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If You Install A Whole-House Humidifier, Do You Still Need A Room Humidifier?

by Wallace Gonzales

If you live in a very dry area and need to have a higher humidity level in your home, a whole-house humidifier is a fantastic choice. But once you have that installed, don't get rid of your portable humidifier just yet. While you might not need to use the portable humidifier very often now, it's good to keep it around to handle specific circumstances. With the portable still present, you can still keep much of your home comfortable even if the whole-house unit is out of commission.

Localized Increase in Humidity

One reason to keep the portable around is if you need to provide increased humidity in one part of the house. If one of your children is sick, for example, and needs a higher humidity level to be comfortable, you can run the portable in the child's room and increase the humidity there without making the rest of the house too soggy. A portable can also sit anywhere in the room, so if you find a particular spot makes it more effective, you can move it there. With a whole-house unit, the vent is stuck in one place only.

A Just-in-Case Spare

Whole-house humidifiers that have been taken care of well should last a very long time. However, sometimes there can be an issue that you have to get checked out, and maybe the humidifier needs to be off for a day or so. If that happens, you still have the portable humidifier to use in the meantime. The repair company handling the humidifier inspection or repairs should come out quickly, but even if you have to wait only a few hours, it's nice to still have that added humidity from the portable unit.

Lower Power for Those Reduce-Consumption Requests

On really hot days, you may get a request from your local utility company or state utility monitor to cut back on electricity usage. Very hot days with high demand can stress out the electrical grid in the state. Rather than run the whole-house humidifier and potentially add to that stress, try to use the portable for short periods of time. It will consume less energy and be easier to turn on and off.

Remember to empty the portable unit and let it dry thoroughly before you put it away. The last thing you need is to take out a stored humidifier unit and find it filled with mildew. Talk to the humidifier installation workers about hints for making the whole-house unit run more efficiently as well.

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