5 ms·

I have a rather small Honeywell cool mist that works well. I use it in our bedrooms and have taken the humidity up 20% easily. This is in the mountains where it

I have a rather small Honeywell cool mist that works well. I use it in our bedrooms and have taken the humidity up 20% easily. This is in the mountains where it's drier than the desert in the winter.

jcims 7y ago
They ‘cheat’ a little by lofting liquid water which then evaporates. We have a water softener and the cool mist humidifier left a smoke-like particulate floating in the air (i think it was either salt from the softener or minerals from the water)
- mfkp 7y ago
  Yes, that's the minerals in the water. Using distilled water prevents this.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I discovered this when doing a post-assembly indoor test of a Luftdaten air quality sensor I built[0]. I kept it running for few hours and then looked at the data, and saw some ridiculously high levels of PM2.5 and PM5 in the evening. I've decided to investigate it. Over the next two days, I figured out that the increased levels happen at times when our air humidifier is running, which led me to discover that those ultrasonic air humidifiers essentially atomize everything that was mixed with/dissolved in the water - and we were using filtered tap water with ours. With distilled water in the humidifier, the sensor did not show increased particulate levels. We've mostly stopped using the humidifier now, because I can't find a source of distilled water that doesn't involve buying plastic bottles. -- [0] - https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/ https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/
    - mfkp 7y ago
      I've encountered the same issue (high plastic bottle waste along with high cost). Short of boiling your own water outdoors to avoid polluting the indoor air, it's challenging to find a source for bulk distilled water.
      - im3w1l 7y ago
        Boiling your water indoors will humidify the air.
        mfkp 7y ago
        Yes, and it will also release the impurities/minerals into the air, which is what we're trying to avoid by using distilled/boiled water. I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm), and the evaporated minerals are very visible in the air (and it leaves a white residue on the surrounding area).
        OJFord 7y ago
        > I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm) Tangential, but being curious how hard that was relative to mine led me to discover that Thames Water (i.e. only useful to anyone reading in London) has a pretty good page at [0] - a summary on the site itself but the PDF is really worth a look, lots of numbers. Maybe it's a regulatory requirement, but I wouldn't have expected it to be so easy to get so much information from them about my specific (it serves many districts in and around London with different sources and equipment) water supply. [0]: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/check-the-water-quality-in-your-area https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/...
        oska 7y ago
        It's actually quite common for water authorities to publish quite detailed analyses of the water they provide. Doing such analyses is a core competency of being a water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned, then published for consumers, often at a fairly detailed level.
        OJFord 7y ago
        > water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned Not here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies (E.g. Canada Pension Plan, Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong based investment trust) As I said, it may be a regulatory (Ofwat) requirement, but it isn't just a public body doing right by its citizens. Interesting anyway, not that much of it means anything to me. Though apparently if/when I try brewing beer again I should add some magnesium. (It even lists the range that's helpful as a yeast nutrient, and above which contributes unwanted taste.)
    - jcims 7y ago
      We also have a air purifier that watches for particulate and they would battle each other constantly lol. Moved to an evaporative humidifier, my air quality appliances now operate in peace.
- devtul 7y ago
  Oooooh, so that is the cause of my apartment being hazy?! Just moved to a new place, air humidity can get around 10% and since I don't enjoy being tazed by my sofa I bought a small humidifier from Amazon, both I and my wife noticed what seems to be a cloud in our living room.
  - jcims 7y ago
    If it's a cool-mist type humidifier, definitely. I grabbed an evaporative one from the local big box hardware store and zero 'smoke'. You should get some bacteriostat and you'll have to replace the paper elements every now and again, but it's way better.
IndrekR 7y ago
This may also indicate insufficient air exchange (high CO2 level) in your bedroom.

I have a rather small Honeywell cool mist that works well. I use it in our bedrooms and have taken the humidity up 20% easily. This is in the mountains where it's drier than the desert in the winter.

jcims 7y ago

They ‘cheat’ a little by lofting liquid water which then evaporates. We have a water softener and the cool mist humidifier left a smoke-like particulate floating in the air (i think it was either salt from the softener or minerals from the water)

mfkp 7y ago
Yes, that's the minerals in the water. Using distilled water prevents this.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  I discovered this when doing a post-assembly indoor test of a Luftdaten air quality sensor I built[0]. I kept it running for few hours and then looked at the data, and saw some ridiculously high levels of PM2.5 and PM5 in the evening. I've decided to investigate it. Over the next two days, I figured out that the increased levels happen at times when our air humidifier is running, which led me to discover that those ultrasonic air humidifiers essentially atomize everything that was mixed with/dissolved in the water - and we were using filtered tap water with ours. With distilled water in the humidifier, the sensor did not show increased particulate levels. We've mostly stopped using the humidifier now, because I can't find a source of distilled water that doesn't involve buying plastic bottles. -- [0] - https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/ https://luftdaten.info/en/home-en/
  - mfkp 7y ago
    I've encountered the same issue (high plastic bottle waste along with high cost). Short of boiling your own water outdoors to avoid polluting the indoor air, it's challenging to find a source for bulk distilled water.
    - im3w1l 7y ago
      Boiling your water indoors will humidify the air.
      - mfkp 7y ago
        Yes, and it will also release the impurities/minerals into the air, which is what we're trying to avoid by using distilled/boiled water. I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm), and the evaporated minerals are very visible in the air (and it leaves a white residue on the surrounding area).
        OJFord 7y ago
        > I live in an area with very hard water (around 300ppm) Tangential, but being curious how hard that was relative to mine led me to discover that Thames Water (i.e. only useful to anyone reading in London) has a pretty good page at [0] - a summary on the site itself but the PDF is really worth a look, lots of numbers. Maybe it's a regulatory requirement, but I wouldn't have expected it to be so easy to get so much information from them about my specific (it serves many districts in and around London with different sources and equipment) water supply. [0]: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/check-the-water-quality-in-your-area https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/water-quality/...
        oska 7y ago
        It's actually quite common for water authorities to publish quite detailed analyses of the water they provide. Doing such analyses is a core competency of being a water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned, then published for consumers, often at a fairly detailed level.
        OJFord 7y ago
        > water authority and, since they are mostly publicly owned Not here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_water_companies (E.g. Canada Pension Plan, Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong based investment trust) As I said, it may be a regulatory (Ofwat) requirement, but it isn't just a public body doing right by its citizens. Interesting anyway, not that much of it means anything to me. Though apparently if/when I try brewing beer again I should add some magnesium. (It even lists the range that's helpful as a yeast nutrient, and above which contributes unwanted taste.)
  - jcims 7y ago
    We also have a air purifier that watches for particulate and they would battle each other constantly lol. Moved to an evaporative humidifier, my air quality appliances now operate in peace.
devtul 7y ago
Oooooh, so that is the cause of my apartment being hazy?! Just moved to a new place, air humidity can get around 10% and since I don't enjoy being tazed by my sofa I bought a small humidifier from Amazon, both I and my wife noticed what seems to be a cloud in our living room.
- jcims 7y ago
  If it's a cool-mist type humidifier, definitely. I grabbed an evaporative one from the local big box hardware store and zero 'smoke'. You should get some bacteriostat and you'll have to replace the paper elements every now and again, but it's way better.

IndrekR 7y ago

This may also indicate insufficient air exchange (high CO2 level) in your bedroom.