How to choose a humidifier for an apartment

Low humidity in the room makes breathing difficult, causes perspiration in the throat, and dry dust raised into the air with each breath enters our lungs. More often such disturbance of a microclimate occurs in the winter because of working heating devices. And most of all from the dried air suffer allergy sufferers, asthmatics and small children. To create a comfortable and healthy environment for everyone in the house, a good moisturizer is needed. But how to choose the right model?

? The best humidifier manufacturers - which firm to choose

Despitethe novelty of moisturizing technology, today many manufacturers have established their release. Of course, among them there are leaders and outsiders, so your choice should start with getting acquainted with successful brands.

If you need a quality and reliable machine, pay attention to the products of the following companies:

• Boneco Air-o-Swiss;
• Timberk;
• Sharp;
• Polaris;
• Ballu.

Their products have already earned a reputation for being the best - you can find out more about them in our rating of air humidifiers. But in order to make the right choice, one should take into account the characteristics of the humidifier and correlate them with the characteristics of the room in which it is to work.

Principle of operation and air humidifier arrangement

The family of humidifiers for air has grown significantly due to models using different methods of evaporation of water. But on the whole the structure looks like this:

1. The tank is a container with filters, which you will regularly fill with water.

2. Fan, heater or ultrasonic module - devices that accelerate the evaporation of moisture from the tank and carry it into the air in the form of a slurry.

3. Control panel with sensors( if provided by design).

4. The body itself - it contains the listed elements.

All humidifiers work on the same principle: they draw in the dry air from the room, somehow saturate it with moisture( some models it is additionally filtered and disinfected), and then returned back to the room.

As a result of such treatment in the house it becomes easier to breathe, and dust, microbes and allergens are removed from the air.

Types of air humidifiers

Traditional( for cold humidification)

Relatively inexpensive devices that are easy to maintain, safe and low power consumption. They are able to bring the level of humidity in the room up to 60%, but time will take a lot.

The principle of operation of such a device is simple: water is poured into the tank, after which the built-in fan turns on. It drives dry air through the filter and the "wet zone", and then blows it out.

The performance of cold aggregates is low - only 4-8 l / day, so it will not be necessary to pour water. The main thing is not to forget every 2-3 months to change the filter.

Pros:

• Simplicity of design;
• Minimal care;
• Low power consumption;
• Quality air humidification;
• Affordable price;
• Many models already come with air ionizers.

Cons:

• Slow increase in humidity level;
• Fan noise at 40 dB is not comfortable.

Steam

Steam humidifier is more like an unremovable electric kettle. There is a separate pallet with an installed TEN, where water boils, and steam is sent to the camera with an outlet to the nebulizer.

The performance of such devices is - 7-16 l / day, so they require more attention. Constant heating also does not pass without a trace for machinery, because of what the resource of steam units seriously decreases.

Pros:

• High performance;
• No need to constantly change filters;
• There is no limit to the degree of humidification - you can create any conditions in the room.

Cons:

• High power consumption;
• Hazardous temperature of steam at the outlet;
• Noisy work.

Ultrasound

To date, these are the most common and popular types of moisturizers. They are quite quiet, have an attractive design, quickly saturate the air with moisture, and most importantly - are absolutely safe in everyday life.

The principle of operation of such units is interesting. Here a special plate vibrates at the speed of ultrasound, breaking the water into the smallest droplets. Then the resulting slurry spreads around the room with the help of a fan.

Almost all ultrasonic models are additionally equipped with a hygrometer, which shows the humidity level in the house - very convenient. But such a remarkable device still requires some care: periodic filter change and refilling of purified water. But on the productivity it almost does not concede to steam models, giving out about 7-14 liters of a wet pair per day.

Pros:

• Compact size;
• Safety in use;
• Relatively quiet operation( 30-35 dB);
• Gives quick and high quality moisturizing;
• The presence of a hygrometer for monitoring the humidity in the room;
• You can set the desired climatic conditions for a particular room.

Cons:

• High cost;
• Require pre-treated water to be poured.

