Humidifiers Versus Dehumidifiers – Everything You Need to Know

I’m sure someone at some point has advised you to buy a humidifier or a dehumidifier. Recently, more and more people talk about these units. Doctors, household blogs, and appliance geeks had good things to say both for humidifiers and dehumidifiers.

So, you may be asking yourself: Do I need to buy this? What exactly is a humidifier? What exactly is a dehumidifier? How do I know which one I need? As any smart person would do, you start researching. That’s what must have brought you here. Keeping that in mind, I will try to answer everything you want to know.

Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are used to control the humidity of the air. A humidifier adds moisture to the air when it’s too dry. A dehumidifier eliminates moisture when needed. Both have health benefits if used correctly.

Obviously, that’s not all you need to know, so keep reading.

Humidity levels in the house

Before deciding on a humidifier or a dehumidifier, you have to monitor the humidity levels in your house. Is the air in your house too dry or humid? If you know the answer to this question, deciding on a unit is easy.

Sometimes, it’s obvious what you need. For example, in cases of flooding or any kind of water damage, a dehumidifier is needed. Low levels of humidity are harder to notice, usually, recognizable when it affects your health. There is a middle point between these extremes, some houses don’t have any kind of issues with humidity.

All in all, when the situation gets too bad, you will notice if your air is dry or moist. This isn’t ideal though. So, I always advise on having a hygrometer in your house. It’s a device that measures the humidity in a room. Some have an alarm system that will tell you that something needs to be done.

A hygrometer is the easiest way to monitor humidity levels. However, there are some signs which will tell you if the air is dry or humid. Let’s look into these signs.

Is the air in my home too dry?

I’ve already said that noticing low humidity levels is harder than it’s with high levels of humidity. Unlike humid air, dry air doesn’t leave obvious marks in your house. The air affects your health, and that’s when you notice it. Because the air is the most dry during the winter, that’s when the problems appear. This doesn’t have to be the case though.

Skin irritation. Dry air will affect your skin. Moisture helps in keeping your skin soft and smooth. Your hair will suffer too. Keep an eye on cracks in the skin, and hard dry hair.

Inside plants constantly dried out. Now, this is an effective, visual way to tell if the air is dry in your home. If the plants that don’t require that much moisture to stay alive have dried out, that’s a sign. For instance, a cactus shouldn’t dry out, if it does, your house is worse than a desert.

Dry throat and thirst. Low humidity levels in your house affect your throat. If your throat is constantly dry, even if you are mindful about drinking water, the air is too dry.

Electricity shocks when you touch certain items. Dry air increases the ability of some items to act as a channel for electricity. So, if some items shock you when touched, get a hygrometer to make sure.

Is the air in my house too humid?

High humidity levels are really easy to notice, so you shouldn’t have any trouble. I mean, you will have trouble with humidity but not with noticing it. Let’s see what are the signs of high humidity.

Wall stains. Moisture leaves muddy stains on walls and separates the paint from the drywall. In cases of water damage, walls that are not in direct contact with water still suffer. So, keep an eye on moist walls and stains.

Mold growth. The crucial ingredient for mold colonies is moisture. It takes time for mold to form, so the high humidity has to be persistent. Keep an eye for musty smell and spots on your walls.

Water damage. This goes without saying but after water damage the humidity level is through the sky. Whether it’s a flooded basement, plumbing problems or a roof leak, your home has an excess of moisture.

Breathing problems. First of all, if you’re experiencing health issues – first go see your doctor. A dehumidifiers won’t solve all (or serious) health issues, so it is important to understand that an online article cannot replace an expert’s diagnosis. It can, however, optimize your environment.

Generally, a healthy person wouldn’t be affected by the humidity, except during long exposures. Those with allergies and asthma will start experiencing difficulties in breathing when the humidity is too high. This is why I said doctors promote dehumidifiers, it helps with breathing problems.

Condensation in windows. During the winter, are your windows foggy? This happens when the warm moist air from inside meets cold dry air from outside. It doesn’t happen in normal conditions. That means that moisture has to come from somewhere.

What do I need?

As I said, humidifiers for lack of moisture, and dehumidifiers for excess of moisture. You want the humidity level to be from 40% to 50%. This is best for your heart but it provides quite a comfortable atmosphere.

While 30%-60% is not that dangerous, a slight accidental increase or decrease will cause a problem. With the 40-50 percentage you take into account additional sources of humidity. If a doctor recommended one of these units for you, follow his percentage.

To conclude, use a humidifier when you know the air in your house is dry regularly. Use a dehumidifier in cases of water damage and regularly moist air. With excess of moisture, it’s best to eliminate the source. Those with breathing problems should discuss with a doctor first.

As you find out more about humidifiers and dehumidifiers along this post, you’ll calculate what you need. Let’s see what are the benefits to buying an appliance like these.

