Humidifier Water Poll

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.

What do you put in your humidifier?

Distilled Water
604
84%
Tap Water
50
7%
Home Filtered Water
34
5%
Grey Goose Vodka
16
2%
Something Else
13
2%
 
Total votes: 717

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timbalionguy
Posts: 888
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Location: Reno, NV

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by timbalionguy » Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:06 pm

RO would definitely make the water still's job easier!

If water simply evaporates into the air, without mechanical agitation, it goes from liquid to gas. It carries no minerals with it. But if mechanical agitation is involved, like air moving fast enough to disturb the water's surface, you get droplets as well. The droplets will themselves vaporize, provided the air is still not saturated with water vapor. If there are any minerals in the droplet, they don't turn to gas. instead, they form an extremely fine dust with (I am guessing) submicron sized particles. I definitely don't want to breathe that, as the lungs could have a hard time getting rid of this material.
Lions can and do snore....

My_Dream
Posts: 89
Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 2:21 pm
Location: Brampton Canada

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by My_Dream » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:17 am

My manual states distilled water only.

Guest

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by Guest » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:11 pm

For what it is worth, technician delivered my machine today and advises distilled water only and to empty and replace water daily. It is a new machine but is being rented by my insurance to start - maybe the DME wants to make sure it's clean if they have to take it back.

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gasparama
Posts: 464
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:21 am

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by gasparama » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:23 am

About one fill of our local water would plug up the whole thing. I use distilled water only and the hose and tank stay clean.

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kopoloff
Posts: 398
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:20 am
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by kopoloff » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:45 am

...but how do you plan to clean those deposits out of your throat and lungs
The water vapour from tap water, or bottled water, or seawater, or rainwater, or wellwater, or RO water, or sheeps urine, that gets into the airstream has no mineral deposits. It is exactly the same as the water vapour that is generated from distilled water.

Sorry to interject in this discussion, but the level of misinformation is staggering.

Quite simply, water vapour is water vapour. End of story

Cheers

K

My_Dream
Posts: 89
Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 2:21 pm
Location: Brampton Canada

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by My_Dream » Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:22 pm

Would it matter if tap water is hard water and stains the tank as was the case for my neighbour. When she replaced the tank and used mineral water she no longer had the foggy look on her plastic clear reservior.

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Paul56
Posts: 1016
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Location: Texas

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by Paul56 » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:08 pm

kopoloff wrote:
...but how do you plan to clean those deposits out of your throat and lungs
The water vapour from tap water, or bottled water, or seawater, or rainwater, or wellwater, or RO water, or sheeps urine, that gets into the airstream has no mineral deposits. It is exactly the same as the water vapour that is generated from distilled water.

Sorry to interject in this discussion, but the level of misinformation is staggering.

Quite simply, water vapour is water vapour. End of story

Cheers

K
...until the water vapour picks up microscopic impurities as it travels along through the air.

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TheDreamer
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Location: Manhattan, KS
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Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by TheDreamer » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:39 pm

Paul56 wrote:...until the water vapour picks up microscopic impurities as it travels along through the air.
Is that why we don't clean our hoses....the humidifier cleans them out for us?

The Dreamer

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Paul56
Posts: 1016
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:38 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by Paul56 » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:47 pm

TheDreamer wrote:
Paul56 wrote:...until the water vapour picks up microscopic impurities as it travels along through the air.
Is that why we don't clean our hoses....the humidifier cleans them out for us?

The Dreamer
Exactly!

...and sends all the junk into our collection tanks... otherwise known as lungs.

Disclaimer: Commentary not to be taken seriously... notice the smilie.

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kopoloff1

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by kopoloff1 » Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:16 am

...until the water vapour picks up microscopic impurities as it travels along through the air
And if that is the case, then the impurities have come from the air, not the water. Which means that the issue is all about the air we breath, not the distilled water that our humidifiers actually produce in their own right

Kopoloff

charlotte32771

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by charlotte32771 » Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:00 pm

i always use distilled water in mine

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socalmonkey
Posts: 260
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:11 pm
Location: Southern California

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by socalmonkey » Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:15 pm

I recently switched back to distilled water after reading much discussion on this site (and thread)... and I have been feeling better and better!

For some time now, I had complained to my doctor about a weird congested feeling in my lungs. Like I always had a touch of bronchitis or something. My humidifier had allot of calcium power build up. It was a major chore to get it perfectly clean. In a matter of days, since switching back to distilled water, I feel less congested and more rested!

So thanks everybody! As a direct result, I am feeling much better and will never use anything other than distilled water again!

Now I am looking forward to my new HC150 coming next week, as I have never been fond of the M Series humidifier.

oceanpearl
Posts: 650
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 4:21 pm
Location: Virginia Beach, Va

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by oceanpearl » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:12 am

rooster wrote:
jdm2857 wrote:...... ResMed only specifies "fresh clean water."
That surprises me. My Respironics manual says, "distilled water only". The idea is to prevent mineral scale buildup in the tank.
My DME sends a new water tank every six months whether I need it or not.
I just want to go back to sleep!

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Paul56
Posts: 1016
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:38 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by Paul56 » Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:06 pm

oceanpearl wrote:
rooster wrote:
jdm2857 wrote:...... ResMed only specifies "fresh clean water."
That surprises me. My Respironics manual says, "distilled water only". The idea is to prevent mineral scale buildup in the tank.
My DME sends a new water tank every six months whether I need it or not.
You are part of the DME revenue generation program.

My DME leaves me alone... because they do not have a direct pipeline to my insurance.

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karessamom
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: Utah

Re: Humidifier Water Poll

Post by karessamom » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:01 pm

jdm2857 wrote:I was just wondering what everyone uses. ResMed only specifies "fresh clean water."
Hubby's resmed specifically called for Distilled water and the DME made it abundantly clear that if we used anything other than that the warrantee would be VOID

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