Do you suffer from allergies or easily get allergic? Try out a humidifier in your house and see the difference it will make to your ability to breathe. With a humidifier, you will bid farewell to several common allergy signs like watery eyes, congestion, sore throat, and other discomforts. This is why we’ve reviewed the best humidifier for allergic rhinitis in today’s post.
These humidifiers function by releasing water vapors into the atmosphere which in turn moisturizes your nasal tissues so that you can breathe well. Your room’s recommended humidity level is between 30 to 50 percent. This ensures that you breathe in healthy air. A hygrometer can help you to estimate the humidity of your home.
There are different types of humidifiers you can use for your allergies and these include the cool mist or warm mist humidifier. These two types of humidifiers have similar advantages though they are ideal for different types of weather.
While the warm mist thins mucus and soothes congested sinuses better, the cold mist is better for warm climate because of their cooling vapor. Besides, the warm mist humidifiers have a specific burning disadvantage which makes them dangerous for homes with kids or pets.
We know how daunting it could be to narrow down to the right choice of humidifier for your sinus. So we have provided here factors you need to consider before choosing one and equally recommended our top picks.
Why Dry Air is bad for Allergy Sufferers
Dry air is something no one wants to deal with. It is even worse for allergy sufferers for the following reasons:
- Dry air desiccates the mucous membranes of your throat and nose which are responsible for preventing impurities like dust, bacteria, etc. from entering your nose. These impurities when in your system can lead to further allergies.
- When dry air hits the sinuses of your nose where you feel allergy the most, it aggravates your allergic condition causing you a great deal of discomfort.
- Apart from drying out the air, the atmosphere will also dry out the allergy-causing items like pollen and dust mites. When these are dried, they are easily transported in the air and into your airstream and lungs.
- Sometimes, there are allergies one suffers that cause skin reaction and not just respiration problems. These are as a result of dry air too and will also aggravate when your skin is dry than when moisturized.
Factors to check out for when purchasing a humidifier
When you have decided on the kind of humidifier you want for your home, you should check out the following essential features required when purchasing a humidifier for allergic rhinitis:
Square Feet Covered:
This feature determines the coverage of the humidifier. Can it cover open space, a house or just a room? You should, therefore, know where you are placing the humidifier before concluding on your decision.
Ease of Use
You would want an easily adjustable humidifier that won’t constitute a lot of hassles to control or make adjustments to it. This is one key feature when selecting a humidifier so you don’t get tired at the sight of it.
Maintenance Level
A humidifier with easy maintenance is the key to your happiness. You wouldn’t suffer to clean, change filters or even refill. Therefore, ensure you choose the one you don’t have to constantly maintain so you don’t wear yourself out.
5 Best Humidifier for Allergic Rhinitis
Several humidifiers presently in the market will surely confuse you when buying. To make navigating the market and selecting a suitable choice easier, we have outlined below the top 5 best humidifiers for allergic rhinitis.
#1. Honeywell GermFree HCM-350
The best thing to do when you are trying to solve allergy problems is to keep your air clean and also humidified at the same time. This Honeywell GermFree humidifier performs these operations quite well.
Because it eliminates 99 percent of bacteria, fungus, mold, and other things that might irritate your air, this humidifier is great for reducing your allergic reactions.
Having a 24-hour runtime and noiseless mechanism, it moisturizes, cleans your air and still lets you enjoy easy maintenance as you don’t have to regularly refill it. But still, never forget to clean the parts in the dishwasher so that you can keep your air safe.
#2. Vicks 1-Gallon Warm Mist Humidifier
When talking about allergy, you should not leave out the name Vicks which is popular with every allergy sufferer. It is known for its steam vapor which eliminates viruses and bacteria while neutralizing various allergy-causing factors. It relieves cold to help you sleep well at night and does not require filter replacement.
