Christmas holidays are in full swing! A great time for the whole family to gather at the festive table and share plans for the future. How important it is that you and your loved ones are surrounded by a warm atmosphere of the holiday, the house has comfort and coziness. What indicators determine the “climate” in the house? How to create favorable conditions for health and good pastime in a city apartment? You can find out about this by reading the Goodshapetips article.
In order for your breathing to be easy, you slept soundly and did not get sick, you need to maintain optimal indicators of temperature, humidity and air ionization and fight dust.
With the last point, everything is clear – in order to achieve pristine purity and freshness, it is not necessary to resort to high-tech and expensive devices.
You can completely do with an old mop and a damp cloth. The situation is more complicated with indicators of air quality in apartments.
In order to maintain a comfortable temperature during the winter months, we have to turn on central heating radiators and electric heaters.
All these benefits of civilization negatively affect the humidity in the room.
Types of humidifiers
According to statistics, during the heating season, especially during severe frosts, air humidity in our apartments is far from hygiene standards.
In any home appliance store, we will be advised to purchase a humidifier, promising that this “miracle of technology” will give us a healthy sleep, strong immunity and get rid of the cold.
What is it – a skillful marketing ploy or a real need? Let’s figure it out.
Hygiene rules say: air humidity in residential premises should be 30-60%, deviations in one direction or another are harmful to health.
You can measure the humidity in a room using a hygrometer or psychrometer. However, such devices are rare in household use. And many of us have to rely on our subjective opinion.
Increased humidity in the room is an infrequent phenomenon. This is possible in old houses, on basement floors with poor ventilation and heating. Where the humidity of the air exceeds 60%, mold and fungi easily settle, and the air smells of dampness.
Microbes take root in such rooms, the cold is felt more strongly. Humid air in an apartment is especially harmful to patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary pathologies, as well as those prone to frequent colds people.
There is only one way out – to ventilate the room more often, do not curtain or force the windows, letting more sunlight into the room. It is possible to use an air conditioner with the function of drying the air.
Reduced indoor humidity is more common. According to statistics, in most Moscow apartments, air humidity in winter is between 20 and 30%, and sometimes even lower.
Dry air is typical for new apartments with “fiery” batteries and rare ventilation, especially when there is “minus” outside the windows.
In conditions of low humidity, we actively lose moisture. Mucous membranes dry out – congestion, crusts, burning appear in the nose, hoarseness of voice may occur.
The lips quickly “weather”, bleed, cracks appear on them. Worried about the feeling of “sand in the eyes.” Vision problems are aggravated when working at a computer. The skin loses its elasticity, flakes off, “pimples” appear.
In a winter apartment, you can even feel the symptoms of mild oxygen starvation – drowsiness, yawning, decreased mental activity, memory. All this happens because low humidity makes it difficult to saturate the blood with oxygen.
In a dry room, static electricity accumulates faster, and the amount of dust in the air increases.
The dry air in the apartment is especially difficult for young children, allergy sufferers, and those with bronchial asthma.
A cheap and proven method: do wet cleaning more often, hang wet towels on heating radiators, and place water containers on window sills. Humidity can be raised by landscaping an apartment.
house plants and pots of soil will be an additional source of evaporation.
However, there is not enough time for constant washing of floors and windows; If there are animals or small children in the house, then the risk of using water tanks for other purposes is too high.
And the look of colored towels under the windows does not always fit into the interior.
More expensive, but more efficient to use household humidifiers. They allow you to maintain the desired level of humidity in the room around the clock, have a pleasant appearance and do not require special care.
How to make the right choice?
All moisturizers can be divided into three groups according to the mechanism of action.
Humidifiers hot steam – work on the principle of an electric kettle. The water in the humidifier is heated to a boil, and the hot steam saturates the air in the room. Steam humidifiers are the cheapest. They are simple, reliable, durable and do not require the cost of replacement parts.
Features of steam humidifiers:
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have the highest performance, that is, they cope with their task faster than other humidifiers, they are able to raise the humidity above 60%, which is important for greenhouses and winter gardens with tropical plants,
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evaporate 15-17 liters of water per day,
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unpretentious to water quality (during evaporation, all impurities remain on the walls of the tank and the heating element, water is disinfected by boiling),
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it is necessary to periodically descale, in the same way as you clean the kettle – using special solutions or improvised means: vinegar, citric acid and other things,
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there is a risk of burning your hand with steam at a distance of 10-15 cm from the device, so it is not recommended to leave the steam humidifier unattended in the children’s room,
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ranks first in terms of energy consumption – they consume about 130-600 W per hour,
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during operation, a characteristic sound of bursting bubbles is heard (as during boiling),
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are often equipped with nozzles for steam inhalation, which gives the device another useful function.
