Because there are so many humidifiers to choose from I thought it would be a good Idea to explain each type of humidifier in order to take some of the guesswork out of having to pick the best home humidifier for your home. Whole House Humidifiers, can be broken down into four major categories, which are evaporation humidifiers, steam humidifiers, cool mist humidifiers and ultrasonic humidifiers.
Evaporation Humidifiers
These humidifiers work by simply exposing water to the air and allowing a fan to speed the process of evaporations. They also increase the surface area through the use of a humidifier wick filter, sponge material or rotating disks. An example of a evaporation type humidifier woud be the Desert Springs humidifier, that uses rotary disc technology.
Steam Humidifiers
Steam humidifiers speed the process of evaporation by continually boiling water and producing steam that dissipates into the air. The steam is very hot so care should be given if there are small childern in the house.
Cool Mist Humidifiers
The cool mist humidifier creates a mist of water through the use of a rapidly spinning disk that is placed in the water. They don’t have the same burning possibilities of steam humidifiers but cleanings and water changes are recommend to reduce the chance of promoting molds and bacteria growth.
Ultrasonic Humidifiers
These humidifiers put vapor into the air through ultrasonic vibrations Ultrasonic humidifiers also remove the chance of burning that steam humidifiers have. Similar to the cool mist humidifiers care must be taken to clean thoroughly and replace water to remove the possibility of promoting molds and bacteria.