Everything you Need to Know About Ultrasonic Humidifiers (2024)

With 5G, superfast broadband, and theability to order pretty much anything you want from that small box in yourhand, life can feel futuristic. This is especially the case with ultrasonichumidifiers. They sound amazing! But how do they work? What even isan ultrasonic humidifier?

Our blog looks at everything you needto know, including how to clean your ultrasonic humidifier. You willlearn important things like the difference between an ultrasonic humidifier andother humidifiers, so you can feel comfortable with your purchase.

We also add some great recommendationsfor products (of course, TaoTronicshumidifiers!). But this blog is about more thanthat. It’s about figuring out what the point of buying something with“ultrasonic” in the title is.

Ready to learn? Lets begin!

What is an Ultrasonic Humidifier?

It’sdefinitely important to start here. Any answers?

An ultrasonic humidifier is a device that uses a metal or ceramic “diaphragm” to produce mist. The diaphragm vibrates against the water, creating droplets that are blown out into your room as a fine mist. This mist can be warm or cool, depending on your preference and if you are using it around children or not. If you are, cool mist is safer.

What About Evaporation Humidifiers?

Well… what about them? They use a material that dips into the water, absorbing droplets. The humidifier’s fan then blows through the material. The mist is put into your room. This is fine! It works! But it isn’t ultrasonic. Find out what the main differences are below.

What is the Working Principle of an Ultrasonic Humidifier?

We’re about to gettechnical. Don’t worry, it isn’t a school science lesson. Not really.

To understand how anultrasonic humidifier works, you need to know how ultrasonic devices work ingeneral. We look at that, then more closely at ultrasonic humidification.

You can also watch thisvideo of an ultrasonic humidifier being disassembled, if that’s your thing:

1.The Ultrasonic Principle ofOperation

Ultrasonic devices work to turn electricityinto airwaves. They emit short, high frequency pulses. Usually, this is withsound. For instance, ultrasonic sensors work by sending out sound through theair. When these sounds hit something, they bounce back through the air to thesensor. This helps the sensor tell how far away something is.

2.The Principles of Ultrasonic Humidification

To keep it simple: humidifiers work when acertain part is immersed in a waterbed. This part converts electronic signals(high frequency, like we mentioned before) into movement.

Cavitation bubble implosion

As the speed increases, the water dropletscan no longer cling to the part. This creates a small vacuum and thecompression of the droplets, which forms air bubbles. This is calledcaptivation bubble implosion.

Capillary wave theory

When cavitation happens, something known asbroken capillary waves are created. The water droplets ”break” and dissipateinto the air. This means that they become vapor and are absorbed into the air,which is blown out of the humidifier as a fine mist.

By combining these two actions, ultrasonichumidifiers produce a steady mist for hours at a time using small amounts ofenergy. Interestingly, these principles make ultrasonic humidifiers incrediblyenvironmentally friendly, especially compared to other large humidificationoptions.

Step by Step Simply Guide to How an Ultrasonic Humidifier Works

1. Ultrasonic humidifiers have modern,highfrequency technologythat sends a vibration into the water.
2. The water can’t move in time with the vibration.
3. The waterbreaks down into small droplets,which then transform into vapor.
4. The humidifier releases this mist into the room asclean,sanitized air.
5. This mist disperses and almost instantly creates acooler, moist environment.

What are the Differences between Ultrasonic Humidifier andOther Humidifiers?

Of course, there areother types of humidifier available. These include evaporation humidifiers,like we discussed earlier. Other common types include impeller humidifiers andsteam humidifiers. These work in different ways to evaporation and ultrasonictypes.

Impellerhumidifiers: Have a disk thatrotates to throw water over a diffuser. This creates mist.

Steamhumidifiers: Boils water to createpurified steam that is sent into your room. This process is known as “isothermalhumidification.”

However, we think thatultrasonic humidifiers are the best to own. This is true for practically anyhousehold situation, and particularly important if you have small children oranimals. We have put together a list of the pros and cons of ultrasonichumidifiers compared to other types.

Pros

1. Safer. This is a no brainer. If you are heating the water inside yourhumidifier to create steam, then your humidifier is full of boiling water. Ifit gets knocked over or breaks, then boiling water will end up on yourfurniture or floor. This is particularly dangerous if you have small childrenor animals. Let’s face it, they are more likely to knock over a humidifier!Sticking with a cool mist humidifier greatly reduces this danger.
2. Quiet operation. Ultrasonic = ultra quiet. You don’t have any whirringparts that will create a massive noise.
3. Easy to clean: We go through all the steps about how to clean your ultrasonic humidifierbelow. But trust us, it’s simple! And more simple than cleaning otherhumidifiers that have multiple moving parts.
4. No ongoing operational cost: Once you buy your humidifier, that’s it. You don’thave to constantly replace parts. You don’t have to buy add-ons or extras. Justenjoy your device and get your money’s worth!
5. Energy-saving: Ultrasonic humidifiers use a very little amount of energy through theday. They take far less energy than boiling water for hours on end, forinstance. This makes them cheaper to run and more environmentally sound thanother humidifiers.

