Choosing a Humidifier: What size humidifier do I need?
How to choose a humidifier for a 40 m2 living room? How many milliliters (ml) capacity do I need per square meter (m2)? My humidifier is rated for 30 m2, but it doesn't provide enough humidity. What's wrong? These are the most common questions when it comes to humidifiers. Why is it so difficult, and what do the manufacturers themselves say, for example? To make the right choice, you should know a little bit. Therefore, read this guide.
How many square meters?
How many m2 is a humidifier suitable for? Many considerations come into play, and manufacturers also have very varied recommendations. Don't be fixated on the stated number of square meters. There's a lot of "speculation" going on here!
How many milliliters per hour?
What gives a better indication of the size is how many milliliters of water a humidifier produces per hour. This is usually a figure between 300 ml and 1,000 ml. This is more "scientific" and gives a more accurate indication of the size. Our experience suggests that you need at least 7 ml / hour per square meter if you don't have a ventilation system, and preferably at least 50% more if you do have a ventilation system.
It is industry standard to measure the performance of a humidifier at 25°C and 30% humidity, but not everyone follows this standard. If everyone did, life would be simpler.
What factors play a role?
Many factors come into play when assessing humidity needs. No one knows your specific conditions, so it's impossible to find a perfectly correct size. Here are some things that affect the humidity in your home:
- indoor air temperature
- outdoor air temperature
- ventilation system or not (and how much air does it exchange per hour?)
- type of humidifier (ultrasonic, evaporative, warm mist or hybrid air washer)
- temperature of the humidity: cool mist, temperate mist, or warm mist
- doors open or closed to other rooms
- how much you ventilate and have open vents
No one knows your specific conditions, so it's not easy to find the right size. Some of these will also vary throughout the year. Manufacturers must therefore provide a very rough estimate. In the table below, you can see what some different manufacturers recommend. Remember that if you have doors open to other rooms, a lot of humidity can escape there too. Here you can see a list of signs that indicate you need a humidifier.
To summarize, you can see that there are many things to consider.
Choosing a humidifier: Which type of humidifier?
Are you wondering whether to buy an ultrasonic or, for example, an evaporative humidifier? Or perhaps one with warm mist? To give you the knowledge to make a decision, here are the most important similarities and differences:
Ultrasonic humidifier
Ultrasonic humidifiers emit small water droplets as a cool mist. To make it more comfortable to breathe, some of them can also warm the mist slightly. However, it does not get as warm as hot steam.
Advantages:
- Inexpensive
- Easy to clean
- Simple to use
- Effective
Disadvantages:
- Can provide too much moisture, and therefore you should have a good humidistat.
- Moisture can settle on the table or floor where the humidifier is placed, so it should be in a very open and airy location.
Read more about ultrasonic humidifiers here.
Evaporative humidifier
An evaporative humidifier draws water into a filter mat with a large surface area. This allows the water to evaporate naturally from this surface. We can compare it to a water droplet on a table. When the droplet sits there, it takes a long time to dry. If you spread the droplet over the table so it becomes a thin film, it dries immediately (by natural evaporation). Stylies has been working on this for many years, which is why they have many fine evaporative humidifiers.
Advantages:
- Self-regulating, and therefore it is impossible for too much moisture to accumulate in the room.
- No water collects around the appliance, even though the effect is often just as good. This makes it safe for furniture and parquet flooring.
- Cannot spread bacteria into the air, and therefore does not have problems with Legionella.
Disadvantages:
- The filter mat must be replaced at regular intervals. This is very simple, and therefore it costs only a few kroner to use it.
- Some people like to see the moisture coming out. An evaporative humidifier is effective. You actually cannot see the moisture being added, which is why many people think ultrasonic humidifiers are more effective. However, that is not correct.
Read more about evaporative humidifiers here.
Humidifier with warm mist
This is like a kettle. Water is boiled so that warm steam is released into the room. Thus, the water is boiled and sterile, unlike an ultrasonic humidifier which only preheats the water slightly.
Advantages
- The water is boiled, making it 100% sterile.
- The water is boiled, so you may hear some bubbling sounds.
Disadvantages
- The steam is hot, so you should keep small children away.
- All humidifiers require good cleaning. Since this type has a higher temperature, grime can burn on. Therefore, it requires a little extra attention.
Read more about steam humidifiers here.
Air washer
An air washer is a special variant of an evaporative humidifier. Here, water will evaporate naturally from a filter mat with a large surface area. In addition, this surface will rotate down into a water bath that cleans the filter mat, so particles from the air will stick to the water. This can then be poured out. An air washer is therefore a combination of a humidifier and an air purifier. It purifies the air to a certain extent. This is often not as good as a proper air purifier, so you may also want to read our guide on choosing an air purifier.
Advantages
- You get both an air purifier and a humidifier in the same appliance, making it economically beneficial.
- Cheaper to operate than a proper air purifier, because you have to replace expensive filters in those. Therefore, you often incur higher costs using an air purifier.
Disadvantages
- An air washer is a more complex product, and therefore it is often more expensive than a regular humidifier. Since it does two things, it is cheaper than buying both a humidifier and an air purifier.
Read more about air washers here.
To summarize
To make the right choice, you need to know a little about humidifiers. Since you now know more about choosing a humidifier, you can now take a look at the alternatives below. We want you to have the best possible information to choose, which is why we have created this guide. If you know more, you will be able to make better choices.
Read more about dry air
Here you can read more about dry air in the office.
Read more about dry air and cracks in parquet flooring here.