Air cleaners( cleaners)

These are more serious and complex devices that, in addition to the usual moisturizing, can clean the room atmosphere of dust and foreign smells. Here the dirty and dry air passes through a whole cascade of different filters and a rotating "wet" drum.

Thus, it is cleaned of dust and other foreign suspensions that remain in the water and drain into a special tray. Clean and moistened air is blown into the room with the help of a fan. You just need to pour water into your sink and wash the tank once a month. The fluid consumption in such devices is 8-10 l / day.

Pros:

• Quality air humidification with cleansing from dust and odors;
• Possibility of room aromatization;
• Moderate for such an efficient device power consumption;
• Security in use;
• Simple care.

Cons:

• High cost;
• Low throughput.

Climatic complexes

The most complex and functional devices responsible for creating a comfortable microclimate in the house. In addition to moistening the air, they clean it, disinfect it, aromatize it and keep it under control all the time.

Climatic complexes are equipped with a mass of sensors that can catch smoke, monitor the level of dust and bacteria in the ambient air. But in fact, these are the same washers, only more sophisticated.

Despite the wide possibilities, servicing this technique is not more difficult than other types of humidifiers.

Pros:

• Multifunctionality;
• The highest productivity( 14-20 l / day);
• Maximum cleaning and disinfection of air;
• Complete climate control in the room.

Cons:

• Very high cost - both the equipment itself and the consumables for it.

Humidifier selection parameters

Power and performance of

Power consumption is a very important parameter when choosing a climate technology, since humidifiers work almost round the clock, winding a decent amount on the meter.

Depending on the design chosen, the power of the unit can vary over a wide range:

1. Typical humidifiers consume between 5 and 70 watts;

2. 15 to 100 are ultrasonic models;

3. 200 to 500 - steam;

4. 150 to 400 watts wash and climate systems.

With the power of the humidifier, its performance is often closely related, that is, the speed of saturation of the air with steam. The only exception is TEN aggregates, which spend a lot of energy on heating the liquid.

In the case of complex climate technology, in which the air is flushed additionally, the throughput of the device also affects the performance. It varies between 90-500 m3 / h. But when buying is more convenient to focus on the served area of ​​the room( here you can choose the appropriate value in the range of 15-100 m2).

Tank capacity

Designers select it, taking into account the capacity and permissible dimensions of the humidifier. But to you as a buyer it is more important to relate the volume of the inner tank to the area of ​​the room.

When selecting the air humidifier, be guided by the following figures:

1. For a space of up to 15 sq. M.m is enough for a tank capacity of 2.5 liters;

2. For 20-40 square meters.m will need about 5 liters;

3. In a large room up to 70 squares you need a tank of liters for 7-9.

Also pay attention to the performance of the selected device: by tying it to the capacity of the tank, you will understand how often you have to pour water. If the humidifier evaporates up to 300 ml / h, then a 5-liter tank is enough for the device to work from morning till evening.

Filters

This is the basis of any effective air humidifier, which will in parallel clean it from dust and other contaminants. But do not forget that the filter elements are consumables, and many of them will have to be regularly purchased.

Depending on the function of the humidifier, the following types of filters can be used:

1. Pre-cleaning

The simplest mesh filters made of fabric, plastic or metal. They are designed for primary air purification and are capable of catching only large particles of dust. As a rule, these are serviced items, that is, they can be washed and used further.

2. Coal

These are fine filters, where all work is performed by activated carbon. They catch fine dust, but are best able to cope with the removal of foreign odors. They require a full replacement every 3-6 months.

3. Photocatalytic

In fact, it is the same fine carbon filter, capable of deodorizing air and absorbing viruses, bacteria, and also some toxins like carbon monoxide. And here there is not just a mechanical filtration, but a complete decomposition of pollutants.

The beauty is that after the cartridge has been developed, it does not need to be changed immediately - it is enough to "fry" a few hours in the sun, and the properties of the filter will be restored by about 95%.

4. Electrostatic and plasma

Designed for targeted control of specific pollutants: purify the air of cigarette smoke, pollen of flowers, individual toxins and the smallest dust up to 0.01 micron.

Such filters are a set of metal plates on which under the influence of a magnetic field, dust particles settle. Plasma cartridges operate on a different principle - they simply burn out the active organic matter in the air with the help of high voltage.

5. HEPA and ULPA

Very effective, but expensive filters that can purify the air of various allergens, dust mites, bacteria, etc. HEPA models capture up to 99.1% of contaminants, ULPA - up to 99.9%.Such filters are made of special porous material based on fiberglass.

Additional functions of

If you need more than just air humidification in the room, but also an improvement in its quality, you should choose a device with additional functions:

1. Ionization - saturation of the atmosphere with negative ions, which are so much in fresh mountain air and so little inclosed premises.

2. Aromatization - gives clean air a pleasant smell and even healing properties, if you use useful essential oils for this.

3. Ozonization and UV treatment are a safe way to kill bacteria in the atmosphere of the room.

Control methods

Here everything depends on the complexity of the humidifier and the number of options implemented in it. If you choose a simple and inexpensive device with minimal functionality, mechanical control will be convenient. Those who want to squeeze the maximum out of the humidifier, the electronic one will be more suitable. Excellent, if the "smart" model is attached remote control.

Presence of indicators

Where-where, and in the humidifier the extra indicators do not interfere. They will help you better control the operation of the device and the air condition in the room. But the expediency of using them will have to be evaluated in each individual case.

In addition to the connection indicator in the humidifier design, there may be such sensors:

1. The liquid level indicator - its presence makes sense only if the water edge is not visible through the tank casing.

2. Humidity indicator in the room - hygrometer. A new-fashioned chip, which manufacturers are trying to attract buyers. In fact, in cheap models built-in hygrometers are not accurate, so their availability is not an advantage. But on expensive sinks and climate-systems such a sensor is mandatory.

3. Thermometer - is necessary to create a comfortable humidity at a given room temperature.

4. Information about the current mode of operation - useful to owners of multifunctional devices.

5. The instrument status display helps to identify a fault, and also shows which filter is already modifying its resource and will soon require replacement.

Safety and comfort

Actually, all air humidifiers are relatively safe, except for steam models. These produce hot steam, so if there are small children in the house, it is better to refuse them in favor of "cold" appliances.

The comfort issue concerns the noise capacity of climate technology. Here, the choice should be made according to the principle: the quieter, the better. In 80% of cases the volume of the device is directly related to its power and varies from 5 to 55 dB.The best option is the figure of 30-35 dB, but the quieter your humidifier works, the more comfortable it will be with him in one room.

Method of placement

Humidifiers are of two types: floor and table.

1. Floor standing devices are bulky, multifunctional models that are designed to work in large areas.

2. Desktop devices are compact, but in spite of their modest dimensions, they are no less effective in everyday life.

Which air humidifier to choose

1. If you need an air humidifier without any frills, but just to make it easier to breathe in a room, choose traditional "cold" models. The minimum of functions and low water consumption will help you quickly get used to the device, which will not cause much trouble.

2. In a nursery or bedroom, it is better to place a quiet ultrasonic humidifier with a small reservoir volume to update the tank more often. Moreover, almost all such devices already come with a useful ionization function.

3. If you need to create in a literal sense greenhouse conditions in one of the premises( for example, to arrange tropics in a greenhouse), you can take a steam humidifier that has no moisture limiters. The same device is suitable for urgent improvement of air quality when you come to the country.

4. Residents of large cities, as well as families where there are allergies or a newly born child, a simple moisturizer will not be enough. Here you need a high-quality air sink.

5. In spacious rooms with humidification and cleaning, only a large climate complex with the maximum number of filtration stages will cope.

How much does the air humidifier

1. The price for traditional humidifiers with a fan starts at 2,700 rubles for the most simple model and comes to 12,000 for a system with speed control.

2. Steam units are in the range of 5-15 thousand rubles.

3. Ultrasonic devices have quite a wide range of prices - from 500 rubles to 20 thousand.

4. The cleaners( air washers) range is even wider - from 500 rubles for a low-power model for a room of 15 m2 to 135 thousand for a large climate complex, designed for spacious rooms of 100 squares.