Where To Put Humidifier: The Best Positions For Humidifier Placement

Whether you want to place the humidifier in your living room, bedroom, baby’s room, office, or some other place, you should first ask yourself the following questions: Why do you need a humidifier? What size is your room or entire house where you want to install a humidifier? Is your appliance too loud and can you tolerate the noise? And, most importantly you should have in mind the extra caution you have to use when having kids or pets.

Before going to ‘where to put the humidifier’ section, you should also make sure that you really need one. For this, use hygrometer in the area where you want to use a humidifier to measure the level of relative humidity in the room. According to Therma-Stor, the ideal relative humidity for health and comfort is about 40–50%. In the winter months, it may have to be lower than 40% RH to avoid condensation on the windows. So, in case the humidity in your room or house is below this percentage, you may experience dry or scratchy throat, dry cough, sinus congestion, bloody nose, irritated vocal cords, dry skin, cuts on your fingertips, cracked lips and knuckles, etc. If the humidity, however, is higher than 50%, the surplus moisture in the air can lead to mold, a musty odor in your home, cupped wood floors, allergic reactions, etc. In such cases, keep the humidifier far away!

To get back to the low humidity and the need for a humidifier in your house or office, let’s see some tips on how to find the best positions for humidifier placement.

Where to put humidifier?

When using a humidifier, the right placement is crucial. So, if you don’t spend much time in your bedroom and for example sleep in your kids’ room, placing it in the bedroom would be pointless, right? Or maybe you want to install a humidifier in a living room because it’s the largest area or there’s where everyone spends most of the time. Well, one thing is sure, you should place the humidifier where you need it the most. Also, you should make sure to choose the right size of the humidifier depending on the size of the room where you want to place it.

Height

When talking about the height your humidifier should be put at, the above ground level is the most recommended height. So, whether you are using an evaporative humidifier or ultrasonic humidifier, you want to place either type of them above ground level.

Keep in mind that the area which is in direct vicinity to the humidifier can become slippery and moist from the humidifier’s moisture output. This can lead to mold or mildew problems with flooring or carpeting beneath or accidents.

Therefore, the humidifier should be placed on a small table or other pieces of furniture at least two feet off the ground. Also, if you want to protect your furnishings (which I am sure you want), you can place a towel under the humidifier.

Humidifier placement in the living room

Usually, the living room is the largest area, so placing the humidifier there would let everyone benefit from it. However, one should have in mind a few things when using a humidifier in the living room. First, you have to pay attention because any wood surface may be ruined from the mist. Therefore, you can use a small plastic table and use it just for a humidifier.

If you use a humidifier daily, you can put some towel or plastic tray underneath because water may leak.

Nevertheless, you should remember to avoid placing your humidifier near a vent or register. If you have the heat in your living room and the humidifier is around the heat, the reading of the relative humidity can be skewed. The air, which comes from the vent or register is often very low in humidity. Therefore built-in hygrometers of most humidifiers will read that very low moisture and run much more than if it’s placed more centrally in a living room.

Humidifier placement in the bedroom

Before putting the humidifier in a certain position in your bedroom, use a hygrometer to easily find out which area in your bedroom needs humidifier the most. The size of a humidifier that you should use, depends on the number of people that are typically in your bedroom. More people in the room means larger humidifier.

If you have a large humidifier, the best place would be the corner of your room.

Cool-mist humidifiers best placement

If you are using a cool-mist humidifier to help you sleep more comfortably, then it is a good idea to place the humidifier near the bed.

Warm-mist humidifiers best placement

When placing warm-ist humidifiers in your bedroom, you need to be very careful. Although warm-mist humidifiers can relieve discomforts due to colds and allergens, it can only stay near the bed while you aren’t sleeping.

Otherwise, when you are sleeping, you have to put them on a very stable platform for safety reasons. We all know that warm-mist humidifiers make use of boiling water in the process, so in case it falls or the level of humidity is not regulated properly, it can be dangerous and cause medical emergencies.

Humidifier placement in the kids’ room

Using a humidifier in your children’s room can be a very effective and easy way to protect them from the negative effects of very dry air.

However, you have to always keep the humidifier away from their arm’s reach, so your baby’s health is not at risk. You can by a plastic tray and place it on top of a nightstand or dresser, or if you have carpet, cut out a piece of cardboard from the box and place it underneath the humidifier.

Humidifier placement in the office

If you work in a cubicle or an open-office and the air in your office is very dry, there is o need for a big-sized humidifier. The best solution would be a portable travel-size humidifier. Even a better choice is the USB-powered desktop version.

This type of humidifier isn’t powerful enough to add moisture to the whole office, however, if you keep it close to you, it will probably make you more comfortable.

See also: 5 Humidifier Benefits You Probably Didn’t Know About