Last Updated: February 26, 2024
When your house humidity dives down, it can throw the environment inside your home off the rails. That can bring a lot of changes to your space, belongings, and health, and not good ones. The smart thing to do is to face the problem head-on and bring the humidity levels inside your home back to normal. The ideal humidity level inside homes is between thirty to fifty percent.
The best solution for you to bring the humidity inside your home is to get the appropriate model, keeping the basic requirements in mind. There are a lot of factors involved in the process of procuring the humidifier. These factors are the size of your humidifier, the capacity, type of humidifier, price range, and so on.
Humidifiers make good on restoring the humidity to normal inside your house, but there are a few other concerns that you might have about these devices.
Do humidifiers help with cold relief, and, are humidifiers effective with allergies?
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the function that these devices play in solving these problems. But before we do that, let’s have a quick look at the known benefits of a humidifier.
- Having a humidifier in your house will help you fight the problem of dry skin. When humidity levels drop inside the house, the skin becomes dry and flaky, and you need to keep moisturizing it again and again. With a humidifier, the environment becomes humid, and your skin stays moisturized.
- Having a humidifier is also suitable for your wooden furniture. In a dry environment, the wood can start to crack, and then it can keep altering in size as the humidity ping pongs. With a humidifier in your home, any wooden possessions you may have, are going to be safe.
- With the help of a humidifier, the moisture goes to the nose and sinuses. The airways open up and prevent any discomfort due to sore throat, or snoring. If you have any house plants, you should know that they require moisture to thrive. With the help of a humidifier, you can keep them in good shape, and enjoy the benefits yourself as well.
- It is in winters static electricity can be formed as the humidity drops, and the air is dry. That is not only annoying to people, but it can also be harmful to any electronic devices you may have at home. So, having a humidifier can save not only you but also your electronic devices.
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These are a few of the benefits of having a humidifier, amongst others.
Now, let’s move on to the next part.
Is a humidifier effective with allergies?
Humidifiers help add humidity to the room and cause the relative humidity to get back to normal. It helps in alleviating the physical symptoms of low humidity such as dry skin and hairs, nasal congestion, snoring, and so on.
But, the question of whether having a humidifier helps those who suffer from allergies remains. The answer to this can be a little complicated.
A recent study showed that, at higher humidity levels (40%), many of the viruses become inactive. However, the research is on the influenza virus. So, it can or cannot be useful to have a humidifier for your allergies caused by other agents.
However, simple allergies caused by dust particles, and dust, pollen, pet dander, mold spores, and more from the air, and any allergies by these agents can be prevented by a quality humidifier with capable filter.
Any symptoms of allergies like runny nose, sneezing, irritated skin, and so on, are greatly relieved by the humidifier. There are cases where humidifiers can nit combat the cause but are capable enough for the symptoms.
However, you should always check with your physician first before making humidifiers the only solution. In some instances, these machines do little to nothing, and you should seek other treatments.
Can Humidifiers help in relieving cold?
In winters, humidity levels can drop low, and the risk of catching a cold or infection goes up. Humidifiers are perfect for such occasions. Studies have shown that humidifiers help you feel warmer when the humidity level is alleviated. With more moisture in the air, the evaporation of sweat slows down, and you feel warmer. But this is not all!
By increasing the humidity levels in the air, humidifiers help in the softening of mucus membranes and help in quick recovery when you’re suffering from cold.
However, the opinion on this is not the same amongst experts. There is truth to the capability of humidifiers to ease cod symptoms, but patients still need to take proper precautions to help stop transmission. It is not going to do magic. It is best to get a medical opinion before you start using it as a remedy for cold and flu.
Warm mist humidifiers or vaporizers are popular amongst users, for the steam treatment. With vaporizers, people usually have good results in terms of cold and flu. However, these can be unsafe sometimes, and you need to handle these carefully. Some warm mist humidifiers also have the option of diffusing liquid medication along with the warm vapors, along with the steam. It is a good idea, however, to first check with your physician for that as well. Warm mist humidifiers, add warm steam and also warm the space they inhabit. They’re ideal in case of cold or flu, but humidifiers, in general, have, to a degree, a positive effect in case of cough or flu.
Conclusion
When it comes to humidifying your space, there is no doubt that quality humidifiers do that well. That has a positive effect on the overall environment of the home. As a result, on you, your possessions, and the house.
There are not a lot of evidence to support humidifiers are a sure shot solution to cold and allergies. However, from the experience of countless users, it can be said that humidifiers do have positive effects on the symptoms in many cases.
Users should always get a medical opinion from your physician in case the problem is persisting. The smart thing to use the humidifier as an aid, rather than the only remedy.