nebulizers vs diffusers comparison

What Is the Difference Between a Nebulizer and a Diffuser?

You’ve made the right decision if you’re considering essential oils to cure various ailments or to maintain your health in a holistic way, and you need to know how select the right diffusing device to maximize the benefits of essential oils. Most of them share many of the same characteristics, but the best option is a nebulizer.

What Is an Essential Oils Nebulizer?

Most diffusers use heat and water to disperse essential oils into the air. The problem with this is that heat ruins the therapeutic benefits of essential oils while the water and oils don’t mix, to begin with. 

An essential oils nebulizer diffuser works completely different because it doesn’t use heat or water, but only essential oils. Our nebulizer uses nanotechnology to nebulize essential oils. It does this by taking in cold air to compress the oil molecules into a dry mist of nanoparticles. This allows the oils to spread across a large area without losing any scent, thus maximizing the health benefits. Furthermore, after the oil molecules are processed into nanoparticles, particles which are ultra-lightweight, they stay in the air much longer than with diffusers which lack the nanotechnology component that allows the heavy oil molecules to be broken down into light nanoparticles. 

 

This is why most diffusers leave a film of oil residue around them after a while, which is the proof that most oil particles diffused with typical diffusers are falling down on furniture and floors and all they give you is ONLY a nice aroma for a short while but NONE of the health benefits you expect. So if you don't know this information, you may be wasting expensive essential oils instead of inhaling them from the air into your lungs, skin, and brain where they belong. 

The Nebulizing Diffuser is the best way to disperse essential oils into the air. It does not change the chemistry of the oil by heating it or exposing it to plastic or metal parts like regular diffusers or humidifiers. The nebulizing diffuser has a small, aquarium style pump that uses air to disperse the oil, and a glass nebulizer bottle attached to it in which to break the oil particles into a fine mist that will stay airborne a long time.

The nebulizer also ionizes the oil particles, making them more therapeutic vs humidifiers or regular diffusers which don’t do that. 

Therefore diffusing essential oils with a nebulizer instead of a diffuser is one of the best way to fight back against ubiquitous seasonal germs. Did you know that the flu virus as other viruses from the same family are so tiny - they’re one of the few microbes that can actually float? Most bacteria are too big to stay suspended before falling to the ground and surfaces. All types of flu are caused by viruses, which are much smaller and more aerodynamic than bacteria, allowing these microbes to hang out in the air. (1)

Therefore diffusing essential oils is a wonderful way to address all kinds of viruses and air-born germs. Nebulizing essential oils is known to be the most effective way of diffusing, especially when addressing these tiny viruses that live in the air.

Our nebulizer, which is equipped with 2 filters plus a nanotechnology component, is able to break down the heavy oil molecules into a mist of oil nanoparticles which can stay suspended in the air due to their lightweight and purify the air while fighting viruses and germs, unlike the typical diffusers which cannot accomplish this important task because they don't have any filters to break down the heavy, dense oil molecules into light nanoparticles.

Hence the heavy oil molecules emitted from a typical diffuser will shortly fall down on furniture or the floor, without providing any health benefits besides a pleasant smell which will also be short-lived after the diffuser is turned off. 

So if you're looking for a device that gives you some actual health benefits and not just a nice scent in your home for a short while, then a nebulizer is the way to go.  

Our nebulizer also has additional features to improve its usability and provide a better experience. Our Herba Nebulizer is made from iodized food-grade Aluminum rather than plastic or glass, as most nebulizers and diffusers are, which means it's much more durable and stronger. Although it weighs about 3 pounds, it’s very minimalist in its design, making it suitable even for travelers. Another feature is the padding on the bottom to prevent vibrations and scratches to furniture. Here's a short comparison between nebulizers and diffusers. 

nebulizer vs diffuser comparison

 

Essential Oil Nebulizer Benefits

By now you may see why nebulizers are the best to use in order to maximize the full benefits of essential oils. However, not all nebulizers are the same, most of them are very noisy and esthetically very unpleasant which deter most people from taking advantage of their amazing benefits as almost all of them look like medical devices for asthma sufferers, unfortunately. To give you a better understanding, here are just some of the benefits of The Herba nebulizer.

1. It Actually Provides Health Benefits (unlike the cheap diffusers)

Unlike cheap diffusers, none of the oil particles from our nebulizer end up on your furniture as we explained earlier in much detail. This is thanks to the nanotechnology component installed in our device, which breaks down the heavy oil molecules into nanoparticles which will linger in the air for a long time and can be easily absorbed into your brain and blood system through the lungs and skin where they belong instead of the floor or furniture. And this is HOW nebulizing oils instead of diffusing them will give you the maximum health benefits you expect from aromatherapy and not just a pleasant scent.

2. It Leaves No Residue = Long Lasting Scent

Thanks to the nanotechnology component installed in our device, which breaks down the heavy oil molecules into nanoparticles, the ultra-lightweight oil mist can therefore stay in the air much longer than those emitted from typical diffusers which lack the nanotechnology component, which is the reason why diffusers cannot break down heavy oil molecules into light nanoparticles. That means the oil scent emitted from a nebulizer is more powerful as the oil nanoparticles will linger in the air for a longer time.

3. It Saves You Money Long Term 

Our nebulizer uses only about 1 milliliter of oil per hour. You can increase or decrease this amount by changing the settings. This could save you up to over $1000 a year if you are used to diffusing oils more than 4-5 hours a day using a typical diffuser. Since our nebulizer emits a very strong oil mist that lasts for hours, you only need to diffuse oils for 1-2 hours maximum per day. 

Furthermore, nebulizers last longer than diffusers. Even if you use your nebulizer for eight hours a day, five times a week, it will keep running for many years without clogging or suffering from any other problems if cared for as instructed in the manual. All it requires is some basic maintenance — simply clean it by diffusing rubbing alcohol in it and let it run for 30 minutes, 1 hour once a week, which only takes 30 seconds to set up, no washing with water and soap or rinsing – this maintenance is as easier and quicker as you can get.

4. It's Self-Cleaning =NO mess!

The cheaper diffusers require to be cleaