In my post a couple of days ago, I mentioned how dry the air is indoors in the winter and how a humidifier can help add the much needed moisture.
There are several different styles on the market and each one has it's pros and cons, but the most important thing about any of them is the cleaning of them.
The kind we use is a warm moist air style that sends a warm mist into the air.
I have found that I need to thoroughly clean mine about every two weeks - and that's using it all the time, constantly filling and refilling the water tank.
The tank and the unit each get their own treatment as they each have their own separate issues.
When the water in the tank starts to get cloudy, I know it's time for a cleaning.
If I don't then the bacteria starts to build up and get pushed out into the air in the water vapor of the warm mist.
Not a healthy thing at all.
The tank gets cleaned with a mixture of bleach and water - I let it soak for at least a 1/2 an hour.
The heating unit really takes a beating as our water tends to be hard - which means it has a lot of minerals in it.
The element gets coated and it needs to cleaned with water and vinegar and scrubbed with an old toothbrush - it is the only thing that works to release the hardened minerals.
Years ago, we had a cool air humidifier that only lasted us one season.
I could never get it cleaned good enough, and eventually it began to have an odor.
And it bothered my allergies quite a bit.
The warm air king may be a bit more expensive to run with the electricity, but I find it to be more efficient and healthy.
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