Humidifiers are great for a range of benefits, from preventing influenza and nosebleeds, to treating dry skin or cracked lips. What about more? Can using a humidifier help you stay cool in the hot summer? Do humidifiers cool the air and help you breathe easier, live healthier, and stay cool at the same time?
If it’s possible to run the machine and cut the heat down without needing a separate cooler. Well, that’s what we’re discussing today to find out if you can substitute a humidifier for two different machines. In a nutshell, humidifiers don’t usually cool the air distinctively but at a certain level if you’re using a cool mist one.
What are Humidifiers?
A humidifier is a machine that moisturizes dry air within the immediate atmosphere, with steam or vaporized water. Depending on how it works, there are two basic types of humidifiers you can find on the market:
- Warm mist humidifiers (vaporizer)
- Cool mist humidifiers
Both types of machines have their specific way of working with different types of internal mechanisms. There are two more variations within these two types of humidifiers in terms of working methods.
You can either go for an Ultrasonic humidifying method, or the evaporative method. Which one you’re going to choose will depend on what health issues you’re facing along. There can be three more types if you consider the size of the machine: Personal portable, Medium portable, and whole house or centralized humidifiers.
If you’re looking for a humidifier for nosebleeds, that needs a different method than the one for cold allergies. Besides, it will increase the moisture level and clear your nasal passages or moisten your dry throat. While choosing the type of humidifier, especially for portable humidifiers, go with a cool mist one for coolness.
How Does Humidifier Work?
Where dry air can cause a ton of problems, especially for people with stuffy noses or allergies, humidifiers can help. The humidifier puts a balance in the dryness of the air and makes it far easier to breathe in. It works using a few different technologies inside a single structure. So, before you ask, will a humidifier cool the air, here is how a typical humidifier works:
1.Evaporative cool mist humidifiers
First off, the evaporative cool mist humidifiers work by taking the dry water into an intake water tank. You can use both tap water and bottled water., it turns the water into vapor and increase indoor air humidity.
The air goes through a moisture wick to be condensed into water to transfer into evaporative moisture. After that, the humidifier will again blow the moisture back into the room (a central humidifier works the same way).
Evaporative humidifiers make the dry air a little colder, it will increase the cool moisture content, improving indoor air quality.
2. Vaporizer humidifiers
A warm mist or vaporizer humidifier machine starts the job by taking in ready water that you’ll put into a tank. It will boil the water into hot steam, and then distribute the steam into the air in the room and make it more moist. Once the relative humidity level of the room increases, the humidifier will decrease the distribution.
3.Ultrasonic humidifiers
This humidifier will create a mist using ultrasonic vibrators within a diaphragm that’s present in the machine. Since it makes the steam at a fine level, the mist looks different and less opaque compared to vaporizers.
Depending on whether you’re using a cool or warm ultrasonic, it will give you a cold or warm atmospheric situation. If it’s warm, it will heat the water to 40° Celsius, and for the cold, it will feel a little cozy.
Do Humidifiers Cool The Air
Now for the big question, do humidifiers cool the air in the atmospheric area within the room or not? Since there are no condenser coils to cool the air, you primarily get a low level of humidity and coolness under the rules of thermodynamics.
And there are different types of humidifiers with distinct working processes, so the results can be different. Let’s talk about both the types of humidifiers and see which one actually does cool you off, and which one doesn’t:
Cool mist humidifiers do cool a little
As the name points out, the cool mist humidifiers do cool the weather and cool the ambient temperature a little. But, it doesn’t really substitute a full blown cooler whether you talk about an air conditioner or a portable cooler.
Apparently, the cool mist model gives you a sensation of cooling effect because it takes the dry air away. It absorbs the dry air, and fills the air with water mist, which eventually makes the near atmosphere cooler.
Warm mist humidifiers will warm the air
The same principle applies for the warm mist humidifier as the name suggests, it’s a warm machine. It will steam the water up to 40° Celsius and create a mist before distributing it around the atmosphere.
Hence, it’s a great option for those who have stuffy or bloody nose, sore throat, cold allergies alongside less humidity. If you need a humidifier that makes it cooler at the same time, warm mist is not your type.
What can I do to cool the room?
As the situation goes, if you have the necessity of both a humidifier and a cooler, there are two options. You can either get a portable cooler separately, or use DIY methods like increasing ventilation, using ice cubes, or so. Here is another cool option that offers both the cooling and warming feature:
Get a cold and warm mist combo
You can find humidifier combo machines that use both warm and cold mist methods to humidify. If you’re determined not to run two different devices in the room, you can go for a combo of this kind. It will not only warm your room while humidifying in the winter, but also cool it in summer with cool mist.
Arrange your cooling externally
If using an external cooling machine is okay with you, you can go for one option from many. The first and most effective option is getting a portable cooler machine. It will both keep your room cool and is portable to another room, if you’re asking do humidifiers cool the room. Thus, saving you by not buying separate air conditioners for each room in the house.
Use DIY methods to increase coolness
There are a few DIY methods to keep a room relatively cooler in the summer as well. First off, remove all the heat sources from the room such as the dishwasher, fridge, etc. to avoid extra heat.
Use CFL bulbs instead of hot ones, and create cross air circulation with two windows facing against one other. Get heavy window curtains and use them to avoid getting direct sunlight to hit the room. Use computers and other heat sources as little as possible.
Conclusion
Using separate machines to humidify your room while cooling it can be a big advantage. That’d skip the extra cost of electricity bills as well as a lot cleaner space in the room. And now that you know how do humidifiers cool the air a little, you should understand that it cannot substitute an AC. If you need a solution to humidity issues, and living in a hot area, getting a separate cooling machine would be a better solution. However, if it’s for a less used room in your house, a cool mist humidifier can cool it just fine.
