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Stuffy Nose Solutions: Choosing Between a Humidifier and Dehumidifier

When dealing with a stuffy nose, the choice between a humidifier and a dehumidifier hinges on your home’s current humidity levels.

A humidifier is beneficial in adding moisture to the air when indoor humidity is below the optimal range of 40-60%, often during dry winter months or in arid climates.

Conversely, a dehumidifier is useful for reducing moisture in overly humid conditions, which can be common in hot, damp climates or during rainy seasons, to mitigate allergens like dust mites and mold that thrive in high humidity and can exacerbate nasal congestion.

Here’s a table to help you decide:

Do you have a stuffy nose? Is Congestion stopping you from thinking great thoughts? Oh the humanity… or is it the humidity?

The humidity outside and inside seems to have a lot to do with a lot of things. But what things? That’s not always too clear.

Stuffy Nose Dilemma: To Humidify or Dehumidify?

It depends.

Is the humidity in your home too high or too low?

A humidifier is to add humidity to a room or space when the relative humidity is too low.

A dehumidifier extracts humidity from the air when the humidity level is too high.

Another way to put it..

Is it winter outside and the house is dried out from the heater being on?

Or is it hot and humid outside and you’ve got a frizzy hairdo to go with your stuffy nose?

Stuffy Noses can happen when the humidity is too high and when the humidity is too low.

Dry air can cause you to feel stopped up and humid air can also cause cold-like symptoms because of dust mites and mold spores, along with other allergens.

What Should the Humidity be Set at?

According to NIH “The majority of adverse health effects caused by relative humidity would be minimized by maintaining indoor levels between 40 and 60%”.

So if your hygrometer is sitting at 50%, the relative humidity in your home is good.

But if you’re below 40%, using a humidifier to add moisture back into the air is the device that will help you correct your humidity and hopefully get you breathing through your nose better again.

If the relative humidity according to your hygrometer is sitting above the 60% mark, then your stuffiness may be due to allergens and dust mites which can be found in the air, when the humidity is too high.

Keeping your Humidity Copacetic (steady as she goes)

Humidity levels inside your home can often be corrected by doing a few things to keep the good in and stop the bad from getting in.

Excessive Humidity

Windows and doors are an easy place to start. Moisture can find its way indoors through the smallest of cracks. And when your windows have not been resealed for a long time, excessive humidity around the windows can cause the seals to warp and rot.

Ceiling of the windows with some caulking and weather stripping can help even out your relative humidity.

Extraction fans or another easy fix.

Those houses come equipped with extraction fans in the bathroom and kitchen and some even have them in the washroom.

Extraction fans are fairly inexpensive and can be put into the ceiling quickly.

Anytime you’re cooking with boiling water or taking a steamy shower or just washing the clothes, using your extraction fans will pull moisture out of the house and into the Attic.

Leaking pipes?

Other sources of humidity in the house can be coming from places or things more undesirable.

For instance if you have plumbing problems or a broken pipe that is leaking inside the house, you are going to be experiencing excessive humidity especially in the area where the pipe is broken.

Leaks not only cause humidity, they cause mold. And mold that has gone unchecked for very long can turn into a big problem fast.

And if you have mold allergies, you may have discovered why you were suffering with a stuffy nose in the process.

Water under the house.

Any water that gets underneath the house can cause humidification to rise from under the floor. This can also be a source of mold and affect your air quality to the point of suffering from allergy symptoms.

Sometimes water under the house can be corrected by stopping any type of ravine that has been maybe etched out by watering the grass. Putting a barrier in front of the water runoff will help it to keep from running beneath your home.

Crawl space encapsulation is a big process that entails putting a plastic barrier between the ground and your house.

Broken and stopped up gutters can also direct water to flow beneath the house.
Fixing these items can often keep the humidity down inside of your home.

Run the air conditioner.

