The Top Benefits & Risks Of Humidifiers (Plus, Who Should 100% Avoid Them)

Along with fluffy blankets and cozy candles, humidifiers are often the first things to come out of storage once the weather turns chilly and dry. But do they really deserve to be seasonal staples?

The ideal humidity range for homes is around 40-50%—meaning your air should contain about 40-50% of the moisture that it can possibly hold. You can measure your home's humidity using a hygrometer (they're cheap and readily available). If your humidity falls below this range, you have dry air.

Dry air is more common during the fall and winter when the weather outside is colder. If your home isn't well insulated, turning on your heater can further strip moisture from the air.

If you already have difficulty breathing, dry air might make the problem worse. "Air that is dry and cold has the potential to aggravate respiratory problems if you have a history of asthma or wheezing," board-certified allergist and immunologist Anjuli Mehrotra, M.D., tells mindbodygreen.

The American Lung Association also notes that dry air can irritate the airways of people with lung diseases like COPD, leading to wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Low humidity can dry the mucus membranes in your nose and throat—exactly what you don't want if you're dealing with sinus issues. Running a humidifier to add moisture to the air can help loosen mucus and unblock your airways1 when you have sinus pressure due to a cold or mild sinus infection, Mehrotra explains.

Sleeping with a humidifier can reduce your risk of waking up with an irritated throat—especially if you breathe through your mouth at night. However, it won't necessarily improve your overall sleep quality.

According to research examining how humidity affects heavy snoring2 and sleep apnea3, higher humidity doesn't do anything to reduce the severity of either condition.

At the end of the day, dry air, while annoying, isn't harmful to your health. But air that is too moist can be. If your home's humidity starts to surpass 50-60%, it can harbor dust mites and mold—indoor contaminants that cause potentially dangerous allergic reactions4.

"As an allergist, I am not too keen on humidifiers since they can actually worsen allergies," says Mehrotra. This is due to their potential to increase humidity too much, encouraging dust mites and mold.

"Mold is a living organism that needs two things to thrive: a food source (such as dust or organic materials like insulation and drywall) and water (a leak, a spill, or any area that has humidity levels above 60%)," mold remediation expert Michael Rubino recently explained on mindbodygreen.

Humidifiers can also cause problems if they're not properly maintained. "Unfortunately, the construction of a lot of humidifiers makes it difficult to clean the inside," environmental toxins expert Lara Adler previously told mindbodygreen. If not properly cleaned, damp humidifiers can become breeding grounds for mold and toxic spores. Filling your humidifier with unfiltered water can also introduce chemicals you don't necessarily want in your air.

For these reasons, if you do use a humidifier, it's important to fill it with filtered water, clean it regularly, and only run it when your home's air is actually dry (less than 50% humidity).

If you struggle with occasional sinus issues or respiratory irritation in winter but don't want to shell out for a humidifier, a portable steam vaporizer may be a better option.

"Individual steam vaporizers can be helpful for sinus issues, even for allergies, as they do not tend to increase the humidity within an entire room," says Mehrotra. "I feel that individual steam vaporizers are more useful than humidifiers as they are more directed toward sinus passages. The directed moisture is helpful with breaking up mucus and can make it feel easier to breathe."

That said, it's still important to keep steam vaporizers clean and dry in order to prevent mold growth.