Can filtered water be used in a humidifier instead of distilled water?
- Thread starter grampi
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AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Having the same distilled shortage here as well. Are you talking filtered tap water or the gallon drinking water? Probably depends on the amount of minerals in your tap water if that's what you mean. Short term probably not and you gotta do what you gotta do. We have a small room humidifier that vaporizes the water that I really don't want to plug up.
It's not going to ruin it unless your water has a very high hardness value. All water is different, when we lived in the City of Milwaukee and our water came from Lake Michigan it was of very low hardness and was suitable for many such uses. But here in the suburbs where we have well water that is a very different story. No typical filter will remove hardness so in that case I wouldn't even bother filtering it.
Check out the Project Farm video on water filters. Most are a waste of money. The Zero Water filter is the more reasonably priced one that actually works. I bought one and the problem was the filter would fill up in a short amount of time, making it not cost effective. There are a lot of dissolved solids in the water here. If yours doesn't, it might be a good option. I've gone back to filling up my 5 gallon jugs at the grocery store for $1.99 from the Glacier machine. It's not perfect (I test it with strips and a dissolved solids meter) but way better than my tap water.
Normally I'd say don't bother but with how hard my water is ... yeah go for distilled.
I've been boiling pots of water in my house to bring the humidity up above 2%. The limescale buildup in my stock pot is surprising.
I've been boiling pots of water in my house to bring the humidity up above 2%. The limescale buildup in my stock pot is surprising.
Have you searched for a local water company which offers refills of 5 gallon (water cooler type) jugs with distilled? I've been able to find it near me, and the nice thing is they aren't affected by shortages in the same way as a retail store that gets it shipped in 1-gallon jugs.
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We use individual "cool mist" humidifiers in a couple of rooms. Our well water here in CT is moderately hard but we just fill them straight from the tap (we do have a sediment filter that we change quarterly). With weekly cleaning, the humidifiers last a year or two, probably 200 or 300 gallons before the ultrasonic element stops working from scale. Will never buy Vicks brand again; those barely last a season.
We have some of the hardest water in the country (San Antonio).
I use water direct from the tub faucet in my cool humidifier. Mine is going on ten years old.
I use water direct from the tub faucet in my cool humidifier. Mine is going on ten years old.
We have a water softener, and our water is filtered (the effectiveness of the filter is unknown, but it's better than no filtration). So I guess my options are to either go without a humidifier, or use the water we have. I say screw it, I'm using what we have. It'll be worth it not having to deal with dry air...my wife has sinus issues and the dry air makes it worse...
It's interesting people have been able to use tap water in their humidifiers. I did this for 1 season and eventually clogged my furnace filter with white powder. It also coated plastic surfaces with a fine film of white dust. Of course I didn't realize it was the humidifier at first or I would have shut the thing down.
I would stick with distilled
Again it’s dependent on the local water hardness. It was very low when we had Lake Michigan water.
I would too if it was available, but it isn't...
Get a Zero Water pitcher.
The article is wrong calling Zero Water an upstart. I've had a Zero Water pitcher for years.
www.cnet.com
The article is wrong calling Zero Water an upstart. I've had a Zero Water pitcher for years.
Brita vs. ZeroWater: Two water filter pitcher systems compared
Let's see just how the biggest name in water filter pitchers, Brita, stacks up against scrappy upstart ZeroWater.
www.cnet.com
I have to use distilled water in my CPAP otherwise the water chamber is filled with crud even with 'ultra' filtered water.
Project farm is not a reputable source for any testing (especially engine oil). If anything Consumer Report would be a more reputable source.
