3 Ways To Make Distilled Water for Humidifier
Dry air is never a favorable companion. Staying in an area with dry air, that is air with no moisture in it can have various effects on your body, including but not limited to itchy dry eyes, dehydration of the skin, and the constant need to drink water. If you live in areas that are dry or semi-dry, then these symptoms listed may seem very familiar.
Humidifiers are one of the most common solutions to this problem. They replenish the moisture in the air, irrespective of size, shape, company, or model all of them serve this purpose. However, humidifiers require distilled water, and buying distilled water on the market may raise the expenses of maintenance for the humidifiers.
A friendlier alternative is to make your own distilled water for the humidifiers. If you have a humidifier or are planning to get one, and do not want to spend too much on buying the distilled water required for it, then this is the article for you, through this article we will discuss various ways to make distilled water.
The Workings of a Humidifiers
Before we list the ways in which to make distilled water, it is important to know how the machine works. Humidifiers, as the name suggests work on humidity, in particular, they function on the principle of relative humidity. What is humidity? Humidity is nothing else other than the moisture present in the air.
The relative humidity is a bit more complex, is the percentage of humidity available in the air of one cubic meter currently to the maximum amount of moisture the one cubic meter of air can hold in that particular temperature.
It can sound complicated, so here is an example to explain. A meter cubic of air at forty degrees celsius can hold a maximum of thirty-six grams of moisture.
This means that at a particular time, if the air, at forty degrees celsius has a humidity of thirty-six grams for every cubic meter of air, the relative humidity then will be 100%. If the same air had only twenty-seven grams of moisture, the relative humidity would be 75%, and so on and so forth.
Humidifiers supply extra humidity when the relative humidity is below the required percentage. The required percentage of humidity fluctuates depending on the season. While in winters the humidity in the house should be from 50% to 70% in summers the adequate percentage lies between 60% to 75%.
Experts say humidifiers can make you sick if you don’t clean them often and use tap water or dirty water instead of clean water. Now you might be thinking if you can use bottled water in a humidifier, but the short answer is, no. We have already linked the guides, you can read them later.
We should now discuss the methods to make distilled water for humidifiers.
How To Make Distilled Water for Humidifier : 3 Methods
Since we have discussed why it is essential that distilled water is used in humidifiers, both for your health and for the longevity of the humidifier itself, listed below are the various ways you can make distilled water at home if you do not want to buy it at the market.
All these methods use household items that will be available around the house but are used innovatively to make distilled water.
Method 1. Make distilled water with a kettle
If you didn’t know this, we can make distilled water with a kettle at home. To make distilled water through this method you will need the following objects
- Water
- A strong heat source to heat the water
- A kettle
- A glass or metallic jar to collect the water
- A metallic or copper coil pipe that is approximately forty-five centimeters long. This pipe should fit the outlet of the kettle.
Once you have all these objects you can begin to make your distilled water. Follow this step-by-step instruction to make distilled water using a kettle.
- Attach the copper or metallic coil pie to the nozzle of the kettle. Ensure that there is no passage for air at the junction.
- Pour water into the kettle.
- Place the kettle filled with water on top of a heat source, such as an electric pad or gas stove.
- At the other end of the pipe place the collecting jar.
- Switch on the heat source to begin heating the water.
- The steam produced by the water heating in the kettle should be condensed through the pipe and water should fill into the collecting bowl.
To hasten the process of condensation, you can pour cold water over the pipe continuously. Please ensure you do this without pouring the cold water on the heat source itself as you can risk putting it out.
An alternate way of cooling the water is by placing a small channel of water below the pipe. This can collect the liquid that is being poured onto the pipe.
The mechanism used in this method is simple.
When the water in the kettle is heated through the heat source it evaporates. As the only point of escape is through the copper pipe it goes there. That is why it is essential to make sure that the connection between the pipe and the kettle nozzle is airtight, or the steam can escape from the gaps.
When the vapor passes through the pipe it condenses because the temperature in the pipe is low. Pouring cold water lowers the temperature, even more, thereby making the process faster.
When the vapor reaches the end of the pipe it has finished condensation and is now distilled water. Once the water collected in the bowl has cooled you can use the humidifier.
Method 2: Make distilled water using a floating bowl
To make distilled water through this method, you will need the following objects,
- Water
- Ice to aid in condensation
- A heat source to heat the water
- A glass bowl to collect the water
- A glass lid
- A cooking pot
Once you have all these objects you can begin to make your distilled water. Follow this step-by-step instruction to make distilled water using a floating bowl.
- Fill the cooking pot with water.
- Take the glass bowl and place it inside the cooking bowl in an upright position. You must make sure that the bowl is floating and does not sink or touch the bottom surface of the cooking pot, add more water if necessary.
- Once this is done, put the cooking pot over a heat source such as a gas stove.
- Start heating the water, once the water starts producing steam, close the cooking pot using a glass lid. Ensure that the glass lid is placed in an upside-down position and it caves near to the center.
- Put ice cubes on top of the glass lid near the center. This helps speed up the condensation process. After some time the bowl would have distilled water that can be used for the humidifier.
- Repeat the process as needed.
Method 3: Make distilled water through solar power
Once you make distilled water through this method, you will not require any additional attachments or investments to make distilled water, hence it is a very effective method.
The only thing you should note is that you constantly monitor the level of water in the unit and make sure that there is enough water available for functions at all times.
For this method to work you need to ensure that there is nothing blocking the distiller from the sun. Building this mechanism does not require any technical prowess and can be done without the help of a professional. To make your distilled water you need to do is follow these steps.
You will need
- A wide shallow container for water.
- A wedge-shaped glass container with a top that stands downwards.
The working is pretty simple, on a hot day, the water is heated through the solar heat which causes it to evaporate, this evaporated water then gets condensed on the standing top of the container.
Once there is enough water, they will start rolling down. At the bottom, you need to build a collecting tunnel that is attached to a pipe. The pipe should lead to a jug or a container, that is kept according to your convenience.
The water collected in this container is distilled. For in-depth instruction, please look up videos available online that provide a detailed step-by-step guide on how to build a solar power water distiller
Distilled Water Alternative for Humidifier
Instead of using distilled water, you can use reverse osmosis water in your humidifier. This is because it filters out more than 98% of the impurities, and makes the water safe for use in humidifiers.
Conclusion
Those were our suggestions on how to make distilled water for the humidifier. It is necessary that you use distilled water for your humidifiers to prevent clogs, molds, fungi, and bacteria that may grow in the humidifier through the deposition of minerals.
The bacteria and molds can be harmful to your health and also decrease the lifespan and efficiency of the humidifier. While buying distilled water may poke a hole in your budget, there are alternative ways where you can make distilled water at home.
This can be done using a kettle, a bowl, or solar power. We also discussed the functions of humidifiers, the different types of humidifiers available, why you should use distilled water, and other ways to keep your humidifiers clean.