Saturday, December 30, 2006

Humidifiers - as opposed to dehumidifiers.

Well, you live and learn. I’d only ever heard of de-humidifiers, probably because here in Dunedin, because we're a coastal town, we tend to get a moist atmosphere, especially in winter, and there’s a need to keep things drier to avoid mould and damp. I guess if I’d thought about it – but I hadn’t – if you have de-humidifiers then of course you must have humidifiers. Though there are lots of words in the English language such as uncouth which don’t (any more) have an opposite. I use the word ‘couth’ occasionally, but my spellchecker isn’t impressed.

Anyway, back to humidifiers. I now appreciate that they add some moisture to the air where the air is too dry, particularly in places where a furnace may heat the air up to such a degree that it takes the moisture out. I suppose it’s like the saucer of water we use to put on top of the gas heater to stop the air drying out. An extremely simple form of humidifier. Apparently in the States they use humidifiers that are attached to furnaces in the house (furnace humidifiers, in other words!) as a more economical way of approaching the issue.

One of the problems with overly dry air, it seems, is that it can cause dry skin and sore throats. Hmm, I wonder if that’s a factor in our house when things heat up too much. (Fat chance! LOL)

Seems like there are all sorts of humidifiers: steam/vaporizers, warm mist, evaporation wick (like the sound of that one!), impeller and ultrasonic. I was going to be silly and write about the last one of the group sending out sound waves – in fact, they do! Apparently the ultrasonic sound waves vibrate the water (that’s needed to humidify) and this creates a mist. These are one of the quieter humidifiers.

Well, there you go. Discover some little thing and off it sends you into a whole new world!
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