Many times, we forget that the air conditioner works as a dehumidifier to reduce moisture in the air as it cools the air down.

Most modern air conditioners have a dehumidifier setting ready available so that you don’t have to have the cool setting running at the same time.

Basement Dampness

Basements tend to be damp and humid by nature. Since the walls are typically concrete that are built against the moist ground, moisture has a way of working itself into the basement through the concrete.

Sealing up any cracks in the concrete wall is a must to keep moisture out.

The excessive humidity in the basement makes it a less than desirable spot to hang out or sleep. The air quality in the basement can also be responsible for allergy symptoms.

Low Humidity Remedies

Some of the easiest low humidity remedies for your home can be found in the same place that you’re trying to keep the humidity out of in the hot and humid season.

Shower

One of the easiest ways to add some humidity back into your room is to take a long hot shower and leave the doors open. That will allow the steam to migrate into the adjoining rooms as well.

Taking more baths than showers?

Leaving the bathwater in the bath after you bathed will help humidify the area around the bathroom as well.

Dry air pulls humidity from anywhere I can. That’s why dry and cracking skin is such a huge symptom of low humidity.

Cups of water around the house.

Simply leaving some containers of water open around the house can help alleviate some of the dry air. But remember stagnant water can develop bacteria fairly quickly and cause other types of problems. So don’t fill up a 5 gallon bucket so you don’t have to mess with it later.

Boiling water.

This is an old trick I remember from growing up. Mom always had water simmering and boiling in the kitchen and on the heater vents that used to be part of the floor back when.

She often put Vicks and other essential oils in the water to disseminate throughout the house.

Leave the washroom door open.

This may be a little bit on the iffy side if you have any type of allergies to detergents that can make it into your airstream if you leave the washroom door open.

But if you don’t, leaving the washroom door open while you’re washing clothes can invite humidity into the surrounding area.

Leave the dishwasher.

Another one is as simple as leaving the bathwater. Let the dishwater sit after you’re done washing the pots and pans and let the water naturally condense into your Air.H

Recap.

Should you use a humidifier or a dehumidifier when you have a stuffy nose?

The answer depends on whether humidity is too low or too high at the moment.

Low humidity can cause raw stuffy noses, where high humidity can be full of dust mites and bacteria that equates to having a stuffy nose.

A hygrometer is an inexpensive tool that can measure your humidity and tell you exactly or near exactly what your relative humidity is sitting at.

If it is below 40%, then your air is too dry and you need a humidifier to raise the moisture level.

If the humidity is above the 60% mark, then you need a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity.

And the humidifiers and dehumidifiers can be awesome tools, they are not always needed.

There are many things you can do around the house to lower and raise your humidity without purchasing any type of device.

Shutting the bathroom door or leaving the bathroom door open depending on the season is an easy way to add and diminish some of the humidity in the house.

Our humidifier guide answers questions you didn’t even know to ask.

The humidity in your home has so many direct benefits to your respiratory and skin health but you don’t even notice till the air is dry.

And regardless of the temperature of the humidity, moisture is moisture and you will reap the benefits of a humidifier all the same.

But is there any advantage to choosing a warm mist humidifier other than a cool mist?

What are the benefits of using a warm mist humidifier?

1. Kills bacteria and mold
2. Relieve nasal congestion
3. Good for additives like Vicks and eucalyptus
4. Will warm up a cool room
5. Silent
6. Less hard water buildup and fewer particles released into the air

Don’t miss our in-depth Humidifier Guide.

1. Kills bacteria and mold

Warm mist humidifiers have a built-in advantage to keeping bacteria and mold from forming in and around the humidifier.

What is it?
Heat. Since the water and a warm mist humidifier or vaporizer is heated to a boiling point to create steam, bacteria and mold are a much smaller problem than with a cool mist humidifier because they simply cannot survive the heat.

