Benefits of using a humidifier


Humidifier adds moisture to the air, which can benefit people with respiratory symptoms or dry skin.

There are several ways to use humidifiers in the home or office, but there are also some risks.


In this article, learn about the benefits of humidifiers, how to use them correctly, and precautions to take.


Dryness and humidity

By adding moisture to the air, humidifiers may be beneficial for several medical conditions.


Dry air can cause moisture to evaporate from the skin and respiratory symptoms to worsen over time. Adding moisture to the air with a humidifier can counteract these problems.


Humidifiers can help people who experience:


dry skin


irritated eyes


dryness in the throat or airways


allergies


frequent coughs


bloody noses


sinus headaches


cracked lips


Five humidifier uses and their benefits


Some people experience respiratory symptoms in the summer months, when the weather is hot, and the air contains more allergens. Air conditioners and fans can circulate dry air through the room, and air conditioners remove any moisture from the air. A humidifier may be beneficial during this season.


However, people are more likely to benefit from a humidifier in the cold months, when cold air dries out the lungs, nose, and lips. Also, some types of central heating can dry out the air indoors.


Benefits of a humidifier may include:


1. Preventing influenza


Authors of one

studyTrusted Source
noted that humidifiers might reduce the risk of catching the flu. After adding the influenza virus to the air with a simulated cough, researchers found that humidity levels above 40 percent rapidly deactivated virus particles, making them much less likely to be infectious.


2. Making a cough more productive


Dry air can cause a person to have a dry, unproductive cough. Adding humidity to the air can get more moisture into the airways, which can make a cough more productive. A productive cough releases trapped or sticky phlegm.


3. Reducing snoring


Increasing the amount of moisture in the air can also reduce snoring. If the air is dry, a person’s airways are less likely to be sufficiently lubricated, which can make snoring worse.


Adding humidity to the air by running a humidifier at night may help to relieve some symptoms.


4. Keeping the skin and hair moist


Some people notice that their skin, lips, and hair become dry and fragile in the winter.


Many types of heating units pump hot, dry air through the house or office, which can make the skin dry, itchy, or flaky. Cold air outside can also dry out the skin.


Using a humidifier to add moisture to the indoor air may help to reduce the occurrence of dry, cracked skin.


5. Benefits for the home


Moisture from a humidifier can be helpful around the home. Any moisture-loving houseplants may become more vibrant, and wood floors or furniture may last longer. Humidity can also help to prevent wallpaper from cracking and static electricity from building up.


Humid air can also feel warmer than dry air, which could help a person to save money on utility bills in winter months.



Types of humidifiers



While most humidifiers have the same basic function, to add moisture to the air, many types are available:


Steam vaporizers: These use electricity to create steam, which cools before it leaves the unit. However, there is a risk of burning the skin, and people should avoid using steam vaporizers around children.


Ultrasonic humidifier: Instead of electricity, these units use vibrations to vaporize water.


Evaporators: These produce humidity by blowing air past evaporating water.


Impeller humidifiers: These are generally child-friendly and use rotating disks, rather than heat, to vaporize water.


Central humidifiers: A person connects one of these units to the central air conditioning in the home or office to add moisture to the entire space.


Sizes can vary. Console humidifiers are large enough to add moisture to an entire house or office, while personal humidifiers are portable and easy to carry.


What is an Industrial Humidifier?


An industrial humidifier is a system that is capable of providing adequate humidity levels in a manufacturing environment. High-speed production processes add to the heat load in a building, bringing down the humidity. This can lead to a dangerous buildup of static electricity in a plant where dust and other flammable materials may be in the air. Processes such as woodworking, printing, and electronic and microchip fabrication, — which involve gluing, coating, and bonding — benefit from humidity control. Energy efficiency is also a consideration with an industrial humidifier.


Related products include industrial steam humidifiers, as well as electric-powered and gas-fired models. Steam heat exchangers use a heat source for producing steam from tap water or pure water reserves. These are also designed to comply with indoor air quality requirements to ensure proper humidity levels along with clean air for workers.


Industrial humidifiers are also designed as fog systems that integrate with building automation systems. In this configuration, an industrial humidifier system can be integrated above the factory floor, with the moisture released via fog nozzles. This is a viable alternative to humidifying air traveling through ducts, because excessive heat loads can be managed at the source.


An industrial humidifier also can be a contamination control system. It can be capable of utilizing adiabatic humidification to control humidity and airborne particles, and reduce the buildup of electrostatic discharge that, when combined with particulates, can be a health hazard and a cause for major industrial accidents. Along with proper treatment of supply water, an industrial humidification system ensures a safe environment in which to work.


An industrial humidifier can be found in many manufacturing facilities. Plants that make electronic assemblies require humidification, because the air in buildings producing circuit boards and computer equipment must be free of particles. Semiconductor manufacturing is another major application, because integrated circuit printing requires tightly controlled temperatures, along with a relative humidity (RH) of around 35 percent to 45 percent with acceptable tolerances within a range of 1/2 percent to 5 percent RH.


What Does a Dehumidifier Do?



A dehumidifier is an appliance that takes moisture out of the air in your home.


If you or your family members have asthma or allergies, a dehumidifier might help relieve symptoms and make breathing easier.


This article will help you decide whether a dehumidifier is a worthwhile investment for your living space.





Dehumidifier uses and health benefits



You may remember the water cycle from elementary school science: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. What you might not realize is that the water cycle is always taking place in the air you’re breathing, even when you’re spending time inside.


