Humidifier That Works

Hi K.,

I don't use a humidifier, however we have just purchased an air purifier. We bought it about 2 months or so ago and it has worked greatly. I am the one in the house who is alway getting sick with a head cold and ever since we got that I have not even at a runny/congested nose. It is an ELECTROLUX and they are rather expensive, but it works. My husbands family uses this as well, and they are hardly ever sick either. I think you may be able to buy them online, otherwise you have to go to an Electrolux dealer to find one.

Hi K.
Were also thinking about a whole house humidifer and when we started asking questions they said if you have hard water they do not recommended useing one because the minerals will then get biult up in your duct work and be very expenseive to fix so we just bought one that was big enough to do our downstairs and that works great.

The vicks Pediatric humidifier works pretty well. Just be sure to put it on a towel because it leaves condensation on the surface you have it on....

We've tried a few different kinds and keep coming back to the Vicks warm mist vaporizer for the night time. You have to keep it out of reach of little ones so they don't get burned, but it works! You just have to clean it with vinegar at least once a week.
We have been thinking about getting a whole-house humidifier, too. I'm anxious to see what recommendations you get.

K.~
I would suggest a steam vaporizer. That's what my parents used for my siblings and I and that is what I use for my daughter. You just need to be careful and warn the older ones that the steam is HOT or make sure you put it up high enough that it's out of reach! I still have the scar on my index finger and hand from where I tried to 'grab' the steam. Good luck!
~T. T.

Hi there,
We just had an Aprilaire unit installed this weekend and I have to say, so far I'm very happy with it. I'm noticing a big difference in the amount of times I get shocked every day (seems really trivial, but it was out of control) and all of us are waking up much less dry every morning. I don't know about the hard water issue, I've never heard anything about that, although I suppose it makes sense. Either way, I probably would have done it since we're not planning on living here forever and I'm not much for messing around with humidifiers. I've been doing that for 3 years and don't miss it one little bit. I would recommend it, if for no other reason than to not have to worry about cleaning anything and the possibility of anyone being burned.

We've tried a few, and keep coming back to the Vicks warm mist one. It's affordable and reliable. Some tips, though:

-Clean often (We use a 3-day rule--use it three nights, changing the water each night, and after that we clean it before the next use. It's easy--just soak the heating unit in a pitcher or tall bowl of vinegar to looses the mineral deposits that form quickly. We clean the reservoir by putting in a little bit of bleach, then filling with hot water. It's pretty routine; it just takes a couple minutes to fill these, then I let them sit on the counter and rinse well before using. It's important to descale or it will not work.

-It gets HOT! We don't plug it in until the baby is in his crib for the night. Then we unplug it before taking him out in the morning, and it gets stored in his locked closet during the day.

-Add a pinch of salt! We returned a couple of them before we read the directions (duh!) and realized that most of us have pretty hard water, and without the salt, it will never boil/steam up.

-Most times you don't need the inhalant, but if you decide to use it for particularly stuff nights, we found the one that goes directly into the water is easier to use. Otherwise you have to soak up the leftover "oil" from the little tank. It spills easily, whereas the one that goes into the water just goes right down the drain.

We don't have a whole-house humidifier, so I can't be of help there...sorry!