Do you know room humidifiers are the source of actinobacteria infection at the bedside? So, you are confused about how close a humidifier should be to your bed? You may not find the answer to this query in the user manual. Do not worry. I am here to teach you how far a humidifier should be from your bed.
The distance between your bed and humidifier should be not less than 3 feet. Less than 3 feet allows you to breathe mist directly. The mist contains bacteria, viruses, and fungus, which could be toxic and harmful to the respiratory system. Besides, placing less than 3 feet from the bedside may cause burning injury to you and your kids.
In this article, I will share how close a humidifier should be to your bed in different circumstances and the dangers of running a humidifier in the bedroom. I will also share how close you should place a humidifier in your baby’s room.
What factors you should consider while placing and running a humidifier in your bedroom. So, stick around with me to get a whole idea at a glance.
How Close Should A Humidifier Be To Your Bed?
As I mentioned above, you should place your humidifier 3 feet away from your bed. You must put it 1 foot away from the room wall, furniture, etc. One more thing, always keep the nozzle of mist towards the center of the room.
Now, I will discuss where to put a humidifier in your bedroom in different conditions. I will also let you know the types of humidifiers and where you should place them in your bedroom. Here you go –
Humidifiers Placement According To Period
In Day Time
During the day, you should not keep your humidifier under direct sunlight. The sun’s heat helps with the multiplication of bacteria and fungus inside the humidifier. So, if you have to place your humidifier near the window at night, you should put it away during the day.
P.S. To retard the growth of bacteria, you should clean your humidifier with disinfectant. Moreover, you should wipe away the disinfectant from the humidifier with a cleaned towel because, In South Korea, dozens of children died and were sickened from the humidifier’s disinfectant.
In Night-Time
You should place your humidifier in a comfortable place at night from where mist can spread throughout the room evenly. You might find less than 3 feet away from your bed is comfortable. But as our body temperature fluctuates at night, direct humidification is dangerous for our health.
What is more? Humidifiers make noise except Ultrasonic, which will cause problems in your REM sleep. However, sound does not matter to those who have heavy sleeping behavior.
Let’s Discuss Where To Place A Humidifier In Your Bedroom According To Type.
Cool-Mist Humidifiers
To maximize benefit, you can place it close to your bed but not closer than 3 feet. The cool-mist not only makes you feel better but also helps with increasing your immune system function.
Warm-Mist Humidifiers
You can not place it closer to your bed, but room size does the matter, which I will cover later in this article. Though warm-mist does not contain bacteria, viruses, etc., there has burning injuries chance. The boiled water may spill out and cause an abrasion of the skin. However, you can place it close to your bed when you are awake.
Warm-mist humidifiers are the best for people with congestion and prone to flu infection.
Ultrasonic Humidifiers
You should not only place it 3 feet away from your bed but also put it at 2 feet height. An ultrasonic humidifier is best for a light sleeper because it does not make noise.
Evaporative Humidifiers
Place an evaporative humidifier as much as exposed to the fan. This humidifier is best for your bedroom because it does not produce condensation like an ultrasonic humidifier. But, you can use an ultrasonic humidifier by keeping a water-resistant tray underneath it. It is helpful for sound sleep.
Humidifiers Placement According To The Size Of The Room.
Small Room
You should place your humidifier out of your reach in a small room if the unit has a higher humidification capacity and a large coverage area.
Large Room
In a larger room, you should place your humidifier close to your bed.
Should You Put The Humidifier On The Floor Or Nightstand?
You should not put an ultrasonic humidifier on the floor. You should put it on the nightstand at approx. 2 feet in height. However, you can place an evaporative humidifier on the floor. Using a water-resistant tray underneath both ultrasonic and evaporative humidifiers is better.
How Close Should A Humidifier Be To Your Face?
Is it okay to breathe in a humidifier? I will ask you this question regarding your question. It is not okay to breathe in a cool-mist humidifier because it contains the least amount of bacteria, viruses, etc. On the other hand, you can breathe warm-mist, but direct breathing is intolerable. Above all, it is no need to place a humidifier close to your face. You must turn the mist nozzle to the center of the room.
Where To Place The Humidifier In Your Baby’s Room?
The similar rules for babies. You should keep a humidifier 3 feet away from the baby’s reach. You must keep it at 2 feet in height. Always try to maintain 1 feet distance from furniture and other home appliances. You must be cautious while keeping it in your baby’s room. Restrict your kids from putting their hands on the humidifier.
Related post: You can check out our article on how close a humidifier should be to a baby.
Should You Run A Humidifier All Night In Your Bedroom?
You should run a humidifier all night in your bedroom in winter or during the dry season. If you are worried about mold growth on your wall, floor, and furniture, you should not run it overnight. You have to maintain 30 to 50 percent humidity, and if you are worried about mold growth at the same time, I recommend buying an automatic humidifier.
