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Air Purifiers vs. Humidifiers for Baby: What’s the Difference?
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When you’re looking to get better air quality for your baby, it’s important to understand how different products work—and how they benefit your family. Humidifiers and air purifiers can both help you get better air quality, but they work differently.2,3 Read on to learn the difference between humidifiers and air purifiers, and how each of them can help you take care of indoor air for yourself and your baby.
What’s the difference between air purifiers and humidifiers?
Portable air purifiers, including air purifiers, can improve the air quality in a single room by capturing unwanted airborne particles and circulating cleaner air. Humidifiers add moisture to dry air.
In other words, if you want to reduce particles including dust, pet dander, virus, bacteria, candle soot and mold in your baby’s nursery or family room, an air purifier can help you do that. If you’re worried about dry air in those rooms, a humidifier can help.
How can an air purifier benefit my baby’s air?
Airborne particles like dust, mold, candle soot and mildew can be lingering in your home’s air, even if you keep doors closed and open the window to circulate air.
Using a portable air purifier in your nursery can help reduce indoor air particulates and clean the air.1 Look for an air purifier with a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR)—the higher the CADR, the larger the room that can be cleaned, and the more quickly the air purifier will clean your air.1 Additionally, use a high-efficiency air filter in your device, such as a True HEPA filter, which can capture 99.97% of airborne particles.* It’s also important to change the filter on the schedule recommended on its packaging.
How can a humidifier benefit my baby’s air?
If you’re noticing the air in your nursery is dry, a humidifier can help bring humidity back to a healthy level. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a relative humidity level between 40% and 60% for infants under 1 year old.2 Adding moisture to dry air can help with dry noses and mouths, cracked lips and dry skin.4
When using a humidifier in your baby’s nursery, there are a few steps you can take to make sure the moisture you’re adding to your air is more pure. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, evaporative and steam vaporizing humidifiers tend to disperse less of the minerals found in standing water into the air.3 Distilled water contains less of the minerals found in tap water, so using distilled water is a good idea if you’re worried about mineral dispersal in the air.3 Make sure you clean your humidifier frequently for optimal performance.
*As small as 0.3 microns from the air passing through the filter media. Initial efficiency value.
Sources:
2. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/cha05.htm
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