When you decide to use a humidifier, the proper placement is always important.
So, where should you really place a humidifier? You have to place your humidifier in an area where it is the most needed. You also need to ensure that you select the right size of humidifier which depends on the room’s size where you plan to place it.
Whether you want to put the humidifier in the bedroom, living room, office, baby’s room, or any other place, first, you should ask yourself a few questions. Why do you even need a humidifier? What is the size of your house or the room where you plan to install the humidifier? Is the unit too loud? Will you be able to tolerate its noise? Most importantly, you need to be extra wary of using it if you have kids or pets.
Before you decide where to place a humidifier, you have to ensure that you actually need one before anything else. For this, you can use a hygrometer in the room or area where you wish to use the unit as this will measure the relative humidity level there.
The ideal relative humidity for comfort and health is around 40% to 50%. During winter season, there might be a need for it to be lower than 40% of relative humidity to avoid window condensation.
So, in the event that the humidity in your house or room is lower than this percentage, you may suffer from scratchy or dry throat, sinus congestion, dry cough, irritated vocal cords, bloody noise, cuts on fingertips, dry skin, cracked knuckles and lips, and more.
However, when the humidity is higher than 50 percent, the surplus air moisture can cause a musty odor in your house, mold, allergic reactions, copped wood floors, and others. In these cases, you have to keep your humidifier farther away.
To help you out, below are some important tips on how to determine the best placements for your humidifier:
At What Height to Place Your Humidifier?
As far as the height where you should put your humidifier, the most recommended height is above ground level. So, it doesn’t matter if you are using an ultrasonic humidifier or an evaporative one because you want to put them both above ground level.
Remember that the area that is in direct vicinity of the humidifier can also become moist and slippery from the moisture output of the humidifier. It can lead to mildew or mold issues with the flooring or carpeting under it, or even accidents.
Thus, the humidifier must be put on a small table or any other piece of furniture at least 2 feet above the ground. If you wish to keep the furnishings protected, you can put a towel below the humidifier.
Placement of Humidifier in Your Living Room
The living room is often the biggest area in your house so placing your humidifier here will let all members of the household to benefit from it. But, you have to remember a few things when you use your humidifier in your living room.
First off, you need to pay attention since the mist can end up ruining wood surfaces. You can use a small plastic table exclusively for the humidifier. If you are using a humidifier every day, you can place some plastic tray or towel underneath since there could be a water leakage.
Nevertheless, you have to make sure that you don’t place your humidifier near a register or vent. When there is heat in the living room and your humidifier is around this heat, the relative humidity’s reading can get skewed.
The air coming from the register or vent is usually of very low humidity. Therefore, the built-in hygrometer of majority of humidifiers is going to read this very low moisture and will run much more than when you place it more centrally in the living room.
Placement of Humidifier in Your Bedroom
Before you place the humidifier in a specific area of your bedroom, you should use a hygrometer to identify the area in the bedroom that most needs the humidifier.
The humidifier’s size you should be using will depend on how many people are often in the bedroom. Having more people in the bedroom will require a bigger humidifier. When using a large humidifier, the ideal place is the corner of the room.
Placement of Humidifier in the Children’s Room
The use of a humidifier in your kids’ room can be an easy and effective way for keeping them protected from negative effects of extremely dry air. But, you have to ensure that the humidifier is away from your kids’ arm’s reach so as not to put the health of your child at risk. You can use a plastic tray and pyt this on top of the dresser or nightstand or if you are using carpets, cut out a cardboard piece from the box and put it below the humidifier.
Placement of Humidifier in the Office
If you are working in an open office or in a cubicle and the office air is very dry, you don’t need a big sized humidifier. The ideal solution is a portable and travel size one. A USB-powered desktop version is a much better choice even. This kind of humidifier is not that powerful enough for adding moisture to the entire office but by keeping it near you, it can improve your comfort levels.
These are some of the important pointers to remember when considering the right placement of your humidifier for you to enjoy all its benefits.
