Humidifier or Vaporizer?

Updated on November 24, 2015
B. asks from Charlotte, NC
13 answers

I have a humidifier in my 9 mo old daughter's room that I run every night. It seems that I am buying a new filter for it every other week because it turns yellow & moldy, even though I empty the thing out every morning and clean it regularly. Is a vaporizor any better? Which models are people using?

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D.T.

answers from Roanoke on

I use a Vicks Vaporizer for my 2 yr old due to allergies. I like this one the best because you use cold water and it heats it up. The only maintinance I do on it is just rinse it out.

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S.W.

answers from Norfolk on

Not sure what to tell you about that...I have the same problem.

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G.M.

answers from Myrtle Beach on

I bought a humidifier at Wal-mart for around 25.00, and it does not use filters, andI love it. I think most humidifiers are going filterless because of what you described. The brand that I purchased is a Sunbeam. It has a night light in it, and also these cut little fish and a suba diving man. They also make them in shapes of baseballs ect.

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T.W.

answers from Greensboro on

We bought a humidifier with no filter. It's a Hunter. Got it at Lowe's. The one that we got was around $60, but it covers almost 2000 sq ft. That way we don't have to worry about having one in the kids rooms, plus we all benifit from it. It's sitting in our living room and has a monitor on it to tell you what the humidity in in the house. Also, you can get this bottle of solution that cuts out all the yellow, moldy looking stuff. Good luck!

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J.F.

answers from Charlotte on

we use them in the house because of the dry air here in NC and the fact that we all have allergies, and it cuts down on our bloody noses to have the humidifier. we went to filterless because of the problem you are talking about. BUT, with the filterless, you have to clean it out every day...really clean it, or it gets black stuff in the water. you just have to be on top of cleaning it,,and works great.

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J.H.

answers from Greenville on

my old vaporizer had no filter. i dont know about the new ones. it may be well that the filter gets changed it may be helping your baby have cleaner air.

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A.D.

answers from Charlotte on

We have five children and use the humidifier everynight during winter too. I hate those filters!! I am looking now at some models that have no filters for the humidfiers. They are running around $45 but to get rid of the filters is so worth it, and I won't have to spend money on the filters! Aren't vaporizors a warm mist instead of cool misting? I have never used one but wanted to let you know about the non-filter humidifiers! Good Luck!

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G.M.

answers from Roanoke on

I have a Holmes and found the same problem with that. I did find though that if I left it running during the day even when I didn't have water in there that the filter would dry out instead of sitting wet all day and getting musty. Then at night, I would fill it back up with water. I was worried about running it without water but was told it wouldn't hurt b/c it is just a fan. Hope this helps

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K.H.

answers from Spartanburg on

Why do you have a humidifier in your daughters room? Has she been sick?

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S.G.

answers from Savannah on

I got a humidifier for my son's room. It's a Vicks and it is really quiet but I don't like how it comes apart. I also got the Vicks waterless vaporizer and it is ok. The little vapo strips are any where from $4-$6 for a 6 pack of them. Unfortunatly neither seemed to help my son with his constant stuffed up nose this past winter:(

But something you might want to try with the humidifier (even if you get one that is filterless) is use distilled water in it. Doing that cuts out the chemicals used in your local water supply (yellow filter) and any bacteria that is left in the water or that gets picked up along the way from water teatment to your sink (mold growth). I used my son's for 2 months straight and did not replace the filter or have mold growing. Heck, I didn't give it a good cleaning till I put it up for the year!

Is your little one still getting stuffed up at this time of year?

S.

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S.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

You can also use ProTeq cartridges that last for 30 days to keep the water tanks clean and they work in many types of machines. I use a cool mist humidifier in the summer and a vaporizer in the winter in my daughter's room every night. Since I started doing this, she rarely gets sick. The cartridges are sold at Target and Walmart and I'm sure many other stores and are not very expensive. I change the water every day, but the cartridge keeps the tanks clean and from building up a slimey film. I use the Sharper Image cool mist humidifier and the Vicks vaporizer, both without filters.

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C.C.

answers from Columbia on

Always always always put a cool mist humidifer in a child's room for the potential of burns to the ever curious child! Hope this helps.

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