How to see if your humidifier is making you sick

Humidifiers are a great way to keep your household air from getting too dry, helping breathing, dry skin, and a wealth of other things. It helps put needed moisture in the air for houses that have a heating system that sucks moisture out of the air. They also can trap dust particles and that helps. They are a godsend for people that suffer from chronic breathing problems and from dry skin issues. However, if your humidifier is dirty and isn't maintained properly it can be a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission there are easy ways to keep your humidifier healthy for years to come. It does take a bit of effort, but its health benefits will far outweigh the added time out of your schedule.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• keen eye

1. Don't forget to change the water daily. Don't just add to the water, completely empty and dry out the tank. This insures that nothing will grow on the sides or breed bacteria. Make sure that the water is distilled or demineralized. Tap water contains many minerals that can lead to bacterial growth. It also can contain many other impurities and contaminates that will lead to dirty water in your humidifier. Unless you completely run it through a filter system, don't use tap water for use in any humidifier. Distilled or demineralized water will not contain these minerals and you will have one less thing to worry about.
2. Clean your humidifier often. Don't forget to dry it out completely too, that way there isn't any trapped water that can develop fungus or bacterial growths. When many people clean their humidifier they will either just wipe it down with a dry rag, or believe that as long as they just keep adding clean water to the system it will stay clean. This is a wrong belief. When you clean out the humidifier make sure that you don't forget to do the sponge filters and the belts as well. It's good to wipe these down and dry them out too.
3. Keep your humidifier at 30%-50% humidity. This is optimum. If your reaches levels higher than 60% you can have a buildup of condensation. The condensation is moist and will breed bacteria and fungi. You can check your own house humidity with a hygrometer.
4. If you store your humidifier and don't keep it running through all the seasons then make sure that you clean it thoroughly before and after storage. This means total wipedowns and total dryings.