Cons (and solutions to avoid them!)

1. No filter to absorb mineral scale deposits: As the vapor is being sent straight out into yourroom, there is no filter to catch and absorb mineral scale deposits. This canlead to them building up in your device, meaning it will need cleaningregularly.

Solution: use distilled water. Distilled water is free from minerals, so deposits won’t build up. You can buy distilled water or create your own at home—there are instructions on how to do that at the link.

• Bacterial contamination may occur: As humidifiers can also purify the air, it isnatural that bacteria can build up.

Solution: One solution to this is to clean your humidifier regularly. For furtherprevention, you can find a humidifier with adjustable humidify control. Thisprevents excess moisture and keeps your room at a reasonable level of humidity.

• More expensive: You get what you pay for. In this case, you often pay more forultrasonic humidifiers because they are more advanced technology. They bring awealth of benefits that other humidifiers don’t have. Plus, they look modernand fancy!

Solution: There is no real solution for this unfortunately. You can look fordeals and savings and take solace in the fact there are few ongoing operationalcost.

How to Clean Your Ultrasonic Humidifier?

Daily Cleaning Routine

1. Turn off and unplug your humidifier. This isimportant and you should always check the humidifier is off and unpluggedbefore attempting to clean it.
2. Remove the mistnozzle from the top of the humidifier. Clean and dry it, being sure to get inall the tight spaces.
3. Empty the water fromboth the water tank and water basin.
4. Wipe the interior ofthe basin with a clean cloth or paper towel.
5. Add the distilledwater.

You’re good to go!

Weekly cleaning

1. Turn off and unplugthe humidifier. Again, make sure you do this every time!
2. Remove the mist nozzle from the top of thehumidifier. Clean and dry it, being sure to get in all the tight spaces.
3. Empty the water fromboth the water tank and water basin.
4. Use vinegar orbleach to disinfect the interior of the tank for 20-30 mins. Vinegar mightsmell strange but it is probably the safer option, in this instance.
5. Cover and shake thetank to make sure the mixture covers the surface, andthen drain the watermixture out.
6. Rinse the tank withplain water to remove the vinegar or bleach residue.
7. Wipe the interior ofthe basin with a clean cloth or paper towel to dry.
8. Add distilled water.

You’re now also good togo!

Our Recommendations

Of course, this wouldn’t be a TaoTronics blog without recommendations. We are releasing two amazing new ultrasonic humidifiers, TT-AH044 and TT-AH046. Not the catchiest of names, but don’t let that put you off!

These humidifiers are worth checkingout—our reviews from discerning Amazon fans are incredible. Learn more aboutthem below.

TaoTronics6L Cool Mist Humidifier with Humidistat LED (TT-AH044)

Best Bits

1. It’s super quiet! Get a good nights sleep with this humidifier, which operates at around only 26dB.
2. Automatic balanced humidification! With an automatic humidistat, this device automatically measures the humidity of your room and adjust the mist output for optimal comfort.
3. LED display! All of this info is displayed on an easy-to-read LED display.
4. 6L capacity! A HUGE tank will keep mist in rooms up to 40m²/430ft².
5. It looks great! Sleek and modern, with a matte black finish, this humidifier fits into any room.

You even get acleaning brush included! With the large opening, this makes TT-AH044 one of oureasiest humidifiers to clean yet.

TaoTronicsWarm and Cool Mist Top Fill Ultrasonic Air Humidifier (TT-AH046)

Best Bits

1. Creates warm AND cool mist! Get the best of both worlds with this humidifier, perfect for year-round humidification.
2. Automatic balanced humidification! With an automatic humidistat, this device automatically measures the humidity of your room and adjusts the mist output for optimal comfort.
3. Essential Oil Diffuser! If you want your room to smell great, or to add relaxing essential oils into the mist before you sleep, then this is the humidifier for you.
4. 6L capacity! A HUGE tank will keep mist in rooms up to 70m²/753ft².
5. Remote control! Perfect for when you don’t want to get out of bed, this humidifier has a remote control that can change the mist level and temperature, as well as a sleep timer—and more!

Comeswith a cleaning brush, aroma pads, and a dustproof sponge, all of which makecleaning that much easier!

Sneak Peak! TT-AH047

We have a new humidifier arriving soon—and it’s worth the wait for the announcement! Keep checking back for more news, or follow TaoTronics on Facebook or Instagram.

Conclusion

Inconclusion, ultrasonic humidifiers are a great addition to your home. Not onlydo they help purify and humidify the air, but they do so using very littlepower. They also look great!

In thisarticle we have looked at what ultrasonic humidifiers are, how they work, andhow you clean them. If you want to see more, you can explore the TaoTronics website today!