Can filtered water be used in a humidifier instead of distilled water?

I have been using reverse osmosis filtered water from the local mom and pop water store for my humidifier when I need to use it, 30c / gal. So far no scale. The worn out rice cooker now converted to steamer? Tap water and full of scale, but I can scrub it after heating vinegar inside.
 
PandaBear said:
I have been using reverse osmosis filtered water from the local mom and pop water store for my humidifier when I need to use it, 30c / gal. So far no scale. The worn out rice cooker now converted to steamer? Tap water and full of scale, but I can scrub it after heating vinegar inside.
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I'm hoping that between the water softener, and the filter, all, or at least most of the stuff that causes scale, powdery residue, whatever, will not be a problem...
 
Is it a whole house or tabletop unit? If tabletop, warm or cool mist? I've used softened water in a small warm mist tabletop for the last 2+ years with no issues. Since you have a softener run it without hesitation as long as your system is functioning correctly IMO.
 
we have a Waterwise distiller and use that for drinking, ice cubes, and small humidifiers.
The large 4.5 gal humidifier gets sink water with a few ounces of treatment, and essential oils :)
 
We use our very hard well water in a moveable evaporative unit, but also use mineral treatment capsules, been OK for a few years. Capsules only last a month or so. The in duct humidifier we have is plumbed into the house and we only get less than one heat season out of the pads before they are almost solid w/ deposits.
 
grampi said:
I'm hoping that between the water softener, and the filter, all, or at least most of the stuff that causes scale, powdery residue, whatever, will not be a problem...
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I don't know if water softener help reduce scale in humidifier though. It works on pipe and tank for sure but eventually the minerals have to go somewhere. Humidifier can't evaporate the minerals so softener won't help if I understand.
 
tbm5690 said:
Is it a whole house or tabletop unit? If tabletop, warm or cool mist? I've used softened water in a small warm mist tabletop for the last 2+ years with no issues. Since you have a softener run it without hesitation as long as your system is functioning correctly IMO.
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It's a small tabletop unit. It only holds 1 gal of water.
 
I use cold water straight from the faucet in our 4-gallon Lacidoll humidifier. I always use some vinegar 1/4 cup maybe and dump it in as well to help keep the inside of the humidifier clean.
 
grampi said:
I don't know what either of those are...we just put water in it and it pumps out what looks like steam, but it's not hot...
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Probably cool mist then, which may throw some minerals in the form of a light dusting around the unit depending on mineral content.
 
my city water which varies from 250-330ppm seasonally was terrible for dusting.
I use RO water now which is usually under 25ppm.. no such issues.

Can you post a pic of it Grampi? or a model number anything?
 
Blueshound said:
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.
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Definitely DO NOT use regular water in an ultrasonic humidifier, only distilled. Apparently the ultrasonic element makes it easier to inhale the minerals from regular tap water, even the best, softest tap water will have minerals. You can confirm this by seeing a white dust on your furniture, imagine what it's doing to your lungs. I wouldn't even use my humidifier if I didn't have distilled, I guess I'd use a regular wick type.

Those integrated home humidifiers aren't worth it. They barely raise the humidity by 1-2% and are just a horrible place for mold to grow.

As a side note, I knew someone who worked at a chip factory, where the purest water was required for the fabs, it was basically 100% H2O. I was told you could die if you drank it because it would draw out all of the sodium / electrolytes you need to function. Not sure if they were pulling my chain or not.
 
Owen Lucas said:
Definitely DO NOT use regular water in an ultrasonic humidifier, only distilled. Apparently the ultrasonic element makes it easier to inhale the minerals from regular tap water, even the best, softest tap water will have minerals. You can confirm this by seeing a white dust on your furniture, imagine what it's doing to your lungs. I wouldn't even use my humidifier if I didn't have distilled, I guess I'd use a regular wick type.

Those integrated home humidifiers aren't worth it. They barely raise the humidity by 1-2% and are just a horrible place for mold to grow.

As a side note, I knew someone who worked at a chip factory, where the purest water was required for the fabs, it was basically 100% H2O. I was told you could die if you drank it because it would draw out all of the sodium / electrolytes you need to function. Not sure if they were pulling my chain or not.
Click to expand...
I debated a whole home and quickly ruled out the wicking type for the reasons you mentioned. Steam canister seemed attractive but they run quite a bit more for install. We use a couple small tabletop units in 2 of the bedrooms that are the steam type and therefore more effective than any wicking or cool mist options. We run them overnight on low and they bring up the levels anywhere from 10-15 percent in just a couple of hours.
 
I have 4 while home humidifiers and just replace the pad each year. They work great and I can easily raise the humidity if needed as temperatures dictates. We have fairly hard tap water (170 ppm hardness) here and no issues in the 6 years we’ve been here.
 
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I tried this with both Brita and Pur water filters in a cool mist (ultrasonic) humidifier. The results were not good. Worse allergies, stinky bacterial slime buildup that required frequent disinfectant soaking, moldy or mildew smells you name it. I've had zero issues using jug drinking water or spring water when I couldn't find distilled. If you have a humidifier that boils water you probably could just put tap water in it and outside of scale buildup it would be fine.
 
Owen Lucas said:
Definitely DO NOT use regular water in an ultrasonic humidifier, only distilled. Apparently the ultrasonic element makes it easier to inhale the minerals from regular tap water, even the best, softest tap water will have minerals. You can confirm this by seeing a white dust on your furniture, imagine what it's doing to your lungs. I wouldn't even use my humidifier if I didn't have distilled, I guess I'd use a regular wick type.

Those integrated home humidifiers aren't worth it. They barely raise the humidity by 1-2% and are just a horrible place for mold to grow.

As a side note, I knew someone who worked at a chip factory, where the purest water was required for the fabs, it was basically 100% H2O. I was told you could die if you drank it because it would draw out all of the sodium / electrolytes you need to function. Not sure if they were pulling my chain or not.
Click to expand...
Interesting thought. Using tap water definitely creates a little dust where the fog lands, but not much. I wonder if there's any research documenting health effects. It's hard to imagine it's much of a problem, but since the whole point is to improve breathing . . . down the rabbit hole I go
 
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