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A complete comparison of single room and whole house humidifiers

In these days the Single room and whole house humidifier is most important part of our life. Because Inhaling dry air can cause more than enough damages to the health as well as the home generally. This is not only because dry hair causes flaky skin or broken lips but it also makes the respiratory organs such as sinuses, noses, and throats dry which in a way leads to increase in sore throats, infections, congestion as well as nosebleeds.

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Thursday August 17, 2017 , 5 min Read

Dry air is also not healthy enough for asthma and it is bad for allergies. There are a lot of health dangers associated with dry air than we can cover or mention in this article. These are what necessitates the use of humidifier as the only solution to this. Humidifiers are known to release moisture into the air when it is dry such that it keeps the lips and skin hydrated, protects both the nose and the throat as well. It simply takes care of all other dangers associated with dry air and helps to reduce heating expenses.

There are more than enough benefits that humidifiers provide which then brings up the indecision of either to buy the warm mist or the cool mist humidifier which are basically the two major types of humidifiers for the room or the whole house. Now, this is a big deal as it becomes difficult to choose between a single room humidifier and a humidifier for the whole house. In this article, we aim at making the choice easier by examining what each is all about and also providing both the advantages and disadvantages of the two.

Single Room Humidifiers

These type of humidifiers are free standing machines and are small in size, often on wheels, have their own water supply and they can easily be plugged into the electrical outlet and begins work. They are mobile since they are not heavy and can be placed on either a table, dresser, counter tops or even on the floor and they release moist where needed.

The single room humidifier is usually powerful enough to humidify one or two rooms at once keeping everyone comfortable while it's at work. They can be easily operated and they are very good at moisturizing the air in the small area while also very convenient for renters who are unable to install whole house humidifier to remove when it's time to move.

There is also extensive anti-bacterial protection present in some small room humidifiers often at the sides of the water tanks while some other ones use filters to prevent microorganisms.

However, as good as single room humidifiers are, they are more expensive than whole room humidifiers and requires extensive maintenance to keep them clean and negligence of this simply leads to stagnant or dirty water in the tanks which breed bacteria and molds. Once this happens, the ailment which the humidifier was gotten to prevent is what it now triggers.

Another downside of using single room humidifier is the scale which is as a result of the minerals that is released into the water as it is broken into vapor except it comes with filters or demineralization cartridges which are capable of trapping hard water particles before they are released. These cartridges nerds replacement every year.

Lastly, depending on the size of the are single room humidifier is covering, there could be needed to refill the reservoir almost every day or the water might run out during the night and this may be tiring if the humidifier has the small tank.

Whole House Humidifiers

These type of humidifier are evaporative units and are directly fixed to the air dust of the house. Whole house humidifier can simply be forgotten the moment they are fixed as they do not require constant maintenance. They are directly integrated into the blower system on the furnace and draws water directly from the water supply of the house. Once the humidifier is activated, the pipe simply opens up and allows water to flow down into the water pads and as the air is being drawn through, it evaporates the water and then vapor is blown out through the air ducts into every room in the house.

The best part of these whole house humidifiers is that they do not require maintenance and they tend to keep the whole house at an already set humidity once they are set up. Also, since whole house humidifiers are connected directly to the water supply system of the house, it requires no refilling. Whole house humidifiers cost less, they are energy efficient and produces less noise.

Whole house humidifiers also have some downsides and the biggest problem is containment since water vapor is more like gas, it flowing is from areas that have the higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. Thus, it flows out during winter when the air is dry through leaks in floors, walls or window panes leading to higher chance of contamination than when a single room humidifier is used.

Another downside is the fact that whole house humidifiers have only a single way of gathering humidity which is through evaporation thus they provide lesser control over the humidification process.

In conclusion, these two types of humidifier take the same problem but use different techniques. They are both meant to supply humidity to improve comfort. While single room humidifiers are personal appliances, whole house humidifiers are household utilities.