Does that absolve them of regular cleaning? Not exactly. Any appliance like a humidifier, diffuser, dehumidifier, or air cooler that has a chance for water to be left standing inside it for even a small amount of time can and do have a tendency to grow bacteria in the water.

The chance for bacteria becoming a problem in a warm mist humidifier maybe smaller but it still exists and should not be taken lightly.

2. Relieve congestion

If you have ever sit in a sauna, then you know the feeling of steam opening up your airways.
For many people, steam has a relieving feeling on their nasal passages and opens up their airways nicely when they are stopped up with congestion.

3. Good for Additives like Vicks and Eucalyptus

The combination of warm mist and Vicks congestion medicine can make you feel so much better when you are down sick that there is a whole line of Vicks warm mist vaporizers that have been created and sold just for that.

Other essential oils like eucalyptus and peppermint can also be used in conjunction with warm mist and steam to help break up phlegm and open up your airways to breathe better.

4. Warm a Room Up

Warm mist humidifiers will warm up a space and make it more comfortable when the temperature is chilly.

5. Silent

Warm mist humidifiers and vaporizers are completely silent.

6. Less hard water buildup and particles released into the air

Boiling water has the advantage of separating minerals out of hard water. Which can mean that there is less hard water buildup around your humidifier and less mineral particles that can be emitted into the air when you are using the humidifier.

What’s not to love?

Well there are a few things…

Disadvantages of warm mist humidifiers

1. Creates a swampy atmosphere
2. Not everyone experiences nasal relief from steam
3. Can be dangerous

1.Create a Swampy Atmosphere

Warm mist humidifiers can make a room feel swampy. Humidity is not always the most comfortable feeling especially when the temperature is hot.

And when you’re feeling sick, that steamy feeling is not always welcomed.

2. Not everyone experiences relief from steam.

When the air is dry, adding humidity to the air regardless of the temperature of the humidity will moisten your nasal passages as well as your skin and so forth.
But cool mist can offer more relief sometimes than warm.
Mayo clinic indicates that cool mist can be more of a relief for a cold than warm, but more research is needed.

3. Can Be Dangerous

Warm mist humidifiers heat water to a boiling point as a means of creating steam to humidify the room.

That means that the water would be scalding hot if it were to spill on someone.

That’s why you will find a universal warning on vaporizers that they should not be used in the baby or children’s rooms.

Hot and Cold Combination Humidifiers

There is really no reason to pit a warm mist humidifier up against a cool mist humidifier. There are specific advantages to using both and they both have their disadvantages.

There are many times when you need a vapor machine to help you breathe better immediately, but don’t need the vapor on throughout the night.

There’s also times when the warm mist feels good, but that doesn’t mean you want to sleep in a steamy room.

Modern humidifiers like the Levoit 6L give you the advantage of being able to use the humidifier as a warm mist or cool.

Being able to diffuse essential oils with these humidifiers is a basic feature anymore.
They can be filled from the top, set on auto and left alone, and
They also have the capacity to schedule and turn them off and on via a smart app that can be used with Alexa or Google Assistant.

Humidifiers like Air Innovations are made from mold resistant materials and can also have ultraviolet lamps that target the water to keep mold and bacteria from ever becoming an issue.

Recap.

Warm mist humidifiers have specific benefits that you do not get with a cool mist humidifier.

They have the advantage of heating water to a temperature that automatically reduces any bacteria, germ growth or mold that can take root inside of a humidifier.

They also work very well for disseminating essential oils like eucalyptus and peppermint and work great with Vicks. So much so that Vicks has their own vaporizer meant to do just that.

And many people consider steam to be more of a relief to swollen and dried nasal passages with congestion then using cool mist.

And you can’t beat the fact that they are completely silent.

But on the flip side,..

Not everyone likes the feeling of hot humidity especially when they are sick and trying to sleep.

And there is the issue of being dangerous because of the temperature of the water that they create.

Warm mist humidifiers are never recommended for the children’s room where they can get bumped and accidentally spill.

