Why do you need distilled water for humidifiers if they’re turning the water into a vapor? Wouldn’t the minerals be left behind anyway?
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Yes, they do, and they build up over time, killing your humidifier. Look up your model on YouTube and find out how it needs to be cleaned. Usually a vinegar mix. I use regular tap water n the humidifier because I’m lazy, but I still clean that thing every two weeks. Distilled water is best, that way you don’t need to worry about it as often.
Depends on the humidifier. Ultrasonic ones are not distilling/evaporating it, they’re just using ultrasonic waves to aerosolize it into a vapor and create a mist. It does this without removing a lot of impurities from the water. What is left behind gunks up the humidifier, what isn’t leaves a white powder or film in the area around the humidifier.
Evaporative humidifiers don’t need distilled water because they do actually evaporate the water and leave the minerals behind. That’s why evaporative humidifiers have filters that get gross and hard after a while, from all the minerals left behind. But the filters do last quite a bit longer if you use distilled water in an evaporative humidifier, but they still wear out over time
That’s the problem, tap water leaves a bunch of stuff behind in the workings of the humidifier. That build up will eventually cause problems for the unit.
If you have owned a water cettle or a coffee maker you know what happens when you boil water and leave the minerals behind. The minerals form scale on the inside of the appliance and it can foul up the pipes and heaters to the point that it no longer works. Some humidifyers can be cleaned by running vinigar or a cleaning solution through it, but not all.
There are also other types of humidifyers which do not use heat to evaporate the water but instead do it mechanically. They use an ultrasonic element to throw the air molecules into the air in tiny dropplets that will evaporate in short term. These dropplets will carry with them any mineral that is in the water. So all the minerals end up in the air and cause issues.
>Wouldn’t the minerals be left behind anyway?
That’s exactly the problem. Those minerals build up over time, and will break the humidifier
Distilled water makes sure you don’t have to clean as often
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