fine white mist from humidifier

[jwiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

since the air gets very dry because of central heating, i have got a humidifier, the kind you put water in and it throws out a fine cold mist into the air.

what it is doing is putting a fine white dust on everything especially the television which normally attracts a lot of dust anyway (due to static i guess).

since we are in a hard water area (north london u.k.) would that be as somebody has suggested the chalk in the water or is it something else? it seems to like settling on the computer also in the cd tray etc, could this be harmful? thanks for any advice

[Dr. Hardcrab]

It is the minerals in the water. They make an in-line filter (for the water supply) that helps cut down on the deposits. Your mileage may vary........

[Ed]

"jwiiiiiiiiiiiiii" wrote

It might pay you to throw it out and get the other kind. That white dust can mess up CD/DVD players because they can coat the laser lens and make them ineffective. I've been there.

[Ed Clarke]

It's minerals (not necessarily chalk) in the water. Use distilled water instead. And yes, it can be harmful to your computer. Fans and things do not like abrasives (chalk is an abrasive) on their bearings. Besides, it looks ugly.

[George E. Cawthon]

We tried one of these for awhile; the unit even explains that the white powder (minerals) may be a problem and if so one should use distilled water.

The white powder can be very destructive to surfaces, operating motors, etc. And it's not too good for your lungs either. We were unwilling to buy that much distilled water and stopped using the unit. You need to use distilled water or buy the type of humidifier that evaporates the water (rather than atomizing it). If the latter, you will need to clean the mineral deposits from the evaporating surface, but that is better than having the fine dust blowing through the air, especially into your lungs.

[John_B]

That is the inevitable result when the water holds dissolved minerals. The "white dust" is the "no longer dissolved" minerals which were in the water.

I refer to the water supply to our house as limestone soup with a dash of rust due to the iron ore in the area. I have just spent six hours wrapping paper towels soaked with vinegar around the kitchen faucet so I could get it apart to clean out the deposits.

You can spend a lot of money to buy distilled water, or a lot of money to get demineralizing cartridges, or give up and do what I do -- which is use an "evaporative" humidifier. This of course results in mineral deposits inside the humidifier which I clean up with vinegar at about two month intervals.

[Ross Mac]

Just a thought but maybe a water softener would solve your problem. If you have that many minerals in your water it may be worth the cost.......Ross

[Ray]

I agree 100%. I tried one of those ultrasonic humidifiers a few years back. I too found white dust around the unit. Eventually the unit failed. I exchanged it, same white dust with the new one & it failed. Ended up getting a refund. Evaporative is the way to go.

Ray

[m Ransley]

You have an Ultrasonic humidiier and that is what they do , leave the minerals in your water as dust outside the unit. Junk it , it is not worth the trouble. If you have forced air heat put in a a forced air humidifier or get the old style tank and pad unit.

[Michael Baugh]

[modervador]

Is that rain water from off your roof? That could have nasties in it that the sock won't filter. I do know it's not good to drink; maybe breathing a vapor cloud of it wouldn't be so hot either.

If you have a collection device that you can be sure is free of spores, bird poop etc. then you're onto something. Rainwater's good stuff.

%mod%

[SJF]

Water softeners don't remove minerals. They replace calcium and magnesium salts with sodium salts which do not "harden" water. With softened water, the atomizing humidifier would create salty dust instead of chalky st. --- SJF