Automatic humidifier stop when the humidity level is optimum. Meanwhile, running or intermittent operation of humidifiers overnight solely depends on your preference.
Related Post: You can read our full article on “Should humidifier run all night?”
Dangers Related To Humidifiers In The Bedroom
All significant dangers are related to the warm-mist humidifiers. However, a cool-mist humidifier could be dangerous.
Warm-mist humidifiers work by boiling water to the boiling temperature. If the water spills out or the humidifier falls out on the ground, it may cause burning of your skin. I believe you do not want this situation anymore. Right?
Besides, if you keep your ultrasonic humidifier close to your bed, you will see condensation in your bed. Eventually, the warm and moist environment encourages mold growth on your bed.
I have already mentioned earlier that humidifier sound might cause harm to your REM sleep if you are a light sleeper. You should maintain the proper distance discussed above.
If you run a dirty humidifier facing its mist nozzle to your face, the bacteria, viruses, and fungus quickly enter your respiratory system. It leads to allergy and pneumonia.
Where Should You Place Your Humidifier For My Plants In The Bedroom?
You should place your humidifier 4 to 6 feet away from your houseplants. I prefer to place a humidifier in the center of my room. So, I can easily maintain the distance from my bed and plants.
Where To Put The Humidifier When Sick?
If you are suffering from congestion, it is best to place your humidifier next to your bed until you recover. But the thumb rule is that you have to put your humidifier 3 feet away from your bed and 2 feet above the ground.
Can You Place My Humidifier On Your Bedroom Window Under Direct Sunlight?
You can not place your humidifier on your bedroom window under direct sunlight during the day. The sunlight gives an ambient environment to microbial growth. You must dry heat your humidifier under direct sunlight after cleaning and rinsing it.
When Do You Know You Need A Humidifier To Run Your Bedroom?
The component way to know you need a humidifier is when you feel dry lips and skin. However, all skin dryness is not related to less humidity and winter. If you feel irritation in your throat with skin dryness, you should run a humidifier.
I recommend putting a hygrometer in your house to measure the humidity level every second. When you see the humidity level is below 30 percent, you must run your humidifier. In contrast, you must run a dehumidifier when you know the humidity level is above 60 percent. A dehumidifier is a machine reducing the humidity levels in your room.
Can I Use A Humidifier In A Carpeted Room?
You can use a humidifier in a carpeted room but can not directly put the humidifier directly on the carpet. If you put the humidifier on the rug without a water-resistant tray, the condensation ruins your carpet and leads to mold growth on it.
Benefits Of Running A Humidifier In Your Bedroom
According to MedicalNewsToday, the benefits of running a humidifier in your bedroom are –
- The humidifier reduces the chances of flu More than 40 percent humidity impedes the multiplication of flu viruses.
- It reduces snoring. You can alleviate the snoring symptoms by running a humidifier overnight.
- A humidifier decreases electric static and prevents furniture damage.
- It keeps skin and lips safe from drying out. Skin and lip dry out due to low humidity, over scrubbing, heat, and infection. So, you have to figure out what causes your dry skin first and then go for a humidifier. However, it is almost sure in the case of the winter season, windy nature and less humidity cause dry skin.
- It turns your unproductive coughing productive.
- It soothes asthma symptoms.
Factors You Must Consider Before Placing A Humidifier Anywhere
The following factors you must consider before placing a humidifier in your room –
- The humidifier should not be close to any wooden objects or electronic gadgets. The condensation damages the wood.
- You must keep your humidifier in a room where airflow is optimum. But you can not place a humidifier on direct airflow.
- You must keep your humidifier in the center of the room. It helps with spreading moisture evenly throughout the room.
Best Humidifier For Sleeping
While choosing a humidifier for sleeping, my best pick is AquaOasis™ Cool Mist Humidifier.
This humidifier comes with a BIG 2.2 L tank and adjustable 360nozzle. You can customize mist emission direction according to your preference by adjusting the nozzle. You can also customize the mist emission rate by turning the knob at the bottom.
It is easy to operate and it covers around 400 sq. ft. As this humidifier is an ultrasonic humidifier, you do not need to sit next to your children while it is sleeping.
The automatic shut on and off feature prevents the danger when the tank is running out. The BIG 2.2 L tank water is enough for 24 hours.
You do not need to replace the humidifier filter once a year. This humidifier comes with a filter-free operation. But, you should use purified or distilled water.
Related Post: You can check out our article on “Can you use tap water in your humidifier?”
In sum, you can sleep better and live better with this humidifier.
Related Post: Best humidifiers for nosebleeding.
Conclusion
Now, how close a humidifier should be to your bed is clear. You know what fits your best. You can customize the distance according to your demand. You can keep it closer to your bed temporarily when suffering from congestion. When you awaken, you can keep it closer. But during sleeping, you can’t go because of safety issues.
You must pour off the water in the humidifier tank. Clean the tank with disinfectant. Once more, you have to change the filter once a year.
