If You Keep Your Humidifier On The Floor, You're Making A Huge Error

During winter, when heating systems stay on all day, the air indoors can dry out quickly. Its effects are pretty familiar, too: Itchy skin, cracked lips, irritated sinuses, and coughs, the list just goes on. A humidifier can help bring relief, but its placement must be correct, otherwise it could become a problem itself. For instance, if you keep your humidifier on the floor, you are essentially creating conditions that can lead to carpet damage and mold growth indoors. Why? Well, that is because when humidifiers sit right near the ground, the mist they create enters the denser, heavier air and doesn't rise. This stops the mist from spreading and causes it to pool near the ground, where it can increase moisture, dampening and damaging the wooden floor and carpet. Furthermore, when the moisture builds up near the floor, it could trigger the humidity sensor inside the unit.

This could cause the humidifier to shut off prematurely, even when the rest of the room is dry. For a humidifier to work properly and raise the humidity indoors adequately, it needs to be able to spread the moisture evenly. And since water droplets are heavier than the air, if the humidifier is just sitting on the floor, they will just fall straight to the ground. Another problem is that the air near the ground is often stagnant and somewhat immobile. This further reduces the movement of moisture indoors and reduces the efficiency of a humidifier lying on the floor. Therefore, you need to find the perfect place for your humidifier if you want it to function properly, keeping it at least two feet above the floor.

Moisture spreads through the room quickly and efficiently when it enters moving air. Air movement also increases evaporation, as it quickly takes out the moisture-rich air near the source and replaces it with dry air that can hold more moisture. That is where raising the unit slightly above the ground level, about two to three feet, comes in. When the humidifier is placed in an elevated position, it releases the mist into the more active part of the room's circulation. And when the moving air comes in contact with the mist, it not only helps it spread more evenly through the room, but also helps with the transition of liquid into vapor. Furthermore, elevating a humidifier also helps decrease the condensation of vapor back into droplets — a common problem when the humidifier is placed near the floor level.

This could help keep the floor and carpet dry and also reduce old growth indoors. Just make sure you don't put the humidifier on a wooden nightstand or dresser. It is the type of furniture you should never put a humidifier on. Another advantage of keeping the humidifier at a slightly elevated level is that it reduces the chance of dust or other debris near the floor entering the machine's internal mechanisms. This will obviously help with keeping the humidifier running smoothly for longer and increase the unit's lifespan as well. Lastly, make sure to keep your humidifier clean. Raising the humidifier might help reduce the growth of mold indoors, but if you are not cleaning your humidifier enough, mold can still grow inside the unit itself.