How to Choose Air Humidifier for Kids’ Room
Temperature requirements and air humidity are very important factors for a child’s proper development. Too low or too high values of these parameters slowly but surely lead to a decrease in immunity, trouble sleeping, allergic reactions and other negative health issues.
To exclude the risk of getting such issues, doctors recommend to carefully maintain microclimate in the apartment. We will give you tips on how to choose air humidifier for kids so that it would meet all the requirements, work effectively and be safe for your child.
Benefit of Air Humidification for Child’s Health
Mostly, we start thinking about the quality of climate in the apartment because of mold or fungus on the walls, which are a sign of increased humidity. If the harmful effect of moisture is clear to everyone, the negative result of breathing dry air can manifest itself in months or even years.
When constantly being in a not enough humidified space, the health of a little child can be prone to such dangers, as:
- Insufficient saturation of cells with oxygen
- Decrease in the effectiveness of immune system work
- Frequent colds and flues
- Thickening of blood flow, which may result in issues of kidneys functioning
The problem of air humidification is particularly important during heating season, when the temperature in the apartment gets higher, and there is no good circulation of air flow. Nowadays there is a simple way to solve this problem: you can purchase a special device, that can maintain air humidity in the apartment at a required level from 40 to 60% without nearly any action from humans.
How to Choose Air Humidifier for Kids’ Room
It’s important to know that not all devices on the market are designed for usage in kids’ rooms. In order not to be disappointed in the purchase, take a note on these details before going shopping.
At first, you have to decide on the type of device:
Steam model is the least suitable for kids’ room. Hot air steam usage significantly increases the risk of thermal injury for kids. Apart from that, steam humidifiers are quite noisy and consume lots of energy. The obvious pros are low price, small size and great effectiveness.
Ultrasound models, that turn liquid into a cloud of finely dispersed steam through ultrasonic vibrations, is the most popular version of household climate equipment today. Such devices are completely noiseless and have a lot of additional features that simplify their maintenance process. But there is a huge «but» — experienced doctors don’t recommend to use US-models near kids under 4 years old.
Simple traditional devices, the work mode of which is based on the passage of an air stream through the evaporation element, are the safest among all the others, mentioned above. They don’t have age limitations, but also have a range of specific issues. Firstly, «cold steam» humidifiers can’t process large areas with good quality, and can provoke a decrease in the overall temperature by a couple of degrees in small rooms. Secondly, regular replacement of filters (cartridges) is required for their correct operation, which entails some material costs.
As you see, every type of air humidifiers has its pros and cons, so when choosing this healthy product, you have to take into account individual peculiarities of the operating conditions, the room’s size, the child’s age, and some other parameters.
A Few Tips on Choosing the Most Suitable Humidifier
The main measure of any device is the effectiveness of its work. But there are a few additional criteria that can help you choose the best option among all the others. No matter which type of the device have you chosen, be sure to check the compliance of the model for the presence of such characteristics as:
- Purification of the apartment’s atmosphere from harmful impurities — it’s particularly important for the families with kids living in large cities, near gassed highways and in the regions with poor ecological situation.
- Automatic shutdown when reaching the required humidity level — this feature ensures that there won’t be dampness in the apartment, which is harmful for everyone no less than over-dried air.
- Independent maintenance of an optimal microclimate in a room — this function is present only in high-price devices.
- Ionization feature — helps to increase gas exchange in lungs approximately by 10%, which positively impacts the development of the respiratory system.
- Aromatization feature — can be used for an additional antiseptic air treatment with the help of natural oils (for example, fir or lemon oil).
- Compact size and low noise level during work.
It is also recommended to test the device for assembly strength and stability (this can be done directly in the store). The body of the device should not contain small objects that can be easily torn off or unscrewed. And despite the fact that nowadays you can find a lot of funny devices in the form of owls, bunnies and kittens, it’s better to choose one with minimalistic design so that it won’t attract much attention of a curious child.