Best of Both Worlds

Humidifiers like the Levoit 6l give you the advantage of being able to operate the humidifier as a warm or a mist humidifier.

There are times when using vapor to disseminate essential oils can be an awesome way to open up your airways but that doesn’t mean that you want to sleep in a steamy room.

Having the option to use the vapor and then turn the humidifier on cool for the rest of the night while you sleep is a great feature/benefit.

This new style of humidifiers also comes with built-in hygrometers and humidistats that allow you to set and leave your humidifier knowing that it will elevate the humidity and turn off when the appropriate humidity is reached.

Most have the option of being able to fill them from the top as well as operate them from your smartphone or an Alexa or Google Assistant.

Humidifiers like Air Innovations also have the advantage of being made from mold resistant materials that resist bacteria and create a much safer humidifier.

What is the Ideal Humidity Setting in Winter?

It seems that humidity and humidification are a subject that are gaining interest as people are becoming more aware of the impact that moisture levels in the home, School, work or otherwise, can have not only on dry noses and cracking skin but even more importantly the transmission of viruses.

“The ideal humidity setting on a hygrometer or humidifier is 50 Percent. According to the National Library of Medicine: “the majority of adverse health effects caused by relative humidity would be minimized by maintaining indoor levels between 40 and 60%.”

When conditions are dry, airborne viral particles become smaller and or able to travel much further.

Humidity makes the particles wider and weighs them down so they are not able to float, which reduces the particles located in the ambient air (the air you breathe) and inhibits their capacity to spread.

Exciting.

It’s interesting that simply adding moisture to the air can create indoor conditions where viruses and bacteria along with other dust particles can reduce respiratory illness.

Humidity levels in the winter are typically exceptionally low. The lack of moisture in the air creates all types of havoc with your body including:

• Dry skin
• Lowered immunity
• Raw and bloody noses
• Dry throat
• Acne
• Congestion
• Static electricity
• Frizzy hair

But you may be asking how do you know what your humidity actually is in the house?

That’s all good and fine knowing that humidity can affect your health but if you don’t know what your humidity is or how to correct it, what’s the use?

Humidity is measured with what’s called a hygrometer.

Hygrometers can be purchased as standalone devices but you will mostly find them as digital units combined with thermometers these days.

A thermohygrometer coupled with a humidifier to add moisture to the air is all the tools you will need to increase your relative humidity when conditions are too dry in your home or workplace.

This method works by using trial and error and increasing or decreasing the output of your humidifier as needed.

But even though it works, it’s not the most convenient as it will take a lot of monitoring between the humidifier and the hygrometer to achieve and maintain the proper humidity level.

Lucky for us, humidifiers have raced into the new age and are among the upper echelon of appliances that come equipped with smart technology to auto control your humidifier, but it turns on and off as needed according to censored hygrometer technology.

In other words, it increases and decreases humidity automatically.

Smart humidifiers not only can be controlled using Alexis and Google Assistant, they can also tell you your home humidity levels directly from an app on your phone and let you control it as needed.

Smart technology is only the beginning of where this new generation of humidifiers get started.

For instance the Levoit 6 l whole house smart humidifier can be utilized as either a warm mist or a cool mist humidifier.

It is equipped with sleep mode, essential aromatherapy oil ready, and is ultra quiet.

And one of the smartest features of this new breed of humidifiers is that they are top fill.

Which means they are much easier to put water in than the old plastic pharmacy style humidifiers that had to have the tank taken off and turned upside down underneath a faucet to fill it.

Other advances in humidifiers include methods of keeping humidifiers cleaner longer.

Technologies like UV light and antimicrobial plastic or advancing humidification to a new level. see: Self Cleaning Humidifiers

It’s no secret that humidifiers are among the most maintenance heavy devices.

Humidifiers must be kept clean to avoid germs and bacteria from growing inside of the water.

