Humidifier: choosing the best one for your home

The normal functioning of our body directly depends not only on the liquid received with food, but also on the moisture in the air. After all, the optimal humidity for a person should be at least 40-70%. According to statistics, the moisture content in the air in our rooms often does not exceed 20%. In this connection, it turns out that a person does not receive almost 2/3 of the total amount of moisture. This, in turn, negatively affects the health of people, especially their children. Therefore, many of us have recently been wondering how to humidify the air in the room and achieve the optimal level of humidity. [contents] To solve this problem, mankind has created inventions that replenish the missing moisture and are called humidifiers.

In the general concept, an air humidifier is a device of a special type that can form the necessary or optimal level of moisture content in the air and the microclimate in various types of premises. According to their design, humidification systems are designed for direct operation in confined spaces.

Quite often, these devices do not require special installation and are quite convenient during operation. In addition, the optimal humidity in the apartment, created through the use of humidifiers, will get rid of many problems, for example, such as:

• constant increased fatigue of residents;
• the occurrence of damage to furniture (drying of wooden structures, paintings and musical instruments);
• drying of the skin (feeling of tightness and peeling), which subsequently can lead to its rapid aging;
• causeless wilting of indoor plants;
• the appearance of the body’s susceptibility to the negative effects of pathogenic bacteria or viruses, due to the drying of the mucous surfaces of the respiratory tract and nasopharynx.

The main specific characteristics of humidification systems

Depending on the principle of operation, the following types of humidification systems are distinguished:

• An ultrasonic humidifier is the most efficient type of device available today. They operate on the principle of supplying water to a vibrating plate with an ultrasonic frequency, due to which the liquid is distributed into a special fine suspension. In this case, the fan located in the device creates a flow supplied to the room. This type of machine allows you to create a kind of fog at home based on precise control of humidity, temperature of the outgoing steam, as well as a low degree of noise. In some cases, ultrasonic humidifiers can be equipped with a remote control system and various displays. The performance of such units can vary between 7-12 liters per day with an operating power of 40-50W;
• steam humidifier — the mechanism of action of such units is based on the hot evaporation of a liquid and involves the usual boiling of water, due to which it is converted into steam and thereby the air is saturated with the necessary moisture. In general, the scheme of operation of the devices resembles the procedure for boiling water in an electric kettle. The design of the system itself assumes the safety of its operation. To maintain the optimal level of humidity in the premises, steam humidifiers are equipped with a special sensor — a hygrostat. To use these humidification systems for medical purposes, they are additionally equipped with inhaler nozzles. The performance of such devices can reach values ​​of 7-16 liters per day with an average power of 300-600W;
• air humidifier with an ionizer — a kind of climatic complexes that allow not only to increase the degree of air humidity, but also to additionally ionize and aromatize it. The design of such devices consists of complex hydrodynamic disks made of plastic and rotating in water tanks;
• traditional air humidifier (or cold steam) — the principle of operation of these devices is based on the process of water evaporation in a natural way without the use of heating. In this case, water is placed in special tanks, from where it is fed into a bottom bowl, after which it falls directly on the evaporative elements, in the form of which discs, filters or cartridges can act. The simplest models work on the basis of the use of replaceable paper cartridges. In more expensive systems, the evaporator is presented in the form of rotating plastic discs that are constantly moistened. The performance of these types of humidifiers can be 3.5-8 liters per day at a power of 20-50W and, as a rule, depends very much on the level of humidity in the room, since the higher this indicator, the worse the evaporation process will be;
• atomizers or spray humidifiers — are used only for industrial purposes, since they have a fairly high level of productivity, measured at 60-230 liters per day.

Depending on the basic direction of use, humidifiers can also be divided into several subgroups:

• household air humidifiers — are used in ordinary living rooms in which adults live. This type includes ultrasonic, steam, as well as traditional systems that have a low noise level for the possibility of working at night and a sufficient volume of the tank to ensure continuous operation;
• humidifier for home — a household device, often used in private houses or apartments to create a given level of humidity. At the same time, the normal air humidity in the apartment will directly depend on the chosen model and its overall efficiency, taking into account the general format and area of ​​​​the room;
• a humidifier for a children’s room is a special type of device that implies a high degree of safety, efficiency and silent operation parameters. Therefore, in order for the air humidity in the children’s room to be within the permissible and necessary values, it is necessary to use ultrasonic types, but not steam ones.

How to choose the right installation

To correctly answer the question of which humidifier is better to purchase, you need to focus on three main components of the choice:

• volume, area and shape of the room;
• the conditions in which the installation will be carried out (children’s room, private house, apartment, office space, etc.);
• the quality of the water that is added to the tank.

The fundamental factor when choosing a particular model of humidifier is its cost. The cheapest types are mechanical humidifiers, which include traditional and steam humidification systems. The second place in terms of price is occupied by ultrasonic systems, and humidifiers based on ionizers close this circle. In addition, within the same type, the cost of devices can vary significantly depending on their equipment with a control system (digital or analog), as well as additional features, such as a liquid crystal display, a hygrostat, the presence of a water heating function, etc. http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4m2sBa0Dp4

To save your money, you can try to make a humidifier with your own hands. To do this, there are some not tricky methods:

• arrange tanks filled with water around the room. In this case, the water will naturally evaporate and create the necessary level of humidity;
• using improvised materials (a box and a cooler from a computer), arrange the structure as follows: a cooler from a computer is attached to the upper wall of the box and connected to a phone charger (regular power supply) to control the fan speed. At the same time, it is important that the air flow is directed from the cooler, and not vice versa. The evaporator can be a non-woven material placed on a metal structure, like a clothes dryer. For ease of use, a special marking of the water level can be applied to the box.

Thus, practically without spending a lot of effort, time and financial resources, anyone can independently create their own humidifier, which can effectively contribute to the organization and creation of a more comfortable and healthy microclimate for the room.