“Humidity” is a measure of water vapor in the air. Dehumidifiers remove or minimize this water vapor.




How a dehumidifier works



A dehumidifier works by drawing warm air currents into its coils via a fan. The warm air contracts as it’s fed through the refrigerated coils of the machine, and condensation is left inside the dehumidifier.


As this condensation collects, one droplet of water at a time, it falls into a storage tank attached to the dehumidifier. Cooler, drier air is then released back into your home through the other side of the machine.


Your dehumidifier should be able to bring the moisture in the air down to a relative humidity of 30 to 50 percent. Many dehumidifiers come with a meter that measures the relative humidity where it’s placed in your home, and you can set the humidity to the percentage you desire.


Application of Dehumidifiers for Various Industries




Food Industry:
Excess humidity causes condensation and a broad range of hygiene problems in the product. Be it powdered food, spices, processed meat, snack foods confectionery products or breweries, consistent and controlled moisture conditions are necessary. Using dry air from a Desiccant dehumidifier can help in controlling the moisture content, which leads to perfect coating and longer shelf life of the food products.




Lithium Batteries:
The primary requirement for manufacturing of lithium batteries is a dry room with very low humidity. Lithium is extremely sensitive to moisture; thus, high moisture content leads to a reduction in performance and life of the product. Industrial dehumidifier ensures that the processing areas have the required amount of moisture in the air which is less than 14gms of moisture per kg of dry air.




Pharmaceutical Industry:
During the processing stage, most of the medicines are in powdered form and are highly hygroscopic. Excess of moisture absorption leads to organic corrosion, biochemical reactions and micro-organism growth on the product. Dehumidifiers help in keeping the required humidity parameters for processing, drying, storing and transportation of medicines.




Cold Stores:
To prevent flowers, vegetables, fruits, milk and processed foods from deterioration they are cooled and stored in cold store under low moisture conditions. Since the cold stores experience the frequent movement of products, warm air with moisture from outside could enter the store. This results in ice and frost formation on the walls, floors and ceilings on the cold stores. Air curtain using Dehumidified air at the cold store doors helps in controlling the ingress of moisture laden entering the cold rooms.




Defense Industry:
Military equipment is highly prone to humidity damage when they are stored for long periods. Uncontrolled humidity causes corrosion and malfunctioning of equipment, fungal growth on maps, drawings and bacterial infection on rations. Storage rooms of standard equipment such as trucks, tanks, guns and ammunition require specific humidity levels and controlled temperature. Dehumidifiers help in preventing corrosion on the equipment by keeping humidity levels less than 35%.




Electronic and Semiconductors:
Components used in assembling or processing of semiconductors are hygroscopic and highly sensitive to excess humidity. Excess moisture results in corrosion of PCB, transistor failures, and condensation on integrated circuits. The RH in semiconductor manufacturing area must be 30% at 20oc. Industrial dehumidifiers also help in protecting the vacuum and EPI equipment.




Turbine Industry:
Moisture can corrode turbines, boilers, condensers and many other machines when they are kept for maintenance during the layup process. High humidity causes corrosion and rusting on the equipment leading to their malfunctioning. As the repair and downtime costs of these equipment are very high, moisture control becomes essential. Industrial dehumidifiers help in keeping moisture levels low during the storage of the product; thus, preventing corrosion.




Leather industry:
The Leather is a hygroscopic material; excess moisture leads to the growth of mold and mildew on leather. Without proper humidity control, leather loses its shine, produces the foul smell, loses its strength and starts decomposing. Relative humidity above 40% leads to micro-organism growth that results in decomposition of leather. Dehumidifiers help in providing controlled moisture conditions during the processing of leather products.




Ultrasonic Mist Maker


I needed a simple mist maker/humidifier for a project that I was working on. I found lots of ideas on the internet, but they all lacked in one area or another, so I decided to design one. The following lays out my easy-to-build ultrasonic mist maker. It works fine and is, by far, the easiest ultrasonic mist maker/humidifier that I’ve ever had to get going.





The misty head


In an ultrasonic mist maker/humidifier (also called an ultrasonic atomizer), a piezo atomizer disc/transducer (ceramic humidifier) works by transposing high-frequency sound waves into mechanical energy that is transferred into a liquid, creating standing waves. As the liquid exits the atomizing surface of the disc, it’s broken into a fine mist of uniform micron-sized droplets, so the key component required for this little project is a particular (20-mm, 113-kHz) ultrasonic atomizer disc/transducer (see below).


When buying the transducer, make sure that is has a 113-kHz (±3 kHz) resonance frequency — another popular transducer has a 1.65-MHz (±0.05 MHz) resonance frequency, which is not compatible with this project!





Circuit diagram of the transducer driver


Below is the circuit diagram of the final part of the project — the transducer driver. As shown in the circuit diagram, it’s a tricky oscillator design based on the ubiquitous tiny time chip NE555P (IC1) to generate proper drive pulse train for the atomizer transducer. In the circuit, the 5K multiturn trimpot (RP1) can be used to set the oscillator frequency to 113 kHz (±5 kHz) (TP1). Even though the ultrasonic mist maker device is configured to run on a single 5-Vdc to 12-Vdc input, this transducer driver needs a 20-Vdc to 26-Vdc (V_DRIVE) power supply channel in addition to a 5-V regulated DC supply rail. So a dedicated power supply circuitry will be introduced later to fulfill that crucial requirement.