Make Your Own Distilled Water for Your Humidifier in 2024 with These Simple and Effective Techniques

In winter, when the air becomes very dry, you have to face the problem of low humidity. Low humidity mostly enfeebled the immune and defense system of your body that prevents germs attack, which leads to illness. Using the humidifier, you will get relief from the problem of low humidity because it increases the humidity level to an essential level and reduces dryness in the environment. But if you want to enjoy a clean mist to breathe, you must use distilled water to fill the humidifier tank, which does not carry any minerals and contaminants. This article will teach you how to make distilled water for humidifiers at home.

Using a humidifier provides a healthy humid environment for your houseplants to grow properly and prevent them from looking dry. However, using tap water to fill the humidifier tank enhances the chances of pink mold that leads to the release of polluted mist. That’s why EPA recommends adding distilled water to your humidifier to get a clean humid atmosphere. You can buy distilled water from the market, but it is very expensive, so here we tell you a few methods by which you can easily make distilled water at home that are budget-friendly. But keep one thing in mind that humidifier is not used to make a room cool.

What is a Humidifier, and what can it do?

A humidifier is a device that releases water vapor into the air in the form of a mist and reduces dryness to give you a humidified environment. There are different types of humidifiers with the same goal of providing you with the required humidity level, but the way they work is different. However, if you want to enjoy a clean mist to breathe, you must use distilled water to refill the tank instead of tap water. This is because tap water has lots of minerals that accumulate on the tank’s surface and increases the risk of bacteria growth so you will end up with a contaminated mist. 

However, to get the full benefits of a humidifier, you must maintain the indoor moisture level according to the ideal level of humidity between 30% to 50%. The HVAC system of your home can make air that is too low in humidity and can cause a lot of discomfort. But a humidifier will give you enough moisture, reducing low humidity and keeping your body hydrated. So, if you are suffering from respiratory issues, colds, or coughs, you will not face any breathing problems when you get sufficient moisture levels using a humidifier. 

Define Distilled Water?

Distilled water means filtered or purified water that does not contain any minerals and contaminants present in tap water. However, purified water contains some beneficial minerals which are good for health. But the distilled water is free of all minerals and has a very flat taste. You can make distilled water by boiling the water in a bowl to convert it into vapors. When the water is converted into vapors, the vapors will be condensed back into another container in liquid form and gives you distilled water. Water boiling removes all the minerals, chemicals, pollutants, salts, and other particles. 

Distilled water has lots of benefits over tap water as tap water contains a huge amount of minerals. So, when you use tap water in your humidifier or CPAP machine, the minerals settle on the surface, promoting the growth of microbes. You can also store the distilled water in different ways to use later. Although, it has a very flat taste with no minerality, so if you want to drink it, no problem. But some people think that distilled water is not good for drinking because boiling removes all the essential minerals from water. However, there is no issue if you use distilled water for drinking.

Should You Use Distilled Water For Your Humidifier?

A humidifier is a gadget that can be mostly used in winter because of the low humidity problem caused by dry air. In winter, the air is too dry because of the excessive use of heat. So installing a humidifier in your home will give you sufficient moisture that keeps your body moisturized. The use of humidifiers gives you relief from many seasonal allergies like itchy eyes, chapped lips, coughing, sneezing, colds, and nosebleeds. The humidifiers give you mist by converting water into vapors. So if you use tap water that is contaminated with various minerals. These are released into the atmosphere, which is harmful to asthma sufferers.

Therefore, always try to use distilled water to refill the tank of your humidifier or CPAP machine. The reason is that distilled water has almost no minerals, so there is no risk of releasing a polluted mist that causes health problems. However, there are many benefits of using distilled water for the humidifier.  When you use distilled water to fill your device’s tank, you don’t have to face the problem of bad smells, regular maintenance, daily cleaning, polluted air, and many more because it does not have any contaminated minerals that cause all these problems. 

Can You Use Tap Water Instead of Distilled Water?

We know that distilled water has many advantages over tap water, but that doesn’t mean tap water is not safe for your humidifier. However, you can mostly use tap water for some humidifiers that boil the water to convert it into vapors. Because boiling removes all the contaminants and minerals from water. So, if your home’s tap water is drinkable, you can easily use it to fill the tank of the humidifier. But if your tap water contains minerals and contaminants, you have to face some issues.

For instance, you can see the white dust on wooden floors, furniture, around the unit, and other areas of your home where water vapor comes into contact. Although white dust has no adverse effect on your furniture and health, it adds to the cleaning work. The minerals present in tap water settle down in the tank’s base and causes pink mold and slime to grow inside it. Then, you will get contaminated mist to breathe, which is not good for your health. Moreover, the consumption of contaminated air will leads to Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis.

How To Make Distilled Water?

You can easily make your own distilled water at home since you have already read about its uses. To make distilled water at home for your humidifier, you can use a few methods, which are given below.

