The air is too dry can be very uncomfortable and cause damage to our bodies and furniture. Many people who live in an arid or semi-arid region are used to running a humidifier all night to get better sleep.
However, many of them will worry about if they can run a humidifier without water because they don’t want to get up in the middle of the night to refill the tank.
Luckily, most humidifiers these days come with an auto shut-off feature, making running a humidifier without water possible. But you should still keep the water level in check and fill the tank regularly. If you have an old version unit without an automatic shut-off function, you should never run it without water.
So what happens if you leave a humidifier on without water? Why can a humidifier catch fire? I will answer all of these and other questions related to this subject in this post. Take a minute to read to stay away from hazards.
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Can You Run a Humidifier Without Water?
While it may not cause any issue in the end, it is still not advisable to run a humidifier without water.
The logic behind a humidifier is not complicated. A humidifier works by turning the water into tiny water droplets and adding them to the air. When more and more water molecules get in the air, the relative humidity level increases and many symptoms related to dry air will be alleviated.
You see, without water, a humidifier will become useless.
Some humidifiers have built-in sensors that can stop the device from working when out of water. Many people rely heavily on this feature, but it can fail at some point. If it happens, it will lead to severe problems. (More on that later)
So you shouldn’t run a humidifier without water, and you should never do that if your humidifier doesn’t have an automatic shut-off feature.
Do humidifiers turn off automatically?
Manufacturers and engineers these days always keep product safety in mind. Therefore, most humidifiers you bought in recent years will have an auto turn-off feature.
If you have an ultrasonic humidifier, the safety sensor will stop the diaphragm from vibrating when there is enough water.
A safety sensor is also included in an evaporative humidifier which will stop the fan from blowing out humid air.
For a warm mist humidifier, the mechanism is a bit different. Since it uses heating elements to boil the water, it has thermal sensors to prevent overheating.
Note that this feature is common in models nowadays. But if you have a model manufactured 10 years ago or has a really low price tag, it is possible that it can’t be turned off automatically.
You should read the manual or consult the manufacturers. It is better to be safe than sorry.
What happens if you leave a humidifier on without water?
Generally speaking, nothing will happen if you leave a humidifier on without water as long as it has an auto shut-off feature. But it would cause serious issues when your device continues to work when water runs out.
Instead of producing mist, some cool mist humidifiers will start to blow out hot air. It is due to the fact that electric components can go overheated without water, and the air is heated along the way.
Warm mist humidifiers, especially vaporizers, can become overheated as well. In fact, they are more prone to overheat since they use heating elements.
When the overheating issue is not addressed immediately, the heat will start to melt the plastic housing and produce harmful smells and smoke.
Even worse, it can catch fire and pose a hazard to your house and family. Many people prefer to use a humidifier on dry days. If a fire occurs, it will spread more quickly, leaving you limited time to react.
How to ensure your humidifier never runs out of water?
The shutoff function can go wrong, and some models don’t have shutoff functions at all. No matter what situation you are in, finding a way to prevent your humidifier from running out of water is great. Here’s how:
Refill the tank on a daily basis
Many humidifiers can run for more than 12 hours between fillings. For those who like to turn it on while sleeping, it will not run out of water if you remember to refill it the next morning or before you go to bed.
In addition to that, changing the water out frequently is an effective way to inhibit mold and bacteria growth.
Hence, refilling the tank every day is excellent not only for safety but also for your health.
Put a sticker on your humidifier
This method really works for me. If you struggle to commit to regular refilling, you can put a sticker on the humidifier that says, “check the water level!”
In this way, it will remind you to check the water tank every time you try to turn the humidifier on.
Buy a humidifier with large tanks
Large tanks have the obvious advantage of not needing to be refilled regularly, meaning that you can feel free to have a longer sleep without worrying about it will malfunction.
Even though this method can’t guarantee that the water never runs out, it can save you some effort and give you peace of mind if you forget to refill the tank for a day or two.
Conclusion
As more and more manufacturers think about product safety, a large proportion of humidifiers in the market now can shut off automatically when running out of water.
With the help of this feature, you can run a humidifier without water as the electric components will stop working without causing any problems. However, some cheap or old models don’t have this feature or are just not so reliable.
If you want to avoid the potential hazards altogether, you should never leave the humidifier on without water.
You can refill the water daily and put a sticker on the machine to remind you. Getting a humidifier with a large reservoir can prolong the time between fillings and make it hard to run out of water.
