can I use boiled water in a humidifier

Can I Use Boiled Water in a Humidifier?

There is quite a bit of confusion when it comes to knowing what type of water you should put in a humidifier.

Some people say it doesn’t matter and some people are emphatic that it must be distilled and nothing else.

  But what is the primary issue with using any type of water regardless of how it is processed?

Mineral content is the answer.

Water that has a lesser mineral content is going to be easier on your humidifier and not have as much white calcium dust buildup and a lesser chance of mold.

Can I use boiled water in a humidifier?

Boiling water is a way of taking hard water and turning it soft. In other words it removes the minerals. Or at least separates them. The idea is to boil the water and when it cools, the minerals will collect on the bottom of the pan.

We are talking about water that has been boiled and allowed to cool and not water that is boiling. Don’t make the mistake of pouring boiling water into your humidifier. It will more than likely melt the humidifier and could cause a terrible injury if you had an accident with it.

“Boiled water is good to use in a humidifier because boiling separates the minerals and causes them to settle.”

But the real trick of using boiled water in a humidifier is filtering out the settlement from the rest of the water. 

If you can do that successfully, then you have good clean soft water that will work well in your humidifier.

If you can’t filter it well, then the water will have bigger chunks of sediment then otherwise, which would leave you worse off than you were then if you hadn’t boiled it in the first place.

Ideally, distilled water is the best water to put in a humidifier because it has gone through the process of removing the minerals. But when you know how much water a humidifier can actually go through, purchasing distilled water to use exclusively in a humidifier will get expensive.

So boiling tap water is an okay solution if you’re absolutely concerned about the content of your local water or if you just have hard water in your area. And mostly you just don’t want to pay for water.

There are a few products you can purchase though that are a little expensive up front can and I’m saving you down the road. Even if we’re just talking about your time.

One set of products is purchasing a hard water filter and placing it either on your kitchen faucet or your shower.

  A Search on Amazon brings up quite a few more shower filters that kitchen filters when you do a search for a hard water filter. And if it’s all the same where you fill up your humidifier, the price for shower filters is a little better than putting a filter on the kitchen sink.

AquaHomeGroup 15 Stage Shower Filter

  • EFFECTIVE shower filters to remove chlorine and fluoride, heavy metals and other sediments. 
  • Clean, soft water means no more issues with lime scale build-up on the shower head or fixtures and no hard water spots.

Another solution, although a little more expensive up front, the purchase of a water distiller. You can set up a water distiller in the kitchen for less than a couple of $100 and never have to purchase distilled water for your humidifier ever again.

CO-Z 1 Gallon Water Distiller

This tabletop water purifier by CO-Z purifies water, filters out impurities, and dissolves VOCs at 0.3 gallons per hour

The third product is made by pure guardian technologies and it’s called the aqua stick.
It is an additive that you place into your humidifier similar to a cleaning pod that you place in the back of a commode.
The aqua stick will keep mold from growing in your humidifier for up to 90 days.
So it is a recurring purchase.

But if mold occurring because of hard water is your primary concern, aqua stick can save you a lot of time and money versus purchasing distilled water all season.

Guardian Technologies GGHS15 Aquastick Antimicrobial Humidifier Treatment

Pure Guardian GGHS15 Aquastick humidifier water cartridge helps reduce the growth of mold and odor causing bacteria in the water of a humidifier tank 

Clean your humidifier often.

Another solution which in truth should be your first solution is to clean your humidifier with an acidic vinegar cleaner more often.

Vinegar cleaner is 25% more acidic than regular white distilled vinegar and it will remove hard water deposits if you allow your humidifier parts to soak in it for 30 minutes or so whenever you clean your humidifier.

Bacteria and mold can take root in the water basin anytime the water is allowed to stand even in as little as 48 hours.

If you turn the humidifier on after there has been standing water in the humidifier then the bacteria will become airborne and can cause illness when inhaled.

Very serious diseases like legionnaires disease and Pontiac fever are caused by inhaling bacteria that has grown on water.

The symptoms are very similar to pneumonia.

So even though using the right water will help provide longevity for your humidifier and keep humidifier dust to a minimum, cleaning the humidifier thoroughly and often is a must.

Recap

When it comes to choosing the right water for your humidifier there is a lot of back and forth on the subject.

And a lot is made of being very careful not to use tap water because it is considered hard water and full of minerals.

  And naturally that brings up the practice of boiling water before using it in a humidifier. Should you do it?

“Using boiled water in a humidifier is fine because it does separate the minerals and cause them to settle.

The only problem is filtering the sediment out of the boiled water so it doesn’t get into the humidifier.”

  Otherwise, purchasing distilled water will save you the time and you will not have to worry about filtering the boiled water perfectly.

And if the cost of distilled water over the humidifier season is too expensive, then there are other purchases you can make that even though there is an up front expense, could end up saving you in the long run.

Hard water filters are available for your faucets. For around 50 bucks you can filter the minerals out of your tap water and not worry about it till it’s time to exchange the filter.

Another solution is to buy a water distiller and make your own distilled water. The upfront cost is a little more expensive but it will pay for itself and save you down the line.

Aqua sticks are humidifier additives that will keep your humidifier from getting moldy for up to 3 months.A reoccurring price but cheaper than buying gallons of distilled water from the supermarket.

Finally, and like I said before, and should be the first option, is keeping your humidifier cleaner by soaking your humidifier in vinegar more often.

 

Published by

Dennis Reed

Dennis Reed Owner and Author @ BreatheBetterAir.org