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I used to live in China a decade ago and everyone used ultrasonic humidifiers there. When I moved back to the US, I searched for one of them and could only fin

I used to live in China a decade ago and everyone used ultrasonic humidifiers there. When I moved back to the US, I searched for one of them and could only find steam and evaporative humidifiers like this Honeywell one. Having small children, I went for the Honneywell humidifier and hated it - I was stupefied that it had such good reviews. So I searched for "safe" steam humidifiers and couldn't find one, so I gave up. Last year, I noticed that ultrasonic humidifiers were now very popular and cheap on Amazon, and got one. The review sites recommended against them, due to supposed calcium and bacteria build-up, but I haven't seen any problems, and the Honeywell was definitely worse on these fronts. Get an ultrasonic humidifier - they are cheap and if they break, you can get another one. Just used filtered water in them.

philipkglass 6y ago
I wonder if there have been waves of "fashion" in humidifier design. My parents used an ultrasonic humidifier when I was growing up in the US in the 1980s.
wavefunction 6y ago
I was able to buy an ultrasonic humidifier six years ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. I think I had to order it online but it didn't seem to be too rare and it wasn't expensive, or at least it cost a reasonable amount.
jimhefferon 6y ago
I have had the opposite experience. I live in VT, and a humidifier is a real need. I used to use an ultrasonic device because, basically, that is what stores near me had available. But I noticed that every winter I got bronchitis. I remembered that years ago I read in Consumers Reports that these can cause a reaction because they can break particles apart. (I remember it saying that it can break apart virus particles, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if that is correct.) Based on that dim memory, I bought a Boneco AIR-O-SWISS Warm Mist Steam Humidifier S450. It has faults, and is expensive. But I don't get annual bronchitis any more. So we use that.

philipkglass 6y ago

I wonder if there have been waves of "fashion" in humidifier design. My parents used an ultrasonic humidifier when I was growing up in the US in the 1980s.

wavefunction 6y ago

I was able to buy an ultrasonic humidifier six years ago from Bed Bath and Beyond. I think I had to order it online but it didn't seem to be too rare and it wasn't expensive, or at least it cost a reasonable amount.

jimhefferon 6y ago

I have had the opposite experience. I live in VT, and a humidifier is a real need. I used to use an ultrasonic device because, basically, that is what stores near me had available. But I noticed that every winter I got bronchitis. I remembered that years ago I read in Consumers Reports that these can cause a reaction because they can break particles apart. (I remember it saying that it can break apart virus particles, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if that is correct.) Based on that dim memory, I bought a Boneco AIR-O-SWISS Warm Mist Steam Humidifier S450. It has faults, and is expensive. But I don't get annual bronchitis any more. So we use that.