Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started shall we? Bionaire offers a fairly comprehensive line of these humidifiers. It’s definitely enough to be a little intimidating to someone who doesn’t know what they’re looking for. Before you order one of these things, you need to have a couple things in mind: What are you going to use the humidifier for? Is it for allergies, dry skin, or will it only be used when you have a cold? How big of a house do you have? Do you have children in the house?
Those are just a few of the things you want to be cognizant of when you start your shopping. Bionaire typically makes humidifiers that are for smaller applications. That is, these work great for use in your bedroom or smaller living room. If you have a larger house and want to use a warm or cold mist humidifier, you might want to go for something a little bit more robust than the Bionaire. But, if you’re on a budget and don’t have a large place, this could work out just fine for you.
Bionaire humidifiers actually come standard without water filters. This has actually caused a little bit of annoyance with some users. These users typically say that hard water deposits tend to build up in the lines, which would normally be blocked by a filter after coming out of the tank. If you have soft water you won’t have a problem, but this could be an issue for you if you tend to live in areas where there are a lot of minerals present in tap water.
All that being said, a typical Bionaire warm mist humidifier is fairly cheap. You can normally expect to pay anywhere between $20-$40 USD depending on where you do your shopping. Because this can greatly improve the quality of life and the health of your family, we don’t think that’s too high of a price for such a system.
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]]>So let’s talk about the best way to clean one of these things. First of all, do not use bleach to do this. Yes, I know bleach is the preferred method of choice for a lot of applications, but for anything safety sensitive such as this, you really really want to stay away from it. Even a little bit of bleach left in the humidifier itself can cause serious health concerns over time. No, we want to use something just a little safer. You probably will agree with that. What we want to use is good ol’ fashioned white vinegar. Yes, white vinegar from the store is one of the best ways to get rid of unwanted mold and many types of bacteria. The acidity in the vinegar will completely destroy the mold at its source, so don’t worry about that. And better yet, since you use the stuff in salads day in and day out, it’s safe. There are no harsh chemicals added to it; it’s completely natural.
No, it won’t exactly be as effective as bleach (I don’t think anyone can argue that bleach does a wonderful job), but you won’t have to worry that your family is being exposed to harmful chlorine fumes. But even if it’s not as crazy effective, it won’t matter. It’ll get rid of all the unnecessary junk in warm mist humidifiers just fine.
That’s all I have to say about this, really. Don’t go for harsh chemicals, and stay away from even commercial cleaners unless you really know what you’re doing with them. Keep with the natural solution of vinegar and your family will do just great this cold season.
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]]>Well, in my opinion it comes down to safety. Being that humidifiers put out a cooler mist into the room, there is no risk of being scalded by the output of one of these units. This goes for both warm mist and cool mist humidifiers alike; the difference there is that a warm mist humidifier has a second stage cooling “section” that cools the water before being sprayed out. Cool mist humidifiers simply spray the mist as-is. Either way you go, the mist is cool when it comes out. That’s the safe thing to do for your baby, again, in my humble opinion.
Vaporizers can be a little bit hazardous, but people use them regularly without any issues. Vaporizers do not have a cooling section, so yes, you can be scalded or burned by the steam being put out. Also, many people feel that the warm steam put out by a vaporizer is a little bit less comfortable in warmer climates than a similar humidifier. A vaporizer can really add to the heat in the room. However, if you’re like me and live in a cooler climate, this can really create some more warmth in the room. You might actually like it, so try both.
So why would you get one over the other? Vaporizers are usually a little less expensive than a similar-capacity humidifier. This is because the air doesn’t need to be cooled after it’s been heated; simply boil and go. If you’re on a budget, you might consider getting a vaporizer. But, if safety is your top concern for your children, you might want to save up just a bit more and get a warm mist humidifier instead. It’ll serve the same purpose in the end.
Again, the trick here is to clean it constantly, no matter what it is. Bacteria isn’t your friend; even vaporizers with boiling water can release harmful bacteria into the air.
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]]>Now, many doctors will recommend a warm mist humidifier for these types of ailments. The warm air is going to do a good job opening up your nasal passages and lungs better than cold mist would, all things being equal. But, is it really going to help that much? Well, remember that humidifiers themselves don’t really put out air that’s been warmed up. They specifically specialize in putting out cooler mist that’s safer to handle than the boiling steam that you can find when using vaporizers.
Cool mist humidifiers also put out air that hasn’t been heated. Using either the warm or cool mist versions isn’t going to make much of a difference: Both of them are going to be cool whenever the mist hits your nose anyway. But, here’s something you might like about a warm mist humidifier: You can usually add some type of medicine to the machine to put out there in the room. Being that the mist is warm to start, it does a better job at this than a cold mist machine. Most people use Vicks or some other type of soothing medicine to relieve symptoms when using warm mist humidifiers.
So, if you’re really interested in nice warm humid air in your room, you really might want to look into a vaporizer. We talked about vaporizers in one of our previous posts, so go check that out if you want some more detailed reading on the topic. Basically though, vaporizers are going to put out steam, not just a mist. Steam is extremely hot coming out, so a room filled with steam is going to give you a lot better symptom relief than an actual humidifier.
But what about your baby? If you really want to play things safe, get a cool mist humidifier. Do not use vaporizers when dealing with children unless specifically told to you by a doctor; you need to know what you’re doing first.
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]]>So, which do you think is the best model? Anyone have any thoughts on that? Okay, thought not; that’s probably why you’re here, right? The Holmes HM5700 seems to come highly recommended on various sites. This is a warm mist system that carries about 2 gallons of liquid as it’s sitting there on the table. That’s good enough for several hours of use, and projects quite a lot of steam into the room where you need it. It’s small and lightweight too, so you know that you can take it into any room in the house. The HM5700 produces about 3.5 gallons of moisture in the air (how do they test that, exactly?) with its 2 gallon reservoir. Another good thing is that it’s quiet; there’s nothing worse than a humidifier that sits there and sounds like a tug boat pulling away from the dock. It’s also easy to clean, which is extra important for a warm mist humidifier.
The warm mist can promote the growth of bacteria, so you need to make sure to clean this thing as much as possible. There’s no kidding about that: Clean it after each use! Holmes does use the microban technology on its products, however. This is used on a number of different products, but what it does is inhibit bacterial growth. Just remember though: I said inhibit, not eliminate. You still need to clean it.
The Holmes HM5700 Warm Mist Humidifier covers about 750 square feet of space, so unless you have a house with extra large rooms, it should work just great for you. Check it out.
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