Can You Put Essential Oils in a Humidifier?

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Are you wondering if can you put essential oils in a humidifier? In the fall and winter, when indoor humidity levels are low, humidifiers add moisture to the air. The Mayo Clinic suggests maintaining indoor air humidity levels between 30 and 50% to avoid dry skin, throat and nose discomfort, and itchy eyes. They go on to say that humidifiers can lessen the symptoms of being ill and help prevent colds and the flu.

Because it is odorless water vapor, the mist that a humidifier produces is referred to as “unscented”. This raises the question of whether or not you can add essential oils to the humidifier’s water basin, which is of great interest. The idea is that essential oils in the air may have health benefits in addition to having a pleasant aroma.

What happens if you put essential oils in a humidifier?

You can start to discover that you have headaches or migraines more frequently if you’re using too much essential oil in your diffuser. You might notice that you get dizzy or have vertigo more frequently. If you really overdo it, you can even feel queasy or start throwing up.

You mistakenly add too much essential oil to your diffuser when adding it to your diffuser. Essential oils in humidifiers are too expensive to be thrown out, but you also don’t want to use too much of them. Fortunately, you can keep both your oil and your assistance.

How do you diffuse essential oils in a humidifier?

The ideal approach to spread microscopic essential oil particles throughout the air is with a diffuser, which converts the particles into a fine mist that hangs in the air and maybe inhaled. Cold air diffusers preserve the integrity of the essential oils for humidifiers, allowing you to enjoy the full therapeutic benefits of each oil. Although heat does change the essential oils’ vitality, the delightful aroma is unaffected. Diffusers normally come in one of three categories:

• Ultrasonic
• Chilly Air
• Deionization

Can you use a humidifier as a diffuser?

The quick answer is that adding essential oils to your humidifier is generally not safe. The longer response is most likely no, although; In order to produce cool mist, most humidifiers blast water over a wet wicking filter. Essential oils cannot be used with this type of humidifier since they may damage the plastic tank, fan, or even block the wet wicking filter. Because of this, the majority of the top cool mist humidifier manufacturers advise utilizing a diffuser created specifically for introducing essential oils to your home’s air.

You run the risk of causing damage to your humidifier by adding essential oils to the water tank. The oils build up and coat the mechanisms, which is the cause of this.

This might cause the plastic to shatter, obstruct the ultrasonic nebulizers, and eventually lose its effectiveness. Additionally, larger particles can be retained when compared to their absorption capacity.

The water tank of your humidifier can contain a little amount of essential oil if you don’t mind constantly switching the mechanics. In some types of humidifiers, placing a dedicated mister and smell diffuser can assist.

The compounds are prevented from diffusing in the air and separating to the main tank by a fragrance diffuser. 

If you decide to buy this, be careful to use the mister as directed and to clean your humidifier according to the instructions in the manual.

Wet a cotton ball with essential oil, then place a pile of cotton on the outlet mister’s outlet. The aroma from the solution is also released when the humidifier releases tiny droplets into the breeze, and some particles spread.

A cold air humidifier keeps essential oils in all of their full power. A warm air dispenser disperses oils into the surrounding atmosphere. The humidifier grille needs to be cleaned frequently to get rid of the oily residue that might cause the plastic to deteriorate.

Can I use essential oils in a cool mist humidifier?

In order to produce a cool mist, most humidifiers blast water over a wet-wicking filter. Essential oils cannot be used with this type of humidifier since they may damage the plastic tank, fan, or even block the wet wicking filter. Because of this, the majority of the top cool mist humidifier manufacturers advise utilizing a diffuser developed solely for introducing essential oils to your home’s air.

Additionally, there are steam purifiers that heat the water before discharging any mist. However, the majority of wholesale essential oils and steam humidifier companies advise against using these two with each other since excessive heat can affect an essential oil’s chemical composition, which might change its aroma and any potential health benefits it might have.

What’s the difference between a diffuser and a humidifier?

A humidifier is necessary if your home’s air needs additional moisture. A diffuser is the right device if all you want to do is add scent to the air—not moisture. Diffusers can’t possibly contain enough water to change a room’s humidity level.

In order to raise the relative humidity level, humidifiers normally draw water from a reservoir and distribute it throughout the air. There are several different kinds of humidifiers, but they can be divided into two groups: warm mist humidifiers and cool mist humidifiers.

Steam is released into the air by steam vaporizers, which boil water.

Evaporative humidifiers employ blowers to release a fine mist after drawing water from the tank using a wicking filter.

Ultrasonic humidifiers may have two operating modes:

Water is transformed into water vapors and released into the atmosphere by ultrasonic vibrations in a cool mist.

A heating element warms the water as it condenses into droplets, producing a warm mist.

In general, diffusers are smaller than humidifiers. There are various diffuser designs that can spread the oil using heat, fans, water, or other mechanisms. They consist of the following:

• Ultrasonic diffusers made of water
• Diffusers for reeds
• Diffuser pads (heated or room temperature)
• Water wick (heated or room temperature)
• Diffusers for hot oil or wax

Although many water-based diffusers have the appearance of humidifiers, they serve a different purpose. Diffusers are tools for aromatherapy. The therapeutic scent of the oil is released into the air via water-based diffusers using ultrasonic vibrations.

While both humidifiers and diffusers produce vapor into the air, the former is intended to add a potentially large amount of humidity while the latter merely emits a very little amount of essential oil.

Conclusion

Essential oils should NEVER be used with evaporative humidifiers. The wicking filter will capture any foreign substances, such as essential oils, introduced to the water. The filter will degrade and possibly fail as a result of this. Therefore, your evaporative humidifier cannot be used with essential oils.