The other day we found out that our youngest had the croup. Pretty nasty sounding cough accompanies the croup, but luckily, it didn’t seem that there was much damage. Mostly just dried out from the lack of humidity in the winter air. Our heat pump is badly in need of repair or else it might provide the needed humidity, but that’s another story for another time.
So we’re supposed to get a “humidifier”. Hmm. Seems to be lots of choices. Warm mist, cool mist, humidifier, vaporizer. How to choose? How indeed. According to the helpful lady at Wal-Mart, we should get cool mist (ie, a humidifier). From what I can tell, in the beginning there were only vaporizers. But as time wore on, dainty little hands were burnt from the warm mist produced. You and I both know that warm things don’t burn. That mist is downright hot. But I digress.
And so, with the advent of new technology, cool mist products were born. Now there are all sorts of selections and capacities. Auto-shut off, timed humidifying, you can probably even find a model that will brew coffee with that warm mist, too.
So after two nights of use, the cool mist clearance model we found at Target started smelling funny. Not bad funny, and not quite burning funny. It was more of that smoldering smell that electronics sometimes get funny. Which is to say that even if it doesn’t cause a fire, it’s likely to break soon. So back to Target I went.
But before buying another model, I pulled Google into the mix. Please be aware that if you should search on humidifiers vs. vaporizers, you’ll get a lot of hits on products for keeping your contraband moist. If you make it past those, you’ll find that generally speaking, there is little to no difference between the two products – except for that burning issue.
While I don’t want to seem callous, it occurs to me that a child who happens to learn this lesson the hard way will not be likely to have to learn it again. And our children are generally intelligent enough to at least not burn themselves severely even when they do test our advice. If you have very small children, however, you may want to keep this in mind. Close to the unit, the mist is hot. Try it yourself if you need convincing.
So with all that in mind, here’s my own opinion on the matter: Vaporizers are cheap. Ten bucks at Wal-Mart. Humidifiers aren’t. Water that is boiled is unlikely to harbor any bacteria of any sort. Warm air to me seems to hold water better than cold air. Normally I find warmer air to be more soothing than cold air. There are no moving parts on most vaporizers, as they just have a little heating element to do the boiling.
You’ll also not find a filter on the ten dollar model from Wal-Mart, for the aforementioned reason of not having any bacteria in the mist. And finally, because of the vaporizing action, you can add menthol or a similar additive to the warm mist to help even further. Guess which product we use now? And hey – someone else even agrees!
Comments
109 responses to “Humidifier or Vaporizer?”
My precious little darling is 10 months and after we bought the Vicks vaporizer ($20) she sleeps much better at night. It even helped my husband’s chronic cough. It just feels so wonderful and it is completely silent. I don’t add salt as the instruction (written by lawyers) says that it could short circuit. I clean it every time I refill and weekly I use white vinegar or bleach to clean it. I don’t use any inhalant liquids in the tray. The small stream of steam goes a long way. My skin is more supple too. I have an air cleaner running at the same time but avoid ionizers since they produce a small amount of ozone that destroys lungs. I just luvit luvit luvit. I had humidifiers too but all my clothes and towels always felt icky and wet and the air felt chilly like the feeling you get after drinking a ton of cheap wine. Also I got me a digital device that reads the humidity.
From this page: “It is normal for mineral deposits to collect at the bottom of the Base. Deposits may appear as black flecks and should be rinsed out after every use.”
I have also having the black water problem…any ideas?
I have the same problem with the black particles forming in the water. They stain anything that they come in contact with. It really does resemble charcol in that manner. Can anyone tell me what causes the particles to form? Any way to stop them forming?
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your experiences with hot vaporizers! We bought a Vick’s vaporizer and it works very well. However, black particles appear in the water. We assume that they are coming from the filter and may be charcoal. Or perhaps they are scales from the heating element? Has anyone experienced this problem? We tried rinsing the filter under running tap water and replacing the blackened water with fresh tap water. Of course, we are very concerned about whether the steam is dispensing the black particles and consequently we are inhaling a dangerous substance? I looked at the Vick’s Web site, but I did not find any mention about this problem.
The steam from a vaporizer isn’t all that hot. Ever go to a sauna with a steam room? You can sit in the steam and breathe it without getting burned. The vaporizer steam seems about the same temperature to me. It feels very nice five or six inches from where it comes out — you can even make a little tent with a towel over your head over the vaporizer and breathe it in. That’s an old trick — though done with boiling water — for loosening congestion.
Ok, alot to read. I don’t have the exact answer but want to share my experience from the last 2.5 years with a son who had baby asthma and pneumonia on his first nite home and was rushed to the ER due to difficulty breathing (you learn fast in this scary situation).
1st, def read the post about the different types of machines:
-ultrasonic is $$ and disperses bacteria and mineral dust
-impeller type use a fan or rotating disk to make the mist and also can cause both bacteria/micro organisms and mineral dust.
