Most people have spent the majority of their time indoors since the Covid 19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown in 2020. Even though the quarantine days are long gone, we are all now living a “new normal” that consists of working from home, shopping online, and doing other activities from home, such as watching movies on streaming services instead of at the theater.
Most societal changes are here to stay, including work from home jobs (something that wasn’t common pre-covid). Considering most people are working from home permanently, the average person now spends 90% of their time inside their home. This means most people breathe indoor air for almost their entire day.
Even if you don’t have a WFH job, you still spend about 2/3 of your day inside your work’s office or facility. That’s a lot of time spent indoors!
The increasing amount of time spent indoors is significant because indoor air is up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside. Knowing this, we should all be taking extra steps to keep the air in our home clean. Air purifiers are a popular choice for improving IAQ, but we often find customers asking us about humidifiers.
There seems to be general confusion surrounding the differences between air purifiers and humidifiers. They might seem similar, but they are not interchangeable— they are two completely different devices.
So, let’s break this all down together! Keep reading to hear all about the key differences between air purifiers and humidifiers.
Humidifiers: What Are They?
Let’s get straight to the point! Humidifiers do not clean the air in any way.
Humidifiers add particles of water to the air, while air purifiers remove any particles circulating through the air. See the difference? Humidifiers add water and air purifiers remove particles!
Humidifiers are meant to stabilize the humidity and moisture of the air. This is something you might want to consider purchasing if you live in a region with extremely dry air. Inhaling dry air can irritate the sinuses, so humidifiers make it easier to breathe dry air. That’s also why people tend to break out their humidifiers when they are sick!
Humidifiers contain water that is converted to vapor mist, which the device then adds to the dry air. This can be useful in the wintertime as most of us crank the heat up and keep it on throughout the day during this time of the year.
All in all, humidifiers are a great way to add moisture to the air in your home to prevent dryness that can cause irritation in many parts of the body.
Air Purifiers: What Are They?
Air purifiers do exactly what their name implies— they purify the indoor air.
Air purifiers remove particulate matter, dust, dirt, pollen, VOCs, and more from the indoor air. It’s worth noting here that they clean the indoor air without affecting the air’s moisture content.
There are a wide variety of air purifiers available both in-store and online, but the best air purifiers have H13 HEPA filters, activated charcoal filters, and ozone filters to successfully trap and remove harmful particles and allergens.
Particulate matter and other indoor pollutants can be detrimental to respiratory health. So, unlike humidifiers, air purifiers are a beneficial device for your home all year round! There is not a single season that we recommend you do or don’t use them.
How to Use Air Purifiers and Humidifiers to Improve Your Health
You can use air purifiers and humidifiers separately or together. It all depends on what you are trying to tackle.
- Seasonal illnesses
If you are trying to combat seasonal illnesses, such as the flu, air purifiers are your best bet. A good air purifier can remove bacterial and viral particles which reduces your possibility of getting sick during flu season.
- Allergies
If you are here because you have allergies, we recommend you use both a humidifier and an air purifier.
Air purifiers remove allergens from the air and humidifiers moisten the air to reduce sinus irritation, making them the perfect combo for those of us with allergies.
This combo isn’t just for adults with allergies, though! Moms listen up, you can also use an air purifier and a humidifier together to improve your baby’s health.
If you are going to invest in an air purifier and a humidifier, you should minimize your use of items like scented candles, perfumes, and air fresheners. You don’t want to be counterproductive, so just be sure to take additional steps to further improve your home’s IAQ.
Also, you must make sure the humidity of the room does not surpass 60%. Too much moisture in you or your baby’s room increases the chance of surface mold and mildew growth, so we want to avoid excess moisture at all costs.
Bottom Line
Air purifiers and humidifiers are very different devices! They should never be interchanged.
Now that you know more about their intended purposes, we hope you can make an informed choice as you search to improve your health and your home’s air quality.
If you want to buy an air purifier for your home, get in touch with us here at Medify Air. We have a wide range of air purifiers that can effectively catch and remove particles from allergens, bacteria, viruses, and so much more.
You’d be surprised by what’s lingering in your home! Get your own Medify Air purifier today on our website, so you can start breathing easier in just 30 minutes.
