Is a humidifier necessary when you already live in a humid climate?

I've been using my CPAP machine for about 2 month now, and have been using the humidifier ever since I first started using it. I usually have it set to 2 or 3.

I live in Hawaii and the humidity is almost always in the 70-90% range, even at night. Sometimes higher. So I was thinking: is it even worth using the humidifier when it's already so humid naturally? Or maybe I can turn the humidifier setting down to 0 or 1? What do you all think?

Here is what ResMed says about places that have a winter:

Q. I usually use my humidifier only in the winter months when the heat is on and the air is dryer. Should I be using it all year round?

A. If you’re finding that you have nasal symptoms at other times of the year, then you should probably use your humidifier then, as well. The added humidification may reduce the occurrence of these symptoms.

https://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/s ... -faqs.html

So if you ain't got a winter (poor you), I would assume your choice is all about what you find is most comfortable and symptom-free for you.

SgtSkippy wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:54 am

I've been using my CPAP machine for about 2 month now, and have been using the humidifier ever since I first started using it. I usually have it set to 2 or 3.

I live in Hawaii and the humidity is almost always in the 70-90% range, even at night. Sometimes higher. So I was thinking: is it even worth using the humidifier when it's already so humid naturally? Or maybe I can turn the humidifier setting down to 0 or 1? What do you all think?

hey, sarge. the humidifier is mainly regarded as a comfort feature. i live in flagstaff az where lack of humidity is a thing. so i'm likely to use mine more in the summer. in the winter, when there is SOME humidity, i turn it down, but still use it.

heck, i even used it in the pacific nw, where there be humidity aplenty!

it's totally up to you and how you sleep.

just think, if you don't use it, that's one less thing to clean.

SgtSkippy wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:54 am

I usually have it set to 2 or 3.

Turn it down a notch per night. If you don't get dry nasal passages or other discomforts, keep going to zero. If your nasal passages get dry, you may have to turn it back up a notch.

Many of us here don't use the humidifier, even in somewhat dry conditions. (The Gobi Desert is another matter.)

hey, sarge. the humidifier is mainly regarded as a comfort feature. i live in flagstaff az where lack of humidity is a thing. so i'm likely to use mine more in the summer. in the winter, when there is SOME humidity, i turn it down, but still use it.

I too live in Arizona. I keep my humidifier on one or off. I am not a fan of humidity. It's already hot why make it worse? Some people like it others don't. It depends on what is comfortable for you.

It's not 'therapy' but makes Cpap more comfortable IF you (or local conditions/climate) need it, but you have to experiment with diff. sertings (if any at all) year round to see what works for you when.

I always use the humidifier at home because if the RH goes above 60% my wife will turn on the A/C. However, when we stay on the boat the RH is typically 70-95% and I don't bother even bringing the humidifier onboard. I also found it wasn't worth bringing the humidifier to a humid location such as Florida if I wanted to travel light.

Well.....for me keeping the nasal mucosa happy is critical to my actually getting any sort of decent sleep.
So I use the humidifier year round at the same setting so there is zero chance of my nasal mucosa getting dried and unhappy.
That would include where I might be at or if it is raining or not or humid or not.
The worst thing that would happen if I went to a locality where the humidity was already high...the machine would figure it out and not heat up the water and wouldn't need to refill the water chamber. If my preferred humidity setting was 85% or so and the humidity in the bedroom was 90%....the machine would figure it out and simply not dump more moisture in the air going to my nose.
Outside the house humidity isn't always the same as inside the house due to furnaces and air conditioners.

My nasal mucosa don't like change...this way I keep them happy and when they are happy I don't get annoying nasal symptoms that can mess with my sleep.

For me...humidity is critical to my therapy because happy nasal mucosa is critical to my sleep.
So I don't put added moisture in the "comfort" category as in optional comfort....comfort is critical to my sleep first and if I don't sleep then all this cpap stuff is not much use when I don't sleep.

Humidity needs is one of those many things about cpap that comes with a huge YMMV sticker and IMHO....the biggest YMMV of them all.
Each person has to figure out what or how much humidity their nose wants and use it. What someone else uses or doesn't use...means nothing at all. Case in point....2 cpap user household....one person likes maximum humidity and the other person like minimal to none added moisture....same ambient humidity in the bedroom but 2 totally different preferences because each person's nasal mucosa wants something different.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:05 pm

2 cpap user household....one person likes maximum humidity and the other person like minimal to none added moisture

If they sleep in the same bed, the latter may be benefiting from the former's vented moisture.

If the former goes on a trip leaving the latter at home, does the latter get dry nasal passages?

I spend most of my time in Florida splitting my time between the coasts and Central Florida.

I run the central AC, but in all but one location, I've added an additional window unit to the bedroom I sleep in. I like it ice cold and dark with as little humidity as is possible when I sleep.

During the day though I am usually outside, and as my energy is much lower recently, I am usually just floating in a pool or the ocean so most of my life is spent in high humidity and the bulk of my life I am wet and live in towels or t-shirts if not in a bathing suit.

When I first tried cpap I almost drowned with the humidifier. The first hour of use I turned it down to the most minimal setting but suffered terribly through the night. The next day someone here on CPAPTALK told me about "passive humidity" where you can just fill the tank but not turn it on. - even that was too much.

Within a week of starting cpap I had learned that I could buy a cover for my autoset and take the tank off completely and as a bonus have a much smaller / tidier cpap footprint. I have been happy ever since but I do carry the humidifier in my bag when I travel. It's easy to switch between the coverplate / end piece and the humidifier.

I recently acquired a backup autoset machine and the first thing I did was order another end cover.

We're all different.
Thank GOD!

I'm in the humid southeast. Started out with humidity set to 4 and have backed it down to where tube heat is off and humidity is off. I still put water in the humidifier tank for "pass-over" humidity, but have been thinking of trying it "dry" to see if I can tolerate it.

I can lay down and one or the other nostril will clog (positional congestion, I think?) and I believe the added humidity, however slight, helps some. But, I've also been wondering if perhaps I read that somewhere and got it in my head that the added humidity was helping (power of suggestion). So, I'm thinking of going without it. I also like the thought of having one less thing to fiddle with.

-JD

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:14 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:05 pm

2 cpap user household....one person likes maximum humidity and the other person like minimal to none added moisture

If they sleep in the same bed, the latter may be benefiting from the former's vented moisture.

If the former goes on a trip leaving the latter at home, does the latter get dry nasal passages?

are you suggesting an experiment?

JayDee wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:47 pm

I'm in the humid southeast. Started out with humidity set to 4 and have backed it down to where tube heat is off and humidity is off. I still put water in the humidifier tank for "pass-over" humidity, but have been thinking of trying it "dry" to see if I can tolerate it.

I can lay down and one or the other nostril will clog (positional congestion, I think?) and I believe the added humidity, however slight, helps some. But, I've also been wondering if perhaps I read that somewhere and got it in my head that the added humidity was helping (power of suggestion). So, I'm thinking of going without it. I also like the thought of having one less thing to fiddle with.

-JD

< ...crosses fingers for JayDee...>


Good Luck!

You can always pop that humidifier back in but it's always great to have "one less thing to fiddle with" ~~~

(frees up time for finding other things to fiddle with )