4 Reasons Why a Humidifier is the Perfect Addition to Your College Dorm (or Apartment)

So it's that time of year again: back to school. If you're a college student, that means you'll be heading off for campus for another semester.

Maybe you're a first-year living in a residence hall. Or maybe you're an upperclassman with your own rented apartment space. Either way, in order to ensure your overall health and well-being, it's essential to make your new home as comfortable and as healthy as possible.

A humidifier can help with just that. 

Here are our favorite reasons why a humidifier is a great addition to your living space at college. 

Maintaining Health

Staying healthy in college is essential, especially in light of the recent pandemic, which saw many universities close down for a semester or even the entire school year.

While humidifiers aren't designed as a medical device, they can serve tremendous health benefits, especially for college students. After all, getting sick and missing class can turn out to be a medical and academic disaster — one that a humidifier could help you avoid. 

Recent studies have shown that lack of humidity is a primary culprit for a multitude of health issues. Dry air not only increases infection rates for diseases like COVID-19 (read more), but also exacerbates allergy symptoms and makes for an overall uncomfortable environment to live and study in. 

College students are on campus through the colder months over the fall and winter semesters, during which the heating system makes tends to make the air in dorm rooms much more dry. And with classes, parties, and other social events involving tens or hundreds of individuals gathered in small areas, disease can spread fairly easily. 

A humidifier's job is to expel water vapor into the air, preventing your surroundings from becoming too dry. Maintaining a sufficient moisture level in your living space is essential; research has shown that keeping the indoor humidity close to 50% can significantly lower your risk of infection for various pathogens and provide relief for allergy symptoms like sore throat and nasal congestion. (read more).  

So at the end of the day, the proper level of humidity can improve the overall quality and comfort of your living space and potentially do wonders for your health and well-being. 

Better Sleep

Sleeping can be difficult for college students. Ask anyone, and they'll probably tell you that they've experienced losing sleep over a deadline or staying up all night to study for an exam at some point. Oftentimes the stress alone can makes it hard to falling asleep. 

Luckily, a humidifier can help you get a better night's rest and help you be more prepared for the day ahead. 

But how? 

Any irritation or inflammation of the eyes, nose and throat makes falling asleep a tall and uncomfortable task. Such symptoms are especially common when cold and flu season rolls around, as illnesses can spread like wildfire on college campuses. They could also be caused by seasonal allergies, which are common in the fall. 

Among the wide range of health benefits they offer, humidifiers can help soothe nasal passages and relieve congestion, making it much easier to breathe. The additional moisture also provides relief for any irritation of the eyes, throat, and skin, preventing them from drying out and allowing you to sleep at more comfortably. Research suggests that humidifiers can even help to prevent snoring and alleviate other upper respiratory issues. 

And another added benefit — the low humming sound of the device could also serve as a soothing white noise to ease you into sleep, which could be especially useful if you're living near a loud street or busy part of campus. Some humidifiers also come with a built in night light, if that's what you prefer.

Quality rest, of course, is important for everyone, but perhaps even more so for college students. After all, getting a better night's sleep is the key to improving your academic performance, social life, and everything in between. 

Improving Skin and Hair

Humidity not only impacts how you feel, but also how you look. 

As college students, we all care about our appearance, and skin is the first thing everyone sees. A humidifier can help by providing hydration to flush out toxins and prevent your skin from drying out. This process helps with itchy, cracked, and chapped skin and even provides relief for common conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Additionally, most topical creams work better when applied to damp, hydrated skin, so a humidifier could be a beneficial addition your skincare routine.

Maintaining a sufficient level of humidity can also help your hair retain its natural moisture and prevent it from drying out. And if you're looking to improve your overall beauty and wellness, many humidifiers come with a built-in aromatherapy diffuser for essential oils such as lavender and eucalyptus. 

Who knew that a device as simple as a humidifier could help you achieve the glowing look you've always wanted?

Overall Environment

Finally, a humidifier can be great for the overall environment of your dorm room (or apartment, if you're living off campus). 

For one, low humidity can be damaging to furniture. Dry air draws the moisture out of wood floors, walls, and furniture, which can cause splits and cracks over time. A dry indoor environment may also lead to excessive static electricity buildup over time, which can damage sensitive electronic devices and equipment, aside from simply being a nuisance. 

On the other hand, excessive humidity can also be harmful, as too much moisture in your surroundings can soften the fibrous material found in wood structures as well as items like books and papers, which are especially important for students. High levels of indoor humidity could even lead to mold and bacteria growth, which is not only harmful to the structure of your living space, but also dangerous for your health.

Luckily, a humidifier can help regulate the level of moisture in your dorm at all times. Maintaining a range of 30-50% is recommended by the EPA, which can save you tons of trouble. 

Final Thoughts

College is an important time in your life, so make the most of it!

If you're looking for a simple way to improve your health, sleep, beauty, and overall living space, which will in turn benefit your overall college lifestyle, a humidifier is the perfect appliance for your residence.

To summarize, a humidifier:

- Regulates the humidity level, which can help lower infection rates and alleviate other health issues.

- Helps to create a healthy and comfortable rest environment, making it easier to sleep at night.

- Can improve your beauty and skincare routine by providing essential hydration

- Protects your overall living space, especially wood furniture and appliances

One last thing... all this sounds great, but are humidifiers really ideal for dorm living?

Don't they take up too much space and aren't they ugly to look at? And lastly how can a broke college student afford one?

Many humidifiers have a compact, portable design that can fit perfectly in small spaces and be easily moved around if needed. Some even have additional features like color-changing LED lights, which could serve decorative purposes for your dorm. And no, look online and you'll many affordable models that get the job done just as well as their pricier counterparts. 

At the end of the day, college itself is an enormous investment. Sometimes the small things can make a huge difference, and with a dorm room humidifier, a little moisture can go a long way.