The words Humidifier, Diffuser and sometimes Vaporiser are often seen together, and that can make it super hard to understand what the differences are – if any!
These are in fact three different types of devices, designed to be used by quite different groups of people for very different purposes.
Let us make it easy for you to work out which device is best for your family.
Diffusers...
are designed purely for aromatherapy and fragrance: they are simply designed to help you permeate an aroma throughout your home. You can use a diffuser just to keep your home smelling fresh and clean (like a reed or plug-in diffuser), or you may use a water diffuser as part of your aromatherapy.
Vaporisers...
are usually used by adults specifically when we’re feeling very congested and stuffy: these machines boil the water in their tanks and produce hot steam. You can sometimes add an inhalant blend with ingredients like eucalyptus to a vaporiser, depending on the make and model. Because vaporisers have a heating element and contain boiling water, there is a risk of burns and scalding when using them: so vaporisers are not recommended for use with babies and small children, it’s just too risky.
Humidifiers...
are designed for daily use as well as when illness strikes: humidifiers like the Glow Sleep Easy and Glow Dreaming use cold tap water to produce cool mist. This cool mist permeates your room and helps you keep the indoor humidity within the healthy levels that promote deeper, easier breathing. Humidifiers can be used with plain water, or you can add essential oils for an aromatherapy boost – so they are the best of both worlds!
Checkout the differences here:
|
Glow Sleep Easy Ultrasonic Humidifier |
Diffuser |
Vaporiser |
Purpose |
Gently increases the humidity of your room by adding cool moisture mist to the air |
Disperses fragrance into a room |
Increases humidity in your room by adding hot steam into the air |
Benefit |
Prevent and ease symptoms of dry skin, dry throat and dry eyes. Promote deeper, more relaxing breathing Ease symptoms of congestion, cold, flu and asthma |
Delivers aromatherapy without increasing moisture significantly |
Ease symptoms of congestion, cold and flu in adults. |
Method |
Disperses cool mist through the space. Can be used with plain, fresh tap water alone or you can add essential oils |
Uses a small amount of water to disperse essential oil into the air immediately nearby |
Boils water to release hot steam into the air. Due to risk of burns and scalding, vaporisers are not usually recommended for babies or children. |
Size |
One of the largest water tanks on the market, will run for 10+ hours. |
Small tank, often only holds a cup of water or less |
Varies depending on the model |
We think the cool mist of an ultrasonic humidifier is the best way to support your baby’s healthy breathing every day, and to ease symptoms of congestion if illness does strike.
You can use the ultrasonic humidifier of the Glow Sleep Easy and Glow Dreaming with plain, fresh tap water with your newborn baby: this will help balance out the effects of heating and cooling systems which can dry out the air. If the air is too dry, this can trigger worse symptoms of eczema, asthma and congestion, and can make it harder for your baby to take deep, relaxing breaths even when they are fully healthy and well. Babies have very narrow nasal passages and so can be prone to congestion: using our ultrasonic humidifier every day helps keep the nasal passages from drying out, making it easier to drain away congestion and improve breathing.
As your baby grows, you can also add pure, natural essential oils to our ultrasonic humidifier, so you can get all the benefits of a diffuser plus all the benefits of a humidifier, without any risk of hot water burns from a vaporiser. Check out our oil blends here: https://glowdreaming.com/collections/oil
The ultrasonic humidifier of the Glow Sleep Easy and Glow Dreaming Unit (previous model) uses a vibrating plate to generate the cool mist – so there is no heating element and no hot water in your baby’s room.
The Glow Sleep Easy is the safest way to use cool mist humidity to gently support your baby’s deep, healthy breathing every day. Use it with plain water or add the benefits of aromatherapy to enrich your routine, and control it all with one touch via our app!