The problem with some humidifiers is that they tend to saturate the air close to them with humid air, leaving the rest of the room unaffected.
With such a device, you might be tempted to turn on the ceiling fan for even distribution of the moisture and movement of the dry air.
So, Can You Use a Ceiling Fan and Humidifier at The Same Time?
The answer is yes. You will come across some humidifiers equipped with their own tiny built-in fans to distribute the humid air. However, these little fans are barely effective in servicing larger rooms. The best thing you can do is let your more powerful ceiling fan operate in tandem with your air humidifier.
Your Ceiling Fan Can Prevent Over-Humidification
Let’s start by mentioning that some humidifiers come with features geared towards preventing over-humidification.
These features are:
- An internal fan
- Hygrometer
Not all air humidifiers are equipped with these features though.
For an air humidifier with no built-in fan, the aid of the ceiling fan is more than necessary in larger rooms.
Since there’s no built-in fan to blow the humid air away from the device and far into the environment, the ceiling fan is best suited to take over this role.
Running an air humidifier without a blowing agent creates the risk of over-humidifying one area of the room and leaving other corners of the room dry.
Older models don’t come with the most precise thermostat you’d want.
If you are using a humidifier without or with a faulty hygrometer and/or thermostat, one part of your room is at a higher risk of over-humidification.
The resultant imbalance can be countered by a ceiling fan which will blow the air around and help distribute the humid air evenly.
Related: Is It Safe To Leave Ceiling Fans On All The Time?
Consider The Ventilation Factor
Whether you should run these devices at the same time should boil down to 2 factors;
- How good your humidifier is at dispersing the humid air
- How well your room is ventilated
If for some reason, you’ve concluded that your humidifier is not powerful enough to effectively distribute the humid air all over the room, you may go ahead and supplement it with your ceiling. fan.
Also, if you feel your room isn’t well-ventilated to help the humidifier distribute the humid air more effectively, you may turn on the fan to make things easier.
In this case, however, you will need to leave the windows and doors open for better air circulation and maximum humidification.
The effectiveness of this part, however, is going to depend on how humid the exterior is relative to inside the home.
Don’t Be Anxious – No “Cancelling Out” Will Occur
It is widely misunderstood that a running fan can negatively affect the way a humidifier works.
This comes from the thought that, because a fan dries out the air, it will cancel the humidity created by the air humidifier and the user will end up with zero effect.
It’s for a fact that a ceiling fan can never cancel out the work of an air humidifier. Fans don’t even reduce the humidity in the space unless there’s proper ventilation with open windows and doors.
So, in an airtight space with closed windows and doors, the fan will simply blow the humid air around the room – the air won’t escape the room.
The room will start to feel refreshing not because humidity has dropped but because air is now moving around more rapidly.
Blowing a fan in a room with closed doors and windows won’t reduce the humidity.
Running the humidifier simultaneously will escalate the amount of water vapor in the air.
Conversely, if you choose to leave the windows and doors open and the outside is less humid compared to the interior of the home, the interior humidity will drop than if you left your windows shut.
Size Matters
Not just any ceiling fan would bring the desired results.
A large fan will circulate air better than a small fan. More air circulation means better distribution of the moisture produced by the humidifier.
The position of your fan is worth considering as well but since we’re dealing with a ceiling fan, we can assume it is installed at the center of the room’s ceiling.
Ceiling fans are the best type of fans when it comes to boosting the effectiveness of the air humidifier.
They are far better than table and window fans because of their location and size.
Any Counter-Productivity?
There is no drawback to running your humidifier and ceiling fan simultaneously.
Most HVAC experts agree that placing your humidifier directly in front of the fan (or below it, because it’s a ceiling fan) won’t make the air in your room less humid unless your windows and/or doors are open.
The only situation where a fan might cancel out the work of your humidifier is when a window fan is used.
On a low-humidity and dry day, the window fan may cancel out your humidifier because it is already serving a role somewhat the same as that of the humidifier.
That’s why the most recommendable type of fan for this arrangement is the ceiling fan.
Ceiling fans are better at this in various aspects, including the fact that they provide a wider coverage than window or table fans.
It’s actually healthy to leave your humidifier and ceiling fan running at the same time on your way to bed.
Even if you’re not afflicted by cold (it can be an ordeal when you do, you know), winter air can easily dry out your sinuses and lower your resistance to viruses and bacteria.
Sleeping with a running humidifier and fan ensures you wake up the next morning with a comfortable throat and nose. Even the humidifier alone will reduce your suffering.
If the advice from Sleep Advisor and Live Science is anything to go by, we can comfortably conclude that a humidifier helps remove some of the disadvantages of having a fan blow on you while you are asleep.
According to these sources, anything that moves the air rapidly in an enclosure, including any type of fan, can cause the air close to body surfaces to dry out.
That’s why you often feel the mouth and nasal dryness whenever you let the fan run overnight – the fan causes the moisture from nasal passages and mouth to dry out.
Also, the constant blast of wafts of air on the body will certainly make you feel dehydrated in the long run.
As such, running a humidifier tandem with your ceiling fan can help override this drawback by replenishing the moisture on your mouth and nasal membranes. And that’s only if you must sleep with a running fan.
Conclusion
A fan and an air humidifier are some of the few household equipment you can run at the same time without risking anything.
The two complement each other – the fan helps blow around the humid air in the room while the air humidifier helps reduce the drying effect the fan has on your nasal membranes.