With all the humidifiers out there, which type is better? Warm mist, cool mist or evaporative? We are using it to increase moisture from forced-air heating and prevent bloody noses during the winter.

C.J.

With regard to preventing nosebleeds, humidity is humidity. There are other considerations, however.
Warm-mist humidifiers work by creating steam. If you fill the reservoir with tap water, the salts that are dissolved in the water will tend to concentrate over time, eventually forming a sediment within the humidifier's reservoir. How rapidly this stuff builds up depends upon the hardness of your tap water and the frequency with which you use the machine. Typically, you may have to wash out the reservoir about once a week. (I'm not sure how evaporative humidifiers work, but my hunch is that you would have the same problem as for warm-mist humidifiers.)

Commercially available cool-mist humidifiers "sonicate" water in order to create a fine mist. In other words, intense vibration liberates millions of tiny droplets of water from the reservoir. This water contains all of the salts of the original tap water. Consequently, over time, you will begin noticing that a fine white powder covers EVERYTHING in the room. This is the same stuff that is trapped in the reservoir of a warm-mist humidifier. Sure, you could use deionized or distilled water in the reservoir, but this might get a bit expensive after a while.

There is another tradeoff to the use of humidifiers. Mold loves a damp environment. Thus, use of a humidifier tends to promote mold growth. This, in turn, will aggravate allergies (and if you or your family members are not already allergic to mold spores, you may become allergic to them in the future). Consequently, you may trade one nasal problem (nosebleeds) for another (allergy).

If your main goal is preventing nosebleeds, why not use a saline nasal spray? Saline is simply saltwater that has the same concentration of salt as your bodily fluids. Be careful not to purchase a saline spray that has additional medications in it -- all you want is saltwater! If there is any doubt, ask your pharmacist for advice. Saline nasal sprays are inexpensive and well tolerated even by very young children. They can be used as often as you like. For the prevention of nosebleeds, I recommend spraying the nasal cavities at least three times during the day, and a final good drenching before bedtime. Also, if you want to prevent nosebleeds, you need to avoid nose-picking and overly aggressive nose-blowing.