Violated my Gold-Medal-Winning Cheapskate Award by buying a Humidifier

[230RN]

Violated my Gold-Medal-Winning Cheapskate Award  Amateur Standing by buying a Humidifier

Recent dry, dry, nasal passages when I slept.

Used to drape a towel on a chemistry-type ringstand dipping into a pot of water with a small fan blowing across it in my bedroom. One of the reasons I'm a World-Class Cheapskate.

Real ugly.

Worked fine.

Uses tap water.

Broke down and got an ultrasonic room humidifier.

Real pretty.

Works fine.

Needs distilled water.

But you have to take the top off and turn it upside-down to fill it.  Messy, awkward procedure.  Of all the dumb, disergonomic designs !  

Couldn't they just have put a fill cap on the top?

Or would that have spoiled the nice, clean, artistic lines of the machine?

Are they all like that?  Sort of like having to fill your gas tank by turning your car upside down.

At least they put a handle on it, though.

Terry

[cambeul41]

We had a similar Walgreen's humidifier, but a different model. It worked fine with filtered water rather than distilled and is much cheaper. Actually, if it were not for the white dust from the minerals in the water, tap water might work.

Refilling the tank is a pain. Apparently that was not taken into consideration when it was being designed. To ease the process, we fill clean milk jugs with the filtered water, then use them to fill the humidifier tanks (two tanks held 1-1/2 gallons in the one we had).

[Brad Johnson]

Use distilled. Filtered water, even RO water, will eventually result in a slimy scum buildup that is teh debil to remove.

Brad

[vaskidmark]

Use distilled. Filtered water, even RO water, will eventually result in a slimy scum buildup that is teh debil to remove.

Brad

And do not use bleach to kill the scum, then run the dehumidifier.  Or at least that's what my respiratory folks in the ER told me.

Of course, now that I'm using a CPAP with supplemental 02 that goes through a water cup I'm getting humidified all night long.  02 without humidification BTW is the pits.

stay safe.

[230RN]

I'm getting tempted to melt (rather than drill) a hole in the top. cover it with duct tape, and use a funnel to fill it.  (Drilling might weaken the plastic.)

On the other hand, the receipt shows full value for a refund and I've got 30 days from yesterday to bring it back.

But, again, do they all fill this way?'

Bought it without doing any research.  My nose has been telling me to, and I just happened to be near a Walgreen's when I decided to get one, like, right now.

Don't want to use tap water.   That was one of the beauties of using a wet towel and fan.  Minerals stayed on the towel.  Tap water seems quite varied in hardness around here.  Sometimes it goes clank when it hits the sink, sometimes it's soft as silky rainwater from G-d's own clouds.

[MechAg94]

I don't have one, but the breathing machine I use while sleeping has one. 

[Cliffh]

We've got an ultrasonic humidifier also.  And it fills from the bottom.

The old one had a spinning fan-type affair in it that threw the water out.  Worked real well for 10 years or so.  And it filled from the top.

[vaskidmark]

They fill from the bottom because the valve to let water into the nebulizing chamber is also on the bottom.  Might as well set up the machining to happen without flipping anything over - don't want to overwork those injection molders, you know.

Sorry, that the best stupid reason I could come up with.  I'm not a mechanical engineer.

stay safe.

[lupinus]

My wife has a small person one. It fills from the top.

[230RN]

They fill from the bottom because the valve to let water into the nebulizing chamber is also on the bottom.  Might as well set up the machining to happen without flipping anything over - don't want to overwork those injection molders, you know.

Sorry, that the best stupid reason I could come up with.  I'm not a mechanical engineer.

Good point, actually.

Maybe they figured that to install the valve, they needed threading, so "might as well make it the fill cap, too."

With the rounded top --which becomes the bottom when you turn it upside-down --it's not stable and you need three hands to fill it.  Well, 2-1/2, anyhow.  I rigged a tissue box to hold it upside-down while filling.


All very strange.


Terry

[vaskidmark]

My wife has a small person one. It fills from the top.

A "small person one" what?

My imagination has filled volumes with what that could be.

stay safe.

[K Frame]

I have one of the big console humidifiers that uses thr replaceable fiber pads.

They are not cheap, about $15 a pad, but if you wash them in vinegar you can get a year or more from one.

[Marnoot]

I finally broke down and put a whole-house humidifier in. That's not a cheap proposition to have done though (I've heard quotes upward of $1500 after parts markup and labor). Can get away with it being about $150 or so if you do it yourself. Took me about 3 or 4 hours to get it done doing it on my own.

I had put one in my last house as well. I was hoping since our newer house is more tightly constructed that moisture from showers, cooking, and respiration would be enough, but alas not. Didn't take long with the dry nose and itchy skin for me to bite the bullet and put one in again.

[230RN]

My wife has a small person one. It fills from the top.

+

A "small person one" what?

My imagination has filled volumes with what that could be.

stay safe.

I think "A small personal one" was what was meant.  I've seen them advertised on TV.  Handheld.

I might bring this one back and see if Walgreen's has one like that.  This whole-room one is bringing up the RH significantly overnight in the bedroom, at least according to the cheap hygrometer I bought from a cigar store.

But actually, so far, on the basis of two nights, it does not seem to be doing a lot of good, pharynx-wise.

It dawned on me this morning that I keep some blued handguns in the bedroom and I wondered if the high humidity might be a problem.  Most of them are in plastic cases with silica packs in the cases, but my BITN one is  not.  (New acronym? Bump In The Night?)

We shall see.  

Terry, 230RN

[KD5NRH]

I finally broke down and put a whole-house humidifier in. That's not a cheap proposition to have done though (I've heard quotes upward of $1500 after parts markup and labor). Can get away with it being about $150 or so if you do it yourself. Took me about 3 or 4 hours to get it done doing it on my own.

I just dry my hand-wash stuff indoors.  Problem solved free.  Fast when I'm using the heater, too.

Frankly, "Walgreen's Pharmacist Recommended" tags on garbage have gotten me to the point where I'll fill a prescription on a street corner before I'll trust a Walgreen's pharmacist.

[230RN]

Frankly, "Walgreen's Pharmacist Recommended" tags on garbage have gotten me to the point where I'll fill a prescription on a street corner before I'll trust a Walgreen's pharmacist.

Well, I went in to look around, intending to head toward the pharmacy, and lo!, there they were right at the front of the store along with gallons of their distilled water.

Like I said, it was an impulse as I drove by.  No research.  My bad.