Unfortunately the same device that can reduce your chances of getting sick in the winter can also make you sick if it is not maintained properly.

That’s what makes these new technologies like ultraviolet light and antimicrobial materials so exciting.

You can imagine that in the future we are going to see humidifiers that alert us when they are in danger of developing bacteria and humidifiers that simply clean themselves.

We’re not quite there yet. But it’s definitely on the horizon. (Vaporizers use boiling water to create steam. Since the water is brought to a high temperature, bacteria is not able to survive)

What Humidity Setting Should You Use in Winter?

According to PubMed, 40 to 60% relative humidity in the home, School, or workplace is the ideal humidity to minimize adverse health effects caused by humidity.

Humidity can adversely affect your health when it is too low or too high.

Though most people generally pull out the humidifier when they start getting bloody noses and congestion, humidifiers can relieve all types of conditions including dry and cracking skin, dried out nasal passages, acne, viral spread, and lowered immunity.

Though they can be purchased separately and used in conjunction with your humidifier, hygrometers, which are the tool that is used to measure humidity, come built in to humidifiers as a standard feature these days.

Smart humidifiers can automatically increase or decrease the humidity level inside of the house to maintain the optimal humidity of 40 to 60%.

They also give you the advantage and convenience of being able to control and schedule your humidifier with your phone or using an Alexis device or Google Assistant.

This new breed of humidifier offers features like the capacity to use the humidifier is either a warm mist or a cool mist device. Antibacterial features like ultraviolet light and antimicrobial plastic, and one of my favorites, the ability to fill it from the top.

Top fill humidifiers take a huge amount of hassle out of using a humidifier.

It hasn’t been that long since humidifiers only came with basins that had to be taken off and turned upside down in order to fill.

Top fill humidifiers can be filled with a water pitcher.

Mold is a very destructive agent, not only to your home and property but also to your health. Mold growth can also be very consuming when it is left unchecked. And damage can occur very quickly.

Finding the source and stopping it is of the essence when you are dealing with it.

Can Humidifiers Cause Mold?

“No. A well maintained humidifier that is operating in the right humidity range will not cause mold.”

But a humidifier that is not cleaned often and allowed to run with water that has been stagnated will not only accumulate mold and bacteria inside of the basin, it will dispense mold and bacteria into the air you breathe.

Poor air quality that is full of mold and bacteria can be dangerous and cause symptoms that are similar to pneumonia and the flu, etc.

However if a humidifier is being operated how it is intended to be when the humidity in the room has dropped below 40%, it will only benefit you.

Are there any special circumstances where a humidifier could cause mold to grow?

Yes. For instance, you were running a humidifier when the humidity is well above the need for the humidifier to be running.

If you already have 80% humidity and you’re doing something to add more humidity, like run a humidifier, then you’re going to have condensation, which given the right circumstances can begin to grow mold.

Another scenario is that you have a humidifier that has a physical leak and is allowed to drip onto the wall or behind a desk or other furniture.

Anywhere you have a leak in your house, regardless of the source, you have a good chance of finding mold.

But a good working humidifier will not cause mold in the right circumstances. A humidifier doesn’t even have the output to create a huge condensation situation. Even on the scale of taking a shower.

What about the opposite?

Can a Humidifier Prevent Mold?

Yes.

And yes you read that right. Studies have shown that excessively dry air creates a much easier path for allergens like mold spores, pollen, airborne bacteria and viruses, to be able to travel much further.

The idea is that when the humidity of the air in your home, business, School, etc. Is kept between 40 and 60%, the moisture in the air does not allow for these “airborne health threats” to travel nearly as far before they are forced to the surface by the weight of the humidity drops.

The right moisture level in the air will actually keep mold spores from being able to travel as far as they would be able to in dry air. And keep it out of the ambient air that you are breathing in.

Maintaining the optimal humidity in your home has so many benefits that it outweighs any of the potential negatives by a mile.

