Is Reverse Osmosis Water Good for Humidifiers? Find Out Here!
Written by: Gene Fitzgerald // Last Updated: May 8, 2023
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Reverse osmosis water has many benefits due to its high purity. In fact, it’s pretty much as pure as it can get, at least with purification methods available on the consumer market.
Some people like to use reverse osmosis water for more than drinking. For example, they appreciate the extra purity when it comes to doing their laundry, their dishes, and other household chores.
What about humidifiers though? Can you safely use reverse osmosis water in your humidifier? Let’s find out.
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Key Takeaways
- Using reverse osmosis water in your humidifier is a great way to go. It prevents scaling within the system and also doesn’t introduce impurities into the air.
Is Reverse Osmosis Water Good for Humidifiers?
So, is reverse osmosis water good for humidifiers? Yes, reverse osmosis water is good for humidifiers in general.
Anything you can do to improve the purity of the water that goes into your humidifier is already a positive factor.
Benefits of Using RO Water with Humidifiers
Using reverse osmosis water with your humidifier means that your air will be fresher and cleaner. After all, humidifiers work by dispersing water into the air as fine droplets. Any contaminants in that water will also make their way into your air. Therefore, removing as many of those contaminants as possible is always welcome.
In addition, pure water will help your humidifier last longer. Contaminants like minerals tend to build up on the surfaces they come in contact with, including your humidifier’s interior. If your water is too heavily contaminated, it could lead to a scale buildup on your humidifier.
Problems with RO Water and Humidifiers
There are some minor issues related to using reverse osmosis water with a humidifier, however. The main problem is that reverse osmosis water can be a bit corrosive due to its lower pH level. When all minerals have been stripped out of water, it can easily engage materials on surfaces it comes in contact with. However, as long as you don’t have any sensitive surfaces affected by your water humidifier, there isn’t really a reason against using reverse osmosis water for that purpose.
Can Reverse Osmosis Water Induce an Allergic Reaction When Used in a Humidifier?
Reverse osmosis water will not cause any allergic reactions when used in a humidifier. In fact, the opposite is true. Water may naturally contain various contaminants which could trigger allergic reactions when spread through the air. By running your water through a reverse osmosis filter system, you get rid of all those contaminants and reduce the likelihood of an allergic reaction.
The Best Type of Water to Be Used in a Humidifier Is Distilled
With all that in mind, if you want to improve the performance of your humidifier, the best thing you can do is to use distilled water instead of reverse osmosis water. Both are pretty similar in the sense that they’re very pure, but distilled water does have some advantages over reverse osmosis water in this specific context.
Pure Water for Improved Air Quality
Distilled water is even purer than reverse osmosis water due to how the process works. This makes it the ideal choice for improved air quality if you’re using a humidifier. If you have lots of contaminants in your water supply, distilling your water is the best approach. The only downside is that distillation is not an easily scalable process, meaning that you would have to put some extra work into preparing your water for your humidifier.
Prevention of Fungus and Mold
Using distilled water in your humidifier can also help prevent the development of fungus and mold in your home. That’s especially true if your water has various biological contaminants. Reverse osmosis water can accomplish the same goal, although it comes with some of the drawbacks we mentioned above.
If you live in an area predisposed to mold issues, you should really think about purifying your water before using it in your humidifier.
Clean Humidifier
Using purified water will also help your humidifier last longer. You will not get any annoying scale buildups on it, and you won’t have to perform so much maintenance and cleaning on the device over time. This can be an important concern if you’re dealing with some specific types of contaminants. Of course, you can easily compensate for the lack of purification by just cleaning your humidifier more often, but that’s far from an ideal solution.
How Humidifiers Work
You may already have an air humidifier in your home. If you do, understanding how one works is important in maintaining its performance in the long run and ensuring that the unit doesn’t break down too quickly. Humidifiers are very popular in some parts of the world due to local climate. But in general, many people can benefit from the use of a humidifier, especially those with specific health conditions.
Humidifiers work by accelerating the process of natural evaporation. Air is blown through a damp surface, which improves its evaporative qualities, causing water to disperse into the surrounding air. The humidifier then directs those vapors in a way that spreads them all around. As a result, the surrounding air becomes more humid.
Humidifiers can be very useful when you live in an area with particularly dry air. They can also be used to control your indoor environment to make it more suitable for living with certain conditions.
Humidifiers and Scaling
Due to the way air humidifiers work, some scaling tends to build up on them naturally. This is unavoidable, and it tends to happen much faster when you use heavily contaminated water.
That’s why it’s generally recommended to use purified water and to pay attention to the scale buildup in the unit. If you notice that skill is building up too fast, you might need to switch to a different purification method.
Further Reading:
What Type of Water Does a Humidifier Need
Distilled water is the best choice when it comes to air humidifiers. It’s very pure, meaning that it won’t leave any residue on the humidifier, especially when it comes to minerals and other elements that can cause buildups. You can also potentially use other purification methods for your humidifier water, but distillation tends to provide the best results with relatively little effort.
Reverse osmosis water is another option, but as we mentioned above, it has some inherent issues with it.
Can You Use Tap Water for Humidifiers?
Using tap water in your humidifier is generally not recommended. The only exception here is if you live in an area with particularly clean water, in which case there’s little risk of any contaminants making their way into your air. But in the general case, you should avoid directly filling your humidifier from the tap.
This means that if you’re planning to get a humidifier for your home, you should also consider investing in a water purifier. To make sure that you are fully addressing all problems on that front, you’ll need to have your water tested to find out what kinds of contaminants you’re dealing with exactly. This should ideally be done at a professional testing facility instead of using at home test kits because otherwise you might be missing some important information.
If you have any thoughts about the question, can you use reverse osmosis water in a humidifier, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
About the Author Gene Fitzgerald
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