Humidifier

[kieran19685]

Does any one have any advice whether a humidifier helps with dry eye in the workplace? Any recommendations on which ones to buy?

[longhoc]

Hi Keiran

Yes -- I've tried using various humidifiers which you can buy on the high street or online. The problem is that these are aimed at the domestic market (e.g. a typical 100 to 200 sq ft room). They can raise humidity levels from the typical 20-30% level you get with the heating on to a much more comfortable (for contact lens wearers) 50%+.

But in an office environment -- with a typical office space being maybe 1000 sq ft or more -- they simply don't have the output to make any difference. There is some local effect if you have one on your desk, but it's pretty minimal.

It's worth checking with your employer if they have a facilities team -- in some of the more sophisticated commercial systems they have a humidifier to regulate humidity levels. These cost a lot to run -- they might have 20 or 30 kw rating -- and often get turned off to save money. Or turned down gradually until people complain then slowly turned back up to an absolute minimum level.

Alas if you're in a small office building it's unlikely to have anything like that so it's a bit more tricky.

Cheers

Chris