Q&A

How does a humidifier work?

A humidifier works by transforming water from liquid to gas (a process called "vaporization"). In general there are three ways to do it,

(1) heating the water to the boiling point, as in a (heated) vaporizer;

(2) breaking apart the liquid water into mist (tiny water droplets) which evaporates into gas, as in an ultrasonic humidifier;

(3) evaporating water from a wick into gas, as in an evaporative humidifier.

A built-in HVAC duct humidifier may be either type or a combination of (1) and (3). For each type (1) to (3), we only discuss the portable ones below (not the built-in HVAC types) unless specified. Comparison among different types are based on per unit water throughput (vaporized) unless specified.

How much is the energy consumption of a humidifier?

Vaporization takes a lot of energy, called the (latent) heat of vaporization, from the environment, which is almost SEVEN times of the energy required to heat the same amount of water from 20°C to 100°C. Therefore it has huge cooling effects. Interestingly an evaporative cooler works in the same way as an evaporative humidifier.

In winter, regardless the type of a humidifier, assuming the room temperature is maintained constant, heating energy is required for continuous operation of the humidifier. 

(i) For the vaporizer, the energy is directly coming from the electricity. In addition to the heat of vaporization, the vaporizer also need to provide energy to heat up the water to the boiling point and cover the energy loss of the heat exchange with the surroundings. In other words, the vaporizer carries some burden to heating the house besides vaporizing the water.  

(ii) For the ultrasonic or the evaporative (with built-in fan) humidifiers, the electricity used is a fraction of the vaporizers. Over 90% of the energy consumption is coming indirectly from the heating of the HVAC system to compensate the cooling of the humidifier. Unless you use 100% electric resistive heating to provide heating for your home, these two types of humidifiers will save you significant amount of energy cost (majority of the households in the U.S. use the much more cost effective heating from natural gas or heat pump).

In summer for dry region in need of humidifier, a vaporizer adds burden to the air conditioning system, while the ultrasonic or the evaporative humidifier, due to the cooling effect in the vaporization, will reduce the air conditioning burden. 

Which type of humidifier to choose?

It depends on your needs, not just one with the highest rating/sales. Too many people regret their humidifier purchase due to misleading or lack of information. Therefore it is important to make an informed purchase. The following is the pros and cons for three mainstream types.

(1) Vaporizer

Pros: low purchase price, some people like the feeling of its warmth (although you only feel that physically when close to it).

Cons: high running cost from the electricity, burning risk, salt needed for water refill, inconsistent vapor output due to variation in electrolyte concentration and mineral built-up on electrodes (if you have more than one unit, it becomes a headache as different units may need different amounts of salt), electric hazard due to too much salt in the water, replacement may be needed every few years due faster aging from the heat, cleaning burden of mineral built-up on electrodes, some noise at higher vapor output.

(2) Ultrasonic humidifier

Pros: energy efficient, aesthetic appealing from the stylish design, quiet (unless with a large built-in fan for some large units).

Cons: low vapor output mostly, health risks from the sprayed white dust (mineral in the water) and possible microorganism in the mist, or high running cost (to mitigate the risks) from distilled water (comparable or more than the running cost of a vaporizer) or filter replacement.

(3) Evaporative humidifier with built-in fan

Pros: energy efficient, high vapor output for large area coverage, improving air quality by trapping lint and dust on wet surfaces.

Cons: high purchase price, wicks replacement cost or frequent rinsing required for wick-free disk type, noise from fan even at low running mode.

Another type is the built-in HVAC duct humidifier, often called whole house humidifier, will not be discussed in detail, which has a big advantage of relieving daily water refill task, but also has a big risk of mold growing along with a very high installation cost and other complicated issues depending on the types of technology.

In terms of cost per unit water throughput, the evaporative (with fan) and the ultrasonic humidifiers (other than the more expensive type using distilled water) fall in about the same price range. But it is hard to see any evaporative humidifiers (with fan) in the market for SMALL rooms due to the high base cost related to the fan operation.

An interesting fact is about the successful marketing for the ultrasonic humidifiers, which benefits not just from the aesthetic appealing, but also from visualizing the working process of the humidifier through the mist generation (a potential health hazard), even an evaporative humidifier typically generates much more vapor but which is invisible and a disadvantage in commercial showroom. Indeed, a small room ultrasonic humidifier, which may appear to output a lot of mist, actually produces about the same amount of water vapor as an adult in exhaled air.

After all, 

What makes VecoCuby non-electric evaporative humidifier special?

  • The most energy efficient humidifier - no electricity used.
  • Flexible coverage area: big or small - dividable structure and easily customizable setup.
  • Silent operation - natural evaporation with or without airflow.
  • The lowest running cost per unit water throughput - Minimum wick replacement cost: durable and refreshable cloth wicks (capable to last the entire season and more under minimum maintenance), accommodating self made wicks from cloth/towel/paper towels.  
  • improving air quality with large effective wet surfaces trapping lint and dust.
  • Easy refill and close to zero daily maintenance other than refilling water.

Yet, VecoCuby humidifier does not come with perfect. Some customer feels it takes some time to tie up the knots in the initial installation and adjustment. In response we provide options for the VecoCuby humidifier with pre-installed cloth wicks for customers who wish to skip the wicks installation process. We also introduce an easy installation of paper towels/new cloth wick by attaching to the old cloth wick without tying knots or using clips.

Why did my cloth wicks become discolored ? How and how often should I clean them?

After water in VecoCuby evaporates into the air, minerals in the water are left behind, mostly deposited on the cloth wicks over time, causing discoloration on the cloth wicks. The brown or dark color results from iron and manganese deposits. Portion of the deposits is soluble (especially if the water is treated with softener) and may be rinsed away (or submerged in water for 30-60 minutes). The main part of the insoluble deposits are white/colorless calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate deposits, responsible to the water hardness and hardening of the wicks. Click the link below to see how to reduce the deposits on the wicks with a paper towel.

The cloth wicks require minimum maintenance. For details, click here.