Benefits of a humidifier:

1. Alleviate dry skin
2. Stop nosebleeds
3. Help control acne
4. Keep viruses at Bay
5. Control static shock
6. Help control dust
7. Helps immunity
8. Help control allergies
9. Increase oxygen

1. Alleviate dry skin

Dry skin is a universal problem that we all deal with from time to time. And it is a problem that is in direct correlation to the amount of moisture in our airstream.

Simply put; if the air is dry then your skin does not have the available moisture to be able to absorb. And to make matters worse, dry air means extra dust in the air, which pulls moisture out of your skin.

A humidifier is the perfect tool to add moisture back to a home that is suffering with low humidity.

2. Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds and congestion are the main telltale signs that it is time to pull out the humidifier for the season.

Whenever the air gets excessively dry because of the low humidity content in the air combined with the heater blasting, dry nasal passages become intolerable.

Humidifiers are one of the best things you can do when you are suffering from nosebleeds and dry nasal passages with congestion.

3. Help control acne

Acne is not something most people associate with low humidity. But according to Hadley King MD” dry conditions expose deeper layers of skin to the outside world”. Increasing the level of moisture in your room can help maintain the level of hydration needed to keep dry cracking skin from allowing acne to get a deeper root.

4. Keep viruses away

Where the air is excessively dry, there is a wide open pallet for particles including viruses, germs and bacteria, to be able to float in the ambient air and much further than when air is properly hydrated.

Humidifiers will add moisture back to the air which can keep viruses from being able to travel as long and as far as they can in dry air.

5. Control static shock/electricity

Static electricity is another one of those telltale signs that the humidity is low.

Without the proper humidity in the air, electrons have a lot less resistance and jump from one body to the next very easily.

Adding moisture to the air with the humidifier will cut down on the amount of static electricity that you are experiencing in your house.

6. Helps control dust

When there is a lack of humidity, dust does not have anything to keep it from floating and moving throughout the air settling on your skin and into your lungs.

Providing humidity back into the air with a humidifier will create moisture in the air that will bind with airborne dust and cause it to settle.

7. Helps immunity

A study published by medical news today states that the hair-like organelles outside of the cells that line the body’s airways, called cilia, do not function as well and dry conditions – they cannot expel viral particles as well as they otherwise would.

It’s Amazing how a humidifier can actually help your body resist viral particles much better when the air is too dry.

8. Help control allergies

Airborne allergies like pollen and mold spores that do not have any moisture in the air to keep them from floating will eventually make it into your airways and cause you to have a whole host of allergic symptoms.

Restoring the humidity in a room with a humidifier will help keep allergens from being able to float nearly as long and far as they are able to and dry air. Which can mean big relief for allergy sufferers.

9. Increase oxygen

Increasing the humidity with a humidifier when the air is dry can indirectly increase your oxygen intake.

“a humidifier is not an oxygen concentrator and it should not be mistaken for one or substituted for one”

The humidity droplets created by humidifiers can weigh down airborne allergens and dust by weighing them down and decreasing their ability to float in the ambient (air that you breathe)airstream.

Thus allowing for better oxygen intake.

Secondly, humidity combined with oxygen producing plants such as rubber plant, aloe vera, and mother-in-law’s tongue can create an oxygen-rich environment. Amazing.

Summary

Can a humidifier cause mold?

A humidifier used correctly at the right time will not cause mold.

Humidifiers are made to add moisture back to the room when the air is excessively dry and under the 40% relative humidity mark.

But a humidifier that is not used correctly or is allowed to be operated when it is unmaintained or has standing water in it, well more than likely has mold and bacteria growing in it and can create an air quality problem that can be very serious.

Other times that humidifiers could be responsible for mold is if they are run when the humidity is already high and does not constitute the use of a humidifier.

And secondly, if there is a physical problem with the humidifier and it is allowed to leak onto the furniture or floor.