good cheap humidifier??
 

hi all! i grow my plants indoors in my basement bedroom. i have an ancient humidifier that is likely older than i am and its not very effective, its loud, and inneficient as all get out!

so im looking for a good cheap humidifier anybody have idea oh which type to get? and if you have any suggestions it would be appreciated!!

I got mine at Walmart in NJ ...a 2 gallon one that I just refill every morning cost me $29...no noise and emits a warm mist

I used to pick up humidifiers at Walmart and Target around February when they start clearing all that stuff off and would get them for about $5 to $10 a piece for a 1 or 2 gallon. Just make sure they are warm/cool mist (ultrasonic). Evaporative ones don't work period.

We just got an evaporative one two weeks ago for our apartment. Its only 850 sq ft so it works good. The first day e had it the relative humidity went from 23% to 60% and it was verified by a seperate gauge.

thanks everyone! does anyone know what type is bette? ultrasonic? warm mist? other?

also invest on a humidity/temp gauge(digital thermometer type) and you might get it in the same store...
ask the salesperson what the difference are with the brands and the ecquipments...

If it's evaporative, make sure you only use distilled water. That's the kicker with those.

i doubt anyone at walmart would know what they are talking about.

i see... dont want one of those then

I was going to keep my orchid hobby very basic - windowsill - period. Now the orchids are sitting on a 4 shelf wire rack. :lol: Yesterday I bought a Hunter brand ultrasonic humidifier, hoping that would help with bud blast. One filling is supposed to last for 24 hrs., cool mist, runs absolutely silent and the vapor stream is visible. I paid $59.90. I don't have a humidity gauge, but it has to be an improvement. Now I'm hoping that my orchids appreciate the fact that I'm turning my living room into a greenhouse/livingroom combination. :rofl:

Even though we dont, the cost difference between the two styles is more than enough to offset the costs of the wick. We needed a full house one and the price difference was almost $200.

same deal here!! do you have lights over yours? thats the same as i have!

i just need something for a small room, not my whole house :)

Yea, then spend the good bucks to get a small one that works for your sq. ft.

I was just posting my impression about the evaporative ones that dont work.

Bob, no I don't have lights - yet. :lol: btw. my humidifier is for a medium sized room, it doesn't give a square footage. The vapor stream is adjustable.

---------- Post added at 05:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ----------

Since my livingroom is on the larger side, I moved the humidifier close to the orchids. I didn't put it on the shelf, just in case the cats might take a interest in it. :)

I stand corrected, they never worked in my greenhouse I guess I should have said.

---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 PM ----------

If you have hard water there is one made by Vicks that has the little spinning cog that basically produces a fine mist. It's not ultrasonic so you don't have to worry about clogging the ceramic plate. I loved it, it would run for like 2 days before filling and I think I only paid $30 for it new.

Ours is rated for 1700 sq ft and has to humidify around 900. That could be one reason it works so well but no more cracked lips and bloody noses in the morning.

:) yep thanks for helping!

its only a matter of time!

ikl check that one one! the one i have is a spinning cog one, but its LOUD!



my room is 131 sq ft about, so i dont need anything huge :)

thanks for your help guys!

If you have asthma or allergies you might want to go with a warm humidifier because you get less bacteria.

I bought a Honeywell Germ Free (has a UV light that supposedly kills bacteria)...seems to work well and it was not too bad with price -- $46 :D

An article taken from my FREE INFORMATION page:

Through emails and especially on forums, I see a lot of questions concerning humidification of the home or growing area of the home, especially as Fall and Winter draw near.

While I cannot give specific brand-name recommendations (I have a Jaybird manufacturing Aquafog 700 in my greenhouse), there are a few guidelines that can be shared:

First, talk to a knowledgeable store salesman and look for something that can put out a sufficient volume of moisture to keep the RH at about 50%-60%. That is a good level for you and the plants, while not being so saturated that furniture damage will likely occur. A moderately-sized "whole house" humidifier out do do the trick, but try to get one that works off of a humidistat rather than one with just high-medium-low controls. (You can add a remote, in-line humidistat easily, if you cannot find one with it.) Remember that your home or apartment is not 100% "tight", so you will be losing moisture to the surroundings, so purchase a humidifier with a bit of excess capacity.

There are three basic mechanisms used in humidifiers:

"Cool mist" or ultrasonic devices atomize the water and force the micro-droplets into the air. Any minerals dissolved in the water will precipitate as a white dust on plants, furniture, and any horizontal surface. The use of pure water prevents that, but some ultrasonic transducers won't work with it. The mechanical atomization or "buzzing" of the ultrasonic transducer can be a slight problem, but it usually ends up as a mild source of "white noise" that is ignored.

