A humidifier is a machine that disperses water to the surrounding environment and moisturizes dry air as a result. This mist can either be warm or cool depending on the specific type of humidifier you are using.
Benefits of Sleeping with a Humidifier On
Here are the top benefits of letting your humidifier run while you sleep at night:
1. Better Sleep
Your sinus and throat turn dry when you breathe in the dry air in the bedroom.
This makes the perfect recipe for disturbed sleep and snoring menu not just for you but also for everyone within the close quarters.
When you sleep with a humidifier each night, it moistens your respiratory tract that reduces the chances of producing that unwanted snort.
2. Helps Your Respiratory Tract Perform All Its Duties
Your nose’s mucous membranes work best when they are moist.
The dry air can make it hard for these membranes to catch all the germs and prevent them from reaching your lungs where they may cause further health problems.
3. Lowers Risks of Infections
Dry throat and nose can expose you to different infections. Letting the humidifier run at night during dry or winter conditions can reduce cases of infection.
4. Relieves Congestion
Are you suffering from congestion, cough, flu, cold, or sinusitis? Although the dry air can accelerate mucus production and keep it thick, the moist air can thin out the mucus, making it easier to expel.
By expelling mucus, you can expel the germs that can cause diseases for you to be well on the path of faster recovery.
5. Improves Your Voice Box
Dry air can clog your vocal cords. So, when you wake up in the morning, your voice becomes almost unrecognizable.
Sleeping with a humidifier every night can benefit your chords by ensuring that they stay hydrated.
6. Prevents Nasty Nosebleeds
How many times have you woken up to see your pillow dotted with a few drops of blood? A dry nose can lead to dry skin and possibly nosebleed.
7. Reduces Heating Bills During Winter Months
Humid air tends to feel hotter compared to dry air at a similar temperature. It means that you could lower the settings of your heater while running your humidifier at night that can then lower your heating bill as a result.
8. Healthier and More Lush Houseplants
You probably placed a few plants inside your bedroom to clean out toxins from the air. Dry air in the bedroom can steal moisture that your plants need.
One of the best benefits of sleeping with a humidifier is that it makes your plants healthier and nicer to look at.
9. Complements Your Beauty Routine
Dry air can rob your skin of its much-needed moisture. Dry skin will flake, age, and chap faster than moist skin.
Letting your humidifier run at night while you sleep will make you enjoy healthier and suppler skin.
10. Benefits Your Furniture
Dry air will never spare your doors, molding, furniture, and others. They will soon develop cracks, breaking down faster than necessary.
Thanks to your humidifier, your furniture, and furnishing at home will be able to last longer.
Risks of Sleeping with a Humidifier On
All benefits come with risks. Here are some of the downsides of sleeping with a humidifier on:
1. You May Experience Allergy Flare-ups
Filter-less humidifiers produce gray or white dust together with the mist. The white is those minerals found in regular tap water.
You can mitigate the risk by choosing a humidifier with a filter that can trap these minerals. You can also choose a unit with demineralization cartridges or just stick with distilled water.
2. Water Tank May Run Dry
Although it is possible to check if the water levels have reached dangerous levels during day time, you won’t be able to do so at night while you sleep.
You can address this problem by option for a room humidifier that can produce mist longer than the number of your sleeping hours.
You can also check if the humidifier comes with an auto shut off option that will shut down the appliance once the tank has run dry.
3. You May Create a Breeding Ground for Dust Mites, Mold, and Others
Dry air poses a health hazard yet too much air moisture isn’t good, either. Thus, the humidity level should always be maintained at around 30% to 50%.
Excessive moisture can condense on beddings, furnishings, floors, and furniture and promote the growth of mold, bacteria, dust mites, and the like.
It negates all the benefits of sleeping with a humidifier on. Mold growing on furnishings and furniture in this type of environment means shorter lifespan and more cleaning.
You can prevent this problem from happening by using a hygrometer to measure humidity levels. Once it shows that the level is higher than recommended, don’t turn on the humidifier.
You might also want to use a humidifier that comes with a humidistat to let you control and measure the amount of mist that gets dispersed given the room’s humidity level.
Precautions to Take When Sleeping with a Humidifier On
For your humidifier to give its best performance, there are a few precautions and pointers you have to remember:
1. Refill with distilled and demineralized water.
Use distilled water to refill your filter-less humidifier. The filters should always be changed by the ones recommended by the manufacturer if your humidifier is a filter type one.
2. Keep the humidifier and water clean.
Unclean water leads to the growth of germs and mold that can lead to unclean air. An unclean humidifier also promotes germ and mold growth.
Follow the cleaning instructions of the manufacturer for you to enjoy clean and healthy air.
3. Place your humidifier at the right location.
For this, check the manufacturer’s instructions. There are some who suggest that you put the unit on an elevated spot while others recommend placing this on hard surfaces.
Just make sure that this is kept away from high traffic areas and out of children’s reach.
