Are Aromatherapy Diffusers Humidifiers?
Are aromatherapy diffusers humidifiers? If you live in a dry climate or battle with indoor dryness during the winter months, it’s a question worth asking. The problem is, if you look up the answer online, you’ll see lots of different answers and they don’t always match up. That’s because some aromatherapy diffusers are humidifiers, but not all of them are. The trick is in understanding which is which and why. We’ll break down the differences and similarities below.
Lack of moisture can be a problem in dry climates and during winter months.
When indoor air lacks moisture, people often wind up with issues like dry skin or dryness of the throat, mouth, and nose. While it seems like a minor problem, it can result in sore throats, bloody noses, cracked lips, and more. Particularly for people who breathe through their mouths while sleeping, getting more moisture into the air is essential. Of course, there’s a fine balance. If you have too much moisture, your home can become a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and mildew.
The goal of a humidifier is to increase ambient moisture.
There are lots of different types of humidifiers ranging from whole-house units through personal units. People tend to be more familiar with the personal units which include impeller and ultrasonic humidifiers as well as steam vaporizers.
Impeller humidifiers have rotating discs that rapidly spin, essentially flinging water droplets into the air, creating a cool mist. Ultrasonic humidifiers create a cool mist too, but they do it through creating tiny waves that produce the fog. On the other end of the spectrum are steam vaporizers—yes, these are technically humidifiers too and are sometimes called warm-mist humidifiers. These use a heating element to boil the water and create steam. The steam cools fast and modern machines have greater safety controls, but there’s still more burn risk with the latter.
Despite the differences in the two—cool mist and steam—experts say there’s not much difference in which is better for you or better for specific conditions. It’s more a matter of personal preference.
The goal of an aromatherapy diffuser is to introduce essential oils or scents into the air.
There are lots of different types of aromatherapy diffusers too. These days, some of the most popular are ultrasonic diffusers. Sound familiar?
Yes, they work in a near identical way to ultrasonic humidifiers. They introduce moisture into the air, simply because the water in the reservoir serves as a carrier for the essential oils.
There are other key differences between humidifiers and diffusers though.
Essential oils can damage some humidifiers. Although 100% pure essential oils are 100% plant-based and don’t have artificial substances mixed in, that doesn’t necessarily make them weak. In fact, they can sometimes corrode or damage machinery that isn’t designed to withstand them. Many humidifier manufacturers specifically caution against adding anything but water to the reservoir for this reason.
Aromatherapy diffusers tend to be smaller. As you become more familiar with essential oils, you’ll learn that the high-quality ones are costly to make, simply because the process is a time investment and it takes a whole lot of the raw plant to produce measurable amounts of oil. If you’re using pure essential oils versus those loaded with carriers, fillers, and who knows what else, then you’re going to want to be mindful of how much you’re using. With a traditional aromatherapy diffuser, you really only need 3-4 drops of oil max. With the larger reservoirs humidifiers have, you might easily need double or triple that amount to achieve the same results. Worse yet, you’ll probably have substantial leftovers in the reservoir after using a humidifier, so if you’re adding essential oils to yours, a lot is going to waste.
Bottom line: You shouldn’t use a humidifier as an aromatherapy diffuser, but you can use a diffuser as a lightweight humidifier.
Because of the damage potential (and possibly voiding your humidifier’s warranty) and size differences, you wouldn’t want to use your humidifier as an aromatherapy diffuser. However, if you simply want to introduce a bit of moisture into the air, are working with a smaller space, and have an affinity for aromatherapy, your diffuser should do the trick.
Explore high-quality aromatherapy diffusers and pure essential oils at Zenbelle.
The ultrasonic aromatherapy diffusers available at Zenbelle are designed expressly to be used with essential oils, so they create a consistent aromatherapy experience without worry of degrading your unit. We also offer 100% pure essential oils, so you always know exactly what’s in your aromatherapy mix (and the air you’re breathing) and have a better experience. Visit our online catalogue to explore the full collection.