With A Glass Bowl:

The glass bowl method is one of the effortless and trouble-free ways to get distilled water at home. You will need a glass bowl, a large pot, and some ice cubes to execute this method.

• First, you need to keep the pot on the furnace and fill the pot with tap water.
• After that, place the glass bowl inside the pot and make sure that the glass bowl is flattened. If you do not have a flat glass bowl, keep a little cooking rack underneath it.
• Then start boiling the water and invert the lid of the pot over it. After that, pour some ice cubes on the lid to start the condensation process.
• When the water in the pot boils and is converted into steam, it touches the pot’s lid and the ice will cool. This will form condensation, and the steam returns to the glass bowl as a liquid. The water left in the glass bowl is completely distilled. 

With A Water Distiller:

You can also get distilled water using an apparatus called a water distiller. It is an appliance through which you will get distilled water by following a few steps.

• First, you have to fill the distiller using tap water and turn on the device.
• When the device is turned on, it starts boiling the water to destroy all the pollutants and convert the water into steam.
• Mostly minerals and pollutants are left behind as the steam is converted.
• The steam then passes through a steel coil, cools, and turns back into the water.
• After that, the water is purified using activated charcoal to separate the contaminants and chemicals from it.
• When the water becomes fully distilled, the distiller will automatically shut off.

This method is easy and simple, but first, you need to purchase the best quality distiller from the market.

With Glass Bottles:

To perform the glass bottles method, you will need a pot, an ice pack, and a glass bottle with a curved neck. It is a very simple method of getting distilled water that is given below.

• First of all, fill the bottle with tap water.
• Then, use the tape to join another bottle with the first bottle at its neck.
• After that, keep the filled bottle in the water pot. At the same time, the other bottle will spill over the edge of the pot.
• Keep an ice pack on the bottle’s rim hanging over the pot’s rim to have condensation.
• Then start boiling the water in the pot. When the pot’s water gets boiled, the bottled water will heat up and convert into steam, then evaporate in the curved empty glass bottle. The steam touches the bottle top where the ice pack is present, makes condensation, and is gathered in the bottle in liquid form as distilled water.     

Rainwater Method:

Getting distilled water from rainwater is the last method. In this method, you will get distilled water with the help of rainwater by collecting it in a large container. After collecting the rainwater in the container, leave it for 48 hours so the residues and deposits in the water settle down in the base, giving you the distilled water. The rainwater method is least recommended as no water boiling is included. This method gives you distilled water which the water first evaporates. Then the process of condensation turns into tiny drops to provide your rainwater.

If you do not want to make distilled water from any of the above methods, buy it from the market, but it is very costly. So to get an inexpensive experience, make the distilled water at home.

Best Uses of Distilled Water AT Home:

There are many best benefits of using distilled water at home. So if you think about why you use it instead of tap water, you have to see its uses. Below we provide you with some of the best uses of distilled water at home.

• Distilled water can be used to refill the tank of humidifiers to prevent the growth of microbes as it does not contain any minerals.
• To sterilize the milk bottles of babies, distilled water is best.
• Distilled water is best for watering sensitive plants compared to tap water.
• To clean the wounds, you must use distilled water as it has no minerals.
• You can also use distilled water for steam or iron laundry purposes.
• With this water, you can also fill the tank of the CPAP machine.
• Distilled water is an excellent option for storing and canning fruits or vegetables.
• In car maintenance, distilled water is used for battery fluid and topping off the cooling system.

In addition, distilled water can also be used for many other purposes. So make your distilled water at home and take advantage of it.

How Can You Store Distilled Water?

Proper storage of distilled water is essential to avoid future contamination. To properly use distilled water, you must know how to store it correctly. Here we give you some suggestions through which you will get help in storing the distilled water.

• Professionals suggest that storing water in a glass holder or container is one of the effective methods to preserve distilled water and protect it from defilement and contamination.
• You have to properly check that the holder or container is locked every time when it is not in use.
• Always keep the container or holder in a dry, clean, cool place away from direct sunlight.
• To use distilled water for a long time, you have to keep it in a high-density container made of polyethylene. The polyethylene container stops the distilled water from absorbing different particles, chemicals, solvents, and other substances from various sources.

So, follow these suggestions and store the distilled water properly for later use.

FAQs About How To Make Distilled Water For Humidifiers:

Final Thought:

After reading the article, you will come to know how to make your own distilled water for your humidifier and prevent white dust from being released with contaminated mist. Using distilled water for your humidifier instead of tap water will make your unit more efficient. And gives you better results because it contains no minerals. So, there is no risk of bacteria growing as no minerals accumulate inside the unit.

Moreover, According to FDA, distilled water is recommended for a humidifier to get clean and fresh mist without any pollutants. But keep one thing in mind a humidifier is not used to cool the room as some people think about it. 

However, you can visit our website to learn more about humidifiers, dehumidifiers, diffusers, and air purifiers.

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