Warm Mist Humidifiers Versus Vaporizers

If you don’t know the difference between warm mist humidifiers and vaporizers, you’re not the only one. That difference is very simple but extraordinarily important to the safety of you and your whole family. Most dermatologists and primary physicians will back up the benefits of both humidifiers and vaporizers for helping with cold and flu symptoms (and don’t forget dry skin), there is a difference that you should know about.

Safety is the paramount thing when making the choice between a humidifier and a vaporizer. Both start out with hot water; a warm mist humidifier actually boils the water in its reservoir just the same way a vaporizer does. However, the humidifier does something that the vaporizer doesn’t: It actually cools the resulting vapor before sending it out into the room. In that way the mist going out into the room is safe for everyone around. As long as your children are kept well away from the machine, it’s very safe. Even then, there’s very little risk of burning if you accidentally knock it onto the floor.

A vaporizer, on the other hand, does not cool the mist before it comes out of the machine. What the vaporizer puts out is actually steam in its purest form. If you were to get too near a vaporizer it can absolutely burn you. You need to exercise caution when using a vaporizer, and this is also why you should consider a warm mist humidifier instead of a vaporizer when you have young children in your home.