Stove Top Humidifier

[goof008]

Hey,
I have an older cast iron tea kettle type humidifier sitting on my wood stove. It's a few years old and has a bit of rust and crap in the bottom. My wife won't use it because she's afraid nasty stuff will get in the air. I told her only the water boils off and the nasty stuff is left behind.

Am I right?

:monkey:

 

[bigjake]

Yes its the stuff in the water that caused it in the first place .Hard water
is hard on humidifiers .You boil all the bad stuff out .think about it thats why they tell you to boil water if you think its bad.

 

[habanero]

You have nothing to worry about boiling "normal" water on top of the stove. Technically speaking if you had really nasty stuff in the water, some of it could become an aerosol and become airborne, but that's not likely with normal tap water.

The old style foam type humidifiers were prone to bacterial/mold contamination and spores could get in the air from that, but if the water's cooking on top of the stove, there are only a select few organisms that could survive that and those aren't likely to be found in your environment.

 

[jerry wayne]

Oiling

MY WIFE HAD THIS STRANGE IDEA OF OILING THE DAM THING ONCE A WEEK WITH B/B/ OIL TO [CURE] IT .SMELT LIKE HELL....WELL I FINALLY HAD IT AND CLEANED IT UP REAL GOOD,SPRAYED WITH SOME HIGHTEMP PAINT INSIDE AND OUT.HAVENT NEEDED TO OIL ANY MORE.ITS BEEN A MONTH AND THE PAINT LOOKS LIKE NEW STILL.I HAVE TO STEEL WOOL AROUND THE COVER BECAUSE OF CONDENSATION,BUT NO MORE STINKIN OIL

 

[Joshlaugh]

I keep an old tea kettle on my stove top too. My wife does comment she doesn't want the kids to drink the water that is in there. Something about boiling down the water and only being left with mineral deposits. I continue to drink the village water from that tea kettle and am perfectly "normal".

 

[Big Lebowski]

My trick is to not use my humidifier during the day. It will get into the 80's in the immediate rooms and it is nice and comfy and not sticky for being so hot. Then right before bed I will fill it and let it boil off overnight. This way I don't get nose bleeds and the plants live through winter and my wife isn't upset that her skin isn't all dried out. This system seems to work out real nice.