It runs on a 1-gallon tank which would let you use it for 12 full hours before refilling and when empty, it goes off automatically. You can also employ it for different room sizes as there is no specified size. The manufacturer also grants you a three-year warranty and confirms that it can handle large and medium-sized rooms.
Hence, you can now relax and forget about your stuffy nose or breathing problems as it is also best for patients with breathing problems, allergy, asthma, and sinus.
#3. Aprilaire 700 Automatic Humidifier
The Aprilaire 700 is a complete house humidifier which is vital for allergy sufferers. It is known as a flow-through humidifier due to the functionality without tanks. It does not require regular cleaning and keeps the air un-irritated.
It has a display that you can easily read although goes through a difficult installation. However, you will enjoy the results if it is properly mounted by a professional. This particular product is our editor’s best humidifier for allergic rhinitis, and the reason is not far fetched.
#4. TTLIFE Ultrasonic Humidifier
You should try out the TTLIFE ultrasonic humidifier if you want a warm and cool mist humidifier. It can cover a room as large as 750 square feet and is fitted with an ionic generator that purifies the atmosphere. The built-in LED screen displays real-time humidity and can allow you to select your preferred humidity level.
Running on a noiseless mechanism, the humidifier has a remote control which makes it easy to control and a 1.45-gallon tank which lets it run for 40 hours before a refill. It also has a box you could place essential oils and is fitted with an auto-shutoff unit.
Despite its interesting features, you would still have to change the ionic resin filter at least every two months.
#5. BONECO/AIR-O-SWISS 7135
The BONECO/AIR-O-SWISS 7135 is another warm and cool mist humidifier that is very advantageous to allergy patients. Luckily, you can easily maintain the humidifier and enjoy the noiseless functionality it offers.
It has a replaceable cartridge that you do not have to constantly replace and is built with a material you can easily clean.
How Humidifiers Aid Allergies
Despite your place of residence, you will surely come in contact with dry air in a particular season of the year but the idea is not to avoid the dry air but how to counter it. It is, for this reason, you want to utilize a humidifier to stop the discomfort which dry air causes and ensure you have a comfortable and cozy home.
A Humidifier is a device that discharges mist or water mist into the atmosphere to boost the humidity. A humidifier can both help to relieve allergies and prevent them from developing in the first place. But when you inhale a highly humidified air, you relieve the symptoms and discomfort of allergies.
When using a humidifier, also be cautious of this risk:
When you stay in an excessively humid indoor environment, you’ll trigger allergies instead of relieving them. An example is the dust mites which are very popular allergens in the house. They flourish at humidity levels ranging from 70 to 80 percent.
Another example is the Mold and mildew which also cause allergies and flourishes more when the humidity level is high. Hence, you should find an average humidity level that can ease allergy-induced asthma and at the same time not high enough to breed mold and dust mites.
Also, you should also ensure that your humidifier doesn’t worsen your ailment instead of healing you due to poor cleaning.
How To Maintain your Humidifier
When you do not clean your humidifier, they cause further health issues especially when you already have an allergic or asthmatic condition you are trying to combat. Hence, we have outlined some tips to assist you to take proper care of your humidifier:
- Ensure you rinse and dry the reservoir after each use.
- You can utilize vinegar weekly to remove residues of hard water before storing it.
- Ensure you clean it before use when you are just bringing it fresh out of storage.
Conclusion
Getting the best humidifier for allergic rhinitis shouldn’t be difficult after going through the list above and if you are interested in using one them, ensure it can handle your space size.
You should note that the space specification of a humidifier might not be the exact space it can cover. So, you should consider getting one that has slightly higher space coverage than your supposed space.
Always bear in mind that your humidity level at home or wherever you want your humidifier to cover should not exceed 50 percent to prevent dust mite breeding instead of elimination. To know this level, get one already fitted with a hygrometer or get a separate hygrometer.
Finally, check for some essential humidifier features you want like the tank capacities, maintenance ease, display unit, etc. to get a perfect humidifier for your need.
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