Does a cool mist humidifier make the room cold? A cool mist humidifier can make a room feel a bit cooler. These units can produce cool vapors that can raise the humidity in a room but not the temperature.
When Do You Need a Cool Mist Humidifier?
There is no doubt that a humidifier is a great way for adding moisture to your home’s air during winter. However, as far as choosing the right model to buy, the answer may get a bit complicated.
Majority of the decisions you have to make when looking for a humidifier boils down to your personal needs, starting from the size of the particular room you are treating down to the additional features you might find useful. But, a major distinction narrows down the choices you can select from.
Cold and Hot
There are two primary categories you can consider when looking for a humidifier: cool mist or warm mist? Just like what you could have guessed, the latter makes use of heat for boiling and dispersing vapor, while the former creates a mist with no need to heat up the water first.
A cool mist humidifier works either with the use of a fan for evaporating water that has been pulled up to the wick or with the use of ultrasonic vibration for breaking water into tiny particles then dispersing them to the air.
Whatever it is, cool mist humidifier produces cool vapors that increase the humidity in the room but not the temperature.
As mentioned earlier, a cool mist humidifier may make a room feel a bit cooler.
What Makes Warm Mist Humidifiers Different?
Even though the effects of cool and warm mist humidifiers are primarily the same, you have to take note of several differences.
For starters, a warm mist vaporizer usually includes a chamber where you can put medication that will be dispersed to the air through the steam.
But, this benefit has a potential downside as well. Since warm mist humidifiers create steam and are filled with hot water, this might not be an ideal option for rooms frequented by pets or children.
Even though the device is safe to use under normal circumstances, when the water spills, it can become a serious hazard.
Keep It Cool
A cool mist humidifier may be more preferable in some other instances. In warm and dry climates, you may want to humidify a space without heating it up.
Cool mist humidifiers can be a better choice in this case. The two kinds of cool mist devices have notable differences as well that can help you make an informed decision.
The ultrasonic humidifier is the quietest option that runs with almost no noise. The evaporative wick humidifier is the loudest although most provide variable fan speeds that may help reduce the sound they create.
This could be an important distinction for people who are using their humidifier inside the bedroom.
The ultrasonic humidifiers can be the perfect option for people who want to sleep in total silence. On the other hand, an evaporative wick humidifier is more suitable for people who prefer some white noise.
Here is a quick rundown of how these two types of cool mist humidifiers work:
- Ultrasonic – Instead of using a fan, high-frequency ultrasonic vibrations are used in an ultrasonic humidifier to evaporate the water, making them notably quieter.
- Evaporative – A fan in the evaporative humidifier pulls in the warm air from the room then uses this for evaporating the water held in the wick. The air will turn more humid as the water is naturally evaporating and gets carried away.
Benefits of Cool Mist Humidifiers
The benefits of cool mist humidifiers have the tendency to outweigh the perks of their warm mist counterpart. This is why cool mist units are often more popular and in demand.
Take a look at the following key benefits associated with buying a cool mist humidifier and how this is better than or equal to the warm mist units in every area.
Comfort
Among the primary reasons for getting a humidifier is for health benefits and comfort they can provide for you and your whole family. Increasing a room’s humidity can help reduce allergic reactions and asthma and offer comfort for those suffering from cold.
Increasing humidity also keeps the inner part of the nasal passages properly lubricated, thus helping you heal much faster, generally improving sinus health.
Humidifiers can prevent snoring as well and as a result, it improves the quality of you or your partner’s sleep.
Safety
Cool mist humidifiers are more preferred over warm mist humidifiers because of safety concerns. Since warm mist humidifiers boil water to produce steam, there is the risk that pets or kids will burn themselves on the device.
This is why rooms often accessed by pets or children require a cool mist humidifier instead of a warm one.
Cost
Since warm mist humidifiers user heat for boiling water, this makes use of more energy compared to cool mist humidifiers that only use a fan.
In case you plan to run your humidifier for the most part of the day or you wish to buy several humidifiers for your house, the added cost is going to stack up.
You will be able to save more money over time if you opt for a cool mist humidifier.
Areas covered
A cool mist humidifier has the tendency to spread their effects on a relatively wider area. On the other hand, a warm mist humidifier tends to have more concentrated effects on areas near the unit with a lesser effect on those further away.
This is the reason why a warm mist humidifier will only work well with smaller rooms but for larger ones, a cool mist humidifier should be considered.
Final Word
Even though warm mist humidifiers do offer benefits, they lose out to cool mist humidifiers in important factors such as areas covered, cost, and safety.
If you want to make the room cold and at the same time improve your comfort levels and comfort, a cool mist humidifier is your best bet.