"Warm mist" devices heat the water and add moisture to the air in the form of steam. With those, the dissolved minerals tend to build up on the heating element. Pure water solves that problem. Such devices are essentially silent in their operation.

A "wick" type of humidifier is typical for the "whole house" device. Typically a cloth mesh belt or sponge is moved through a water bath (sometimes they just stand in it and capillary action draws up the moisture), and air is blown through the mesh to evaporate it. Mineral buildup will occur on the wick, but it tends to be slow, and generally the wicks are inexpensive and easy to replace, so you need not bother with pure water. The fan may produce a low noise level - probably lower than the cool-mist type of humidifier - but it is usually not an issue.

A "do-it-yourself" humidifier can also made with some aquarium-related components - an air stone, air pump, and a tank. Just immerse a very fine air stone (as large as you can accommodate) into a tank of water - the deeper the better, although 12"-18" is sufficient - and turn on the air. The fine bubbles will be totally saturated by the time the reach the surface, where they will break, releasing the moisture into the air.

good idea! because i actually have both. but they arent severe

ill keep an eye out!


thanks ray!! i didnt even think to look on your website. how well does the DIY option work? because i think i have all that on hand.

as for the hardness of my water, i usually dont get waterstains on my plants

i wont be able to use pure water, so maybe on of the other options is best

With a big-enough air stone and a big-enough air pump, it's VERY effective.

Just be sure to use a tall "tank", as the bursting micro-bubbles will soak the area around it.

Could you please define "big enough air stone" and "big enough tank"?

Marilyn

I use an ultrasonic humidifier in the living room/greenhouse. I put the water for it thru a Brita filter which removes some of the calcium, I think. I have hard well-water so I still get that white dust on the plants. Every so often I clean the transducer with that indispensable and always available tool, my fingernail.
In the bathroom where I have a few orchids I use an evaporative humidifier. I rarely have to fill it, which says to me that it's not doing much. The humidity comes mostly from showers.
I don't have the ideal solution and mostly I just keep my plants as happy as I can until the warmer (and moister) weather.

---------- Post added at 10:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 PM ----------

I forgot to add that I keep the most vulnerable plants in a little plastic tent near the ultrasonic humidifier. Masdies, mainly.

Thanks for the input everyone! Especially mr ray!!

How have you been Connie? I miss talking to you an all the other regulars on chat! :)

I found one! It's at sears. It's a moistair brand and I ant recall the model and stuff. But its a wick type, which is ideal because of my water. It says that it has a 3 gallon output rate or something like that. An the water tank is 2 gallons and supposedly it runs for 24 hours without needing filled. It has some kind of different settings for humidity levels as well. And the best part, ONLY $30!!!!

My water isn't hard, but I get water spots occasionally. So the wick type should be ideal.

picked it up today :D its so quiet!

it has 4 different fan speeds. and a humidistat/hygrometer. it tells me what the current RH is and i can set the desired RH and it will run until it reaches that Rh and will maintain it as well :D :D

I'd grab a digital one regardless and place it at a different location to get a true readout. Mine reads right at the humidifier and of course it's going to be good right by the machine. I found its about 10% off on the generous side.

thats alright, i assumed it would be a little off, but its better tha a total guess :D

Sorry to take so long to respond....it's been busy here.

It's all a matter of scale - "so much" volume of air through "so much" air stone area results in "X" thousand bubbles per minute. Increasing the size of the air stone and the volume of air gets you a lot more saturated air per unit time.

Increasing the air flow alone results in bigger bubbles with lower surface-to-volume ratios, so they might not get saturated before the erupt and "dump" their contents into the atmosphere. Increasing the air stone alone adds nothing, as you'd be air-volume limited by your pump.

I wouldn't get an ultrasonic humidifier, especially if you put it in your bedroom. I find they leave water marks on surfaces...

thanks for the input! thats what i had before, and i did get water marks on some things. the one i got is a wick type so hopefully it will be better! :D

Ray, instead of a fish tank, do you think I could use a 5 gallon water bottle instead? The neck of the bottle would contain most of the splash if I only filled the bottle up to the point where the bottle starts to get narrower at the top.

I wish I had a room full of aquariums like I did a few years ago. The orchids would compliment the fish so well, and they would benefit from the humidity boost.

Sure..why not.

The air pump would force the humid air out of the neck with no problem.

The limewood "airstones" that the marine guys used to use for protein skimmers before everyone went venturi give by far the finest bubbles - almost a mist in the tank. Should last a lot longer in fresh water than they do in salt.
They do however have a rather irksome habit of floating, so you may need to wedge/weigh it down.

All this talk is bringing back some really great memories! Now I miss my seahorses haha!