I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on a good cool mist humidifier. I'm concerned about noise level. Also do they make a difference with dry mouth, etc?

Thanks!

Hi Courtney

In Houston or Jackson in the summertime you will not see that much of a difference, however in the winter you will be able to tell a big difference. Ignore the naysayers that will tell you that the humidity levels in Houston run 80% all the time, you cannot go by Relative humidity values for what you are looking for. For example, when it is 40�F outside and the legendary 80% RH (relative humidity) and you turn your furnace on to heat your home to 75�F the RH value drops to approx 22%!

I used a Air-o-Swiss for awhile before switching to a whole house unit installed in my AC/Heating System.

If you have any questions, please ask!


Kevin

I don't have a recommendation on brand, but the humidifier makes a huge difference for me for sleeping. I still sleep with a water bottle in the crook of my elbow, but I think I wake less often to drink. HIGHLY recommended. I use mine summer and winter. I don't have one when I travel and I sure notice the difference.

Donna

That's cause your summers are like "normal" people's winters!

Just had to.

I prefer warm mist, but my doctor said that he strongly suggested cool mist, and so that's what we're doing. I can barely tell the difference. My face complexion is not as dry, which is lovely, but my mouth/throat are dry as can be whether I use humidifier or not.

We actually use our humidifer all year round. Even if you live in a humid area, AC or heating will strip the humidity out of the air. I have a Vornado twin tank, cool mist, humidifier and I have to fill it about once a week. The wicks should be replaced about every 4-6 months as well and a good cleaning once a year doesn't hurt either. It is capable of humidifying about 1300 sq ft. Unfortunately this model is no longer avaialable.
Check Amazon, use the OCF Amazon link and OCF will get a small percentage kicked back to them at no extra cost to you. There are also inexpensive humidity meters around. Most humidifers have multiple speed controls so at night you can use a slower setting. Our natural humidity levels are pretty good in the SF bay Area - around 68% today.

Even with the humidifier I lived with a bottle of water in my hand for quite a while post Tx. Many trips to the BR ;-)

We use a cool mist humidifier in our cigar shop and I bought it about 5 years ago from Sears. It has one big tank and it wasn't expensive and it has never failed us. As Gary says you do have to replace these filters every so often and there not expensive.

I have mine stored for summer and so far the dehumidifier hardly runs at all. Of course we can hardly call this summer a normal one. Crazy weather for sure

One word of caution. For typical buildings/houses all of the current design data cautions against sustained relative humidity levels above 60% due to potential black mold growth.

The potential for mold and other nasties (termites, roaches etc) increase exponentially above 55%.

Good article for the the non-engineering/scientific public.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whumdef.htm

I think that you'll be hard pressed to get greater then 60% humidity out of a table top humidifier. The optimum humdidity for human comfort is 40% - 60%. I would recommend getting a digital humidity meter, they are inexpensive and depending on the speed setting the rate of evaporation can be controlled. Typical humidity where I live is around 60%.