Received: from B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU; 25 Feb 88 10:18:01 EST Received: from B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU by B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU; 25 Feb 88 10:14:22 EST To: bovik@k Subject: Noise-Free Humidifiers Date: Thu, 25 Feb 88 10:14:18 EST Message-ID: <29268.572800458@B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU> From: Prasad Revco Drugs (Squirrel Hill), $40. Uses ultrasonics and is very quiet in operation. There are three types of humidifiers. The type you bought is the only one that makes noise. Another type is "ultrasonic" humidifier which can generate more mist, and makes no noise. They cost about $40 - $70. A final kind is vaporizer, which also makes no noise, but they produce steam, and I'm not sure if that's what you want. Vaporizers are pretty cheap. I bought a quiet one (1 Gal cap) from Sears in Dec. for $50. Actually, it does make noise, but since it's called "ultrasonic", I guess I cannot hear it. The new ultrasonic humidifiers are very quiet. I bought myself a humidifier for about 40$. It uses ultra-sound to vaporize the water and does not make much noise. You just hear a little bit the noise of boiling water. I sometimes sleep while it is on (the humidifier stands at about 5ft from the head of my bed) and it does not bother me. The company that builds the humidifier is WELLBILT (I'm not sure of the spelling; I think that it's a German company). I bought the humidifer about two months ago at Horne's in downtown. Ultrasonic humidifiers are noise-free. They make a cool mist by atomizing water with ultrasonic waves. They cost $40-$75 (mine was $45). I have one in my office (8117 WeH); stop by if you'd like to see it work. The only problem with these things is the Calcium Carbonate in tap water. The CaCO3 is also atomized and spread over the room as a layer of fine white dust. This dust conducts electricity and so is dangerous to computers. The solution is to add to the water a solution that reacts with the CaCO3 and precipitates it to the bottom of the water storage tank. I know that Brookstone's sells a very quiet (nearly silent) humidifier. It is fairly expensive. I suspect, however, that you could get it for slighlty less if you can find it elsewhere. Brookstones is located downtown in the Oxford Center Building. The entrance is on Smithfield (the street behind the building). Ultrasonic humidifiers make NO noise and have pretty high output. We last bought one at David Weis for about $35.