Three weeks ago it was summer.  Two weeks ago it was winter.  Last weekend, it was spring, and this week, Mother Nature wrought torrid August in April.  Today we woke up and it was below 40...and a few years ago, we had a massive snowstorm in April.  So, don't install the air conditioners just yet and don't clean and put away the humidifier just yet, either.  Our humidifiers are going full-tilt.

Anyone in an overheated New York City apartment almost always has at least one humidifier chugging along, relief from the dry steam heat.  A humidifier pumps water back into the air-better for your sinuses (relieving congestion, irritation, and dry coughs), your skin (itchy skin, chapped lips, and worse-WRINKLES!!)-in other words, your entire system.

The two types of humidifiers are evaporative (generally cheaper, and the more common) and ultrasonic, which produces a more diffuse mist.  Both types come in either the warm or cool modes, but, because ultrasonic models do not boil water, they are regarded as safer-no chance to get scalded if the unit is knocked over and its water comes in contact with skin.

Just a note on buying (because if you don't have one, this is a good time to buy one, when they are likely on sale, before we really do put those air conditioners back in the windows for good):  You are likely to find units that are marked as one-, two-, or three-gallon sizes.  That number does not refer to the size of the reservoir; it refers to the amount of moisture expelled on a daily basis.  Most units have to be refilled at least once a day.  Some units have a hygrometer (a device that measures the humidity in the room, which, for comfort, is usually between 45% and 55%.  Some units have a humidistat, to regulate the humidity and have auto turn-on and -off, to keep the moisture set at a particular level.

Two units to look at when you buy one now (and if you do run it before the weather turns perpetually warm, be sure to clean and dry it before storing for the summer) are from Germ Guardian  and Crane .

Germ Guardian, well known in the humidifier field, boasts that "unlike other humidifiers that grow slimy mold and bacteria in the water tank and send it out into the room, the Germ Guardian Digital Ultrasonic humidifiers use Silver Clean technology to fight the growth of mold and bacteria in the water tank."  The company makes many models, all slick blue and white-very antiseptic-looking. The units are ultrasonic and virtually silent.  Some have a soft-glow night light, and can run for something like 55 hours, some have options to change from warm to cool mist, others have a water-level indication light, a humidity-level display, and many other fancy bells and whistles.

Crane's also produces a wide range of units, both cool and warm mist models, but the ones you won't find anywhere else are the units designed superficially for children's room...in the shapes of animals-a piggy, a cow, a froggie, a kitty, and so on.  But the little cutie that we fell in love with (for performance and it's adorable design) is the colorful tear-drop-shaped unit that we keep in the kitchen (it's good for 250 square feet), and which comes in hot pink, bright green, and other fashion colors, along with pure white.  The nozzle turns 360 degrees, and despite the small size of the unit, it dispels over two gallons of moisture; the intensity of the mist can be regulated, too.

Posted on April 12, 2010 - by