the 'tank' is just a regular water bottle that you add yourself. Nice for traveling....easy to pack.   So far it's doing an OK job..but then it's not the middle of winter yet.

[waterbby100]

Julie,

You are right it is a germguard. I do love it and I will never put vinegar in it!!! Thanks for the info.
Kimber

[quietdynamics]

olmphoto2....I do the same. I use a crock pot and sometimes will add a scent to the water.