-Evaporative (if you can find it) seems to be the best way to go as it only causes less of the above. They contain a filter or wick.
Warm vs cool
If your room is cold, use the warm (with caution for tiny hands)
if your room is hot or too warm, use the cool mist
I’ve heard that cool is better for asthma but I have to think every situation is different. For instance, my son is reactive to cold air and it triggers his asthma. He has been this way since birth. In his situation, and with his ice cold room (no matter how high the heat is, his room is the coldest), we tried the cool mist and it was freezing and not helpful. But in our room, which is too warm from trying to keep his room warm (wow do we need multi-zone heating), it works well.
We have had several types of vaporizers/humidifiers. The Vicks is good as a somewhat disposable vaporizer. I wouldn’t keep it more than 2 seasons of use. It turns very black and is hard as anything to empty all the water out of the base.
But, since all of these units eventually become too gross to use, even if you clean them properly and use distilled water only to avoid mineral buildup, it may be best not to overspend on any unit.
The cheaper vicks unit does heat up nicely (warm mist), does get very hot (keep far from curious hands) and makes the room nice, moist and warm and easy to breathe.
Our cool mist is great, was more expensive (also by vick’s but called a humidifier) but on some cold east coast winter nites, is hard to take that cold air. Less worry about mold due to cool mist though.
So I would say, before buying, consider YOUR- personal needs:
-Health issue (severe mold allergies, asthma, sensitive to cold, very curious little toddler hands, etc)
-Room temperature (too hot or too cold)
-Use distilled water to avoid mineral dust issue
-Keep a check on the temp and humidity with a therm/barom and be sure to stay in ‘the comfort zone’. As long as you keep it away from your curtains and fabrics, and keep the humidity below 50%, mold should not be an issue.
-Budget
Avoid super expensive units as they all eventually needs parts replaced and the cost can be more than buying a new unit once shipping is added.
for Vicks, visit kaz.com to get replacement parts
:() WORD ABOUT CHEMICAL LIQUID MEDS to put in dispenser cups:
Please do try a more natural approach, such as peppermint oil which smells awesome and clears sinuses.
To prevent melting your plastic, dilute oils very well with a cooking oil that can withstand high heat such as canola, coconut or safflower. It is the undiluted essential oils that can melt things and irritate skin.
However, those liquids they sell contain harmful chemicals and you would not want your child eating any of these things so keep it away from them (ugh, another thing to keep from those little hands).
Real eucalyptus, peppermint and tea tree oil are anti-viral, anti-bacterial and safe to breathe in. Avoid wintergreen which many people have allergies to (myself included). Don’t overfill, dilute and wash it out with oil every day or 2 at the most so it doesn’t collect dust. DO NOT PUT OILS inside with the water- only add it if your unit says you can and only into the dispenser cup.
You can buy organic or regular essential oils online or at a drugstore. Don’t buy blends (synthetic garbage) and don’t buy anything with ingredients you don’t understand. Real is better and safer. The price is initially a bit higher but essential oils last forever (years!).
Good luck. I’m off to replace our Vicks vaporizer to put in our son’s room.
Best of luck
My mother has sworn by vaporizers for years and now that I have 2 kids of my own I also do. In this overly safety concious world, they have stopped recommending warm mist because you can get burned if you stick your hand in them(lawsuits and all). Tell your kids “Don’t touch! Other than that they work great. Fill them to the proper line, use cold tap water (it works better), add a shake or two of salt, then plug it in. I recommend putting a towel under it, make sure you keep the door of the room open a crack and place the vaporizer close to the head of the bed about 2 1/2 to 3 feet away. After all you need to breathe in the moist air. Make sure to empty the water out before you store it away. Also, I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it, but eventually the salt that is needed to make it steam will corrode the inside of the heating element and little pieces of build up will fall out into the water. They do not hurt anything, just dump out the water and start with fresh. They will eventually try to plug up the hole on the bottom of the heating element. UNPLUG FROM ELECTRICITY – turn over and use a tooth pick or wooden skewer to clean the hole – turn back over and shake over the trash can. I have done this many times in the 11 years I have owned the same machine. One person above said it worked too well and it loosened her childs mucus and made him cough more. Well the whole point is that it needs to come out so they can breath better. Hopefully this will help and be useful information.
After watching my first two little girls suffer with asthma and allergies and the works, I purchased a warm mist vaporizer when my newest addition was born. I wasn’t sure how to use it or what it was for. (You’d think somebody would have told me by now to use one! Hello Doctor?) This site has been the most helpful and I can’t wait to see the results tonight. You’ve all helped answer all my questions regarding using a vaporizer!
We pulled out our Vicks Vaporizer for our 18-month-old, and it has worked wonders, helping him breathe and sleep well. However, we kept the door and window closed, and when we went to check on him during the night, found his room had literally turned into a steam room with condensation dripping off the walls and ceilings. We didn’t realize his room was so well sealed. Opened the door after that and it was better. Be wary of this!