Cold steam humidifiers are traditional humidifiers for those who prefer a natural approach. They are a container with water through which room air is driven by a fan.
The drier and warmer the air in the room, the faster it is saturated with water vapor. As the air in the room humidifies, the rate of water evaporation slows down according to the laws of physics.
Manufacturers endow such humidifiers with the function of cleaning the air from coarse dust, wool, and even allergens. It is assumed that all this dirt settles into the water, getting inside the humidifier with a jet of air.
As a result, we should get clean fresh air “Like after the rain.” The effectiveness of such purification is questionable.
Indeed, in order to drive through the device and clean the entire volume of room air from impurities, the power of several vacuum cleaners will be required!
But this cleaning idea added a significant part of the cost to the traditional humidifier. It is not easy to find a cheap cold steam humidifier these days. Many of them are out of production.
Their place was taken by “air washers” – fundamentally no different from traditional humidifiers, but significantly superior in price.
Replaceable filters were added to the design of “air sinks”, from the surface of which water evaporates. On average, it is required to change the filter every three months, its cost is about 500-800 rubles
Some models use a system of wet plastic discs that are washed with water and blown with dry air.
As a special option, there is a silver disinfecting rod and a room aromatization function.
Features of traditional humidifiers:
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not able to raise the humidity above 60%,
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productivity is low – 3.5-8 liters per day, depends directly on the initial humidity and temperature in the room,
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require regular cleaning of sediment, replacement of water, filters,
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economical – have low power consumption: 20-50 W,
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work quietly
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some “air washers” are large in size.
The cost of cheap traditional humidifiers is from 1500-2000 rubles, and “air washers” already have a price of 5000-10000 rubles and more (depending on the area served).
Ultrasonic humidifiers – have the largest number of built-in “amenities” and additional options.
These include (depending on the model): water softening functions, remote control, automatic and manual performance adjustment (capable of maintaining a given air humidity), water level indicators, displays, timers, night and day operating modes, various backlights and more.
Some humidifiers are capable of operating in “hot steam” mode, heating the water in the tank.
However, such a service has its drawbacks – the more complex the humidifier, the higher the probability of breakage and the less reliability.
Water is poured into the humidifier tank, it falls on a plate vibrating at the frequency of ultrasound, which breaks the liquid into tiny splashes. It turns out artificial fog.
Droplets of water, getting into the room, instantly evaporate, quickly humidifying the air.
Most models are equipped with water softening cartridges that need to be changed approximately every three months. The cost of a cartridge is about 800-1000 rubles.
If the cartridge is not provided, manufacturers recommend using distilled water for the humidifier.
Features of ultrasonic humidifier:
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productivity up to 9-13 liters per day,
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has a low noise level
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have a power consumption of about 40 W, in hot steam mode up to 150 W,
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require filter replacement or refilling with distilled water,
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are endowed with many convenient functions.
The cost of the cheapest models is from 3000-3500 thousand rubles.
Despite the apparent variety of different models of humidifiers, most of their differences lose their meaning if you purchase a device for home use.
The main selection criteria are: the area for which the device is designed, safety, efficiency and price.
Most air humidifiers are able to serve rooms up to 60m2.
As a rule, this is quite enough to create optimal humidity in one room, since interior walls impair air circulation and the spread of water vapor throughout the apartment.
Humidifiers designed for a larger volume are required for kindergartens, schools and other premises with large halls.
All humidifiers are designed for 24/7 operation, however, you should pay attention to the automatic shutdown function of steam and ultrasonic humidifiers in the absence of water.
You should not purchase a steam humidifier for a nursery unless you are sure that you can protect your child from burns ferry.
The jet of white steam coming out of the device can attract the attention of the baby and motivate him to a closer “acquaintance” with the new object.
In addition to air humidity, the quantity and composition of air ions – charged particles circulating in the room – has a great influence on human health.
The modern market can offer many different models of ionizers, but each of them has its own characteristics. Thoughtless use of an ionizer in an apartment can even harm your health.
Read more about air ionizers, their functions and effects on the body in the article. Air ionizer.
A woman is the keeper of the hearth and in many respects her efforts depend on the atmosphere in the house. Using old grandmother’s advice, coupled with the achievements of modern technology, we can achieve great success in our household.
Natalia DOLGOPOLOVA,
general practitioner
Photo shutterstock.com
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