Humidifier
When the weather grows cold and home heating systems are turned on, the air in the home can become dry. A humidifier can be used to relieve discomforts caused by dry air, such as chapped lips, dry skin, dry noses and scratchy throats. A humidifier can also be useful for relieving congestion.
A humidifier puts water vapor into the air of a home. A humidstat is dialed up and down to control the level of humidity. A tabletop humidifier is designed to humidify a single room and can be moved around the house. To humidify an entire home, a console humidifier or central humidifier is needed. A console humidifier is a freestanding unit, and a central humidifier is connected to the home's central heating system. Both the tabletop and console humidifier must be manually filled with water at regular intervals, but a central humidifier is connected to water and does not need to be refilled by hand.
There are several types of humidifiers available that add moisture to the home in different ways. A steam humidifier boils water, resulting in steam that adds moisture to the air. Because the water is boiled, this type of humidifier results in fewer minerals and microorganisms being added to the air. Due to the hot water in a steam humidifier, it should be kept out of the reach of children.
A cool mist impeller humidifier uses a disk rotating at a high speed to humidify the air with a cool mist. This type of humidifier is usually a tabletop unit. Because the water in the humidifier is cool, there's no danger of a child being harmed by hot water in the unit.
An ultrasonic humidifier uses sound vibrations to send a cool mist into the air. This type of humidifier has lost popularity in recent years because of a white dust that results from the minerals in the water being distributed into the air.
An evaporative humidifier uses a fan to blow air through wet material. An evaporative humidifier uses filters to collect minerals and pollutants from the water so that they are not distributed into the air.
Also see dehumidifiers.