What are the benefits of using a humidifier?

With humidifiers, there are only health benefits. Dry air doesn’t exactly affect your house, no damage to your walls and ceiling. It’s your health that’s most affected. I’m guessing most of you are looking for a humidifier because of its health benefits. So, what are the actual benefits?

Reduces the risk of getting the flu

Viruses and other diseases travel easier through dry air. With moderate levels of humidity, the air is denser and harder to travel through. Hard to imagine that someone would buy a dehumidifier because of this feature. Necessary to mention though.

Protection for sinuses

Those with a nasal obstruction or with a sinus problem in the past try to avoid dry air. Dried sinuses are usually accompanied with pain and headaches. However, a dry sinus isn’t as effective against infections.

This is why allergies will start acting up in rooms with dry air. Keep in mind that weather conditions are one of the reasons for sinus issues. So, consult with a doctor if you’re worried about allergies.

Healthy skin

We already talked about how dry air is bad for your skin. Some think of this as a beauty benefit but I’d still count it under health. When exposed to dry air long enough, the skin will start to look like it’s aging.

Comfortable atmosphere

The right temperature and the right humidity level will completely change your room. Everyone is used to their home, even if the humidity level is off, you get used to it. So, I’m not saying you’re not comfortable in your house.

If you want to add a bit of organized design to your house, a humidifier is a good way to go. With a hygrometer, and a humidifier, you have major control over the humidity.

Warm air

Humidifiers aren’t heating units but moist air is warmer than dry air by default. You won’t notice this by the temperature, the air will be more pleasant. In case you are scared of heating up the room in the summer, you can hook it up with the AC.

That’s what you need to know about humidifiers, let’s see about its opposite.

What are the benefits of using a dehumidifier?

Now, in addition to the health benefits, there are financial benefits to getting a dehumidifier.

Mold growth elimination

Water damage is a nightmare. Stopping the leak and fixing up the damage is exhausting, then, you have to worry about mold. A dehumidifier will save you a lot of trouble in cases of water leaks. It might even prevent some damage that may occur.

Mold is also a danger if your house naturally has a constant excess of moisture. Some problems cost a lot more to repair than to find a treatment. Foundation issues are a pain to repair, so, a dehumidifier is the way to go.

Support for your sump pump

Those that have a sump pump know how unreliable those units can be. The pump can burn out, the switch can break, it can degrade etc… So, when the pump fails your basement is immediately exposed to excess moisture.

With a dehumidifier, you take control over the situation. If your house requires a sump pump, I highly recommend buying a dehumidifier too. It’s a useful combo to have.

Killing dust mites

Even though humidifiers help with breathing issues, high levels of humidity can have the opposite effect. Dust mites like moisture, it’s a crucial condition for them. They are the source of some allergies. So, decreasing the moisture will kill the dust mites.

As I said before, consult with your doctor if you’re going to be using the dehumidifier for health benefits.

Comfortable conditions

The discomfort from excess moisture is way worse opposed to dry air. With high levels of humidity, the air is much harder to breathe in. The room will be very unpleasant. Also, there is a certain musty smell that comes with humidity.

A dehumidifier will solve all these issues. It will bring back the humidity back to normal.

I hope this puts things in perspective for you. Before you decide, let’s go over additional tips that you want to know.

Additional things to know

Every unit in your house has a pro and a con. It must be used correctly in order to get what you want. If you decide that you do want to buy a dehumidifier or a humidifier, you need help with choosing one. So, we’ll go over useful things to know that will help you with your purchase too.

Keep track of when the humidity level is going toward one extreme. You don’t want to be running these units when you don’t have to. Some homes require continuous use, but only when the problems don’t occur periodically.

Humidifiers and dehumidifiers don’t clean the air. Sometimes you won’t have humidity levels issues but the air quality will still be bad. That’s when you need an air purifier. If you want clean air, you need a purifier.

Get a humidifier-dehumidifier combo. In order to have complete control over the humidity in your house, a combo is the way to go. A very useful unit to have if the humidity levels are unpredictable.

Consult with your doctor if you have breathing issues. Both of these units can be dangerous for people with breathing issues. They are remedy for breathing issues but only if prescribed by a doctor and used correctly.

Keep regular maintenance. Like every unit in your house, this need maintenance too. Over time the unit will go bad if not kept with care. More importantly, it will affect your health.

Use a central humidifier for the whole house, an evaporator for one room. Make sure to get the right size of a dehumidifier for your room.

That’s it for this post folks. I think we went over everything you need to know. Good luck with your unit.

Related questions

Can humidifiers run all night?

Yes, they can. Hard duty is no problem for humidifiers. However, it should run all night only if needed to.

Should I sleep with a dehumidifier running?

There is no problem with sleeping while a dehumidifier is on. Some advice that you do that. Make sure you regulate the settings though, you don’t want to dry out the air too much.