May I ask for a recommendation for a small humidifier which would be easy to clean, have an (accurate) humidistat, and preferentially can sterilize the water (without generating O3... not sure if this is possible). A general comment on humidifier use would be great to hear, too. This might be subjective, but I feel like my "general" symptoms -- chest tightness and hoarseness -- worsen when the humidity falls below 25%. Today it is 40%, and I am feeling better. I hope Xolair will make me insensitive to the humidity, but for now I am looking for ways to maintain humidity at around 40-50% during the winter.
I have never used a humidifier before, since I am paranoid about mould growth. I am willing to try a small unit, since I could control the humidity of only the immediate air I am breathing (inside of my isolation chamber), and the extra humidity can then "average out" in the rest of the flat. The idea is to install the humidifier in the room which I use for air intake, and redistribute the filtered/humidified air to where it's needed. I have seen atomizing units on amazon which receive good reviews, but they seem to have issues with mould growth. There are also in-duct units, but I am not sure how to clean/sterilize the sponge inside, and I may need to provide a di water source to run these (another engineering challenge).
Thank you in advance!
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runcyclexcski
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25% is extremely dry & you run the risk of static issues at that level. I have problems with my asthma when the humidity drops to 40%, so I’m not surprised that you’re getting symptoms. I’ve avoided humidifiers, although I can recommend nebulising saline when the humidity is very low, as it goes directly into the lungs & there are no mould issues. You would need to check with your doctor first.
Mould in general & biofilm in water pipes is an increasing problem though. We’ve even discovered mould inside our a cold water tap flow restrictors.
Just out of interest do you use an air feed respirator when you go out? Pollen & smoke are major triggers for me along with weather & humidity & the usual traffic fumes, VOCs etc.
My husband was interested in seeing your ingenious ventilation set up, although fortunately my asthma doesn’t warrant anything like that. Whole house ventilation would be ideal, but for now I’m fine with a free standing air purifier.
Thank you, Rosey, for the note. I am a bit puzzled with the effect of the dry air, since I feel "great" when traveling to places like Death Valley, or to high mountain ranges. It could be that I was not as sick at the time though, so a mere reduction of the allergens in the air was sufficient at the time. In Death valley in the winter, during the day (20C) the humidity was 13%, and during the night the temp fell to -20C (did not measure the RH then, but I am guessing it would be much lower).
I do not have a nebulizer, and my doctor has strongly recommended not to have it (and to call AE instead if I feel sick).
I do wear a charcoal 3M respirator (6000 series) every time I go out when I am sick (been doing it for the last 4 months). Right now I even wear it whenever I step out of my tent inside my apartment. There are always mould spores in the air. We keep the apartment vented and mould/upholster/carpet-fre, but as soon there is a humid spot (inside the laundry detergent dispenser, for example) black mould starts growing >>> the spores must be around. When I exercise I wear the respirator no matter if I am sick or not (10x higher exposure to diesel, pollen, mold, etc from the mere breathing rates).
I can always send more pictures and part number if your husband is curious. I am not a professional HVAC specialist, so there was a lot of trial and error. There is another project in the pipeline which is to build a portable backpack-contained system which filters the VOCs, filters the particulates, heats the air to 37C, and humidifies it to 80%+. The first 3 are easy (and it already works, the battery lasts 5hrs). However, the humidity-control is hard to scale. Right now I am rigging a CPAP machine humidifier for the humidification. The good thing is that if struggles, I can put 2-3 of these in series.
Research papers seem to bundle the exercise/hyperventilation induced asthma into one factor -- "cold and dry air". I am yet to find a study where they managed to separate the two.
Many thanks for your reply, I shall look forward to reading about your latest project in due course. I certainly admire your ingenuity!
Apologies, I should have been clearer about nebulising saline. I am prescribed 0.9% Normal Saline nebules for Bronchiectasis & have noticed that it also helps when the humidity is low. It is not in anyway a substitute for a Ventolin inhaler or Pred during an exacerbation, or A&E in an emergency. As you quite rightly pointed out, home nebulising of Ventolin is definitely not recommended.
I do wonder though, if the high levels of salt in Death Valley helped your lungs, in the same way that salt mines/caves or salt rooms are used as a natural treatment for asthma? While mainly used in Poland & Russia, there are salt cave treatments available in the UK now. Alternatively, perhaps you could try salt lamps, I find mine soothing, but there are a lot of fakes out there, so make sure you choose one that is not too cheap, pale or an unnaturally shade of orange.
It also occurred to me that perhaps moulds are unable to thrive in the hostile environment of Death Valley. With such extremely low humidity & night temperatures so far below freezing, maybe there were negligible levels of mould when you visited in winter, especially as freezing is known to kill moulds.
Good luck with your backpack system, it sounds like it could be potentially life changing for you.
Rosey -- the physiological buffer saline does make sense (perhaps, too much humidity may cause osmotic shock if the water "rains out"). The saline should be relatively easy to implement in my current humidifier unit. Do they add buffered saline into ventolin nebulizer formulations as well? From what you are describing, it might make sense.
It sounds like the salt lamps/salt mines would have to get the salt nanoparticles "just right" to work as buffers. I am generally skeptical of "home remedies", particularly the Russian ones (I can be biased here, I was born there ).
Well, inside of my tent there are no moulds, and I still get chest-tight in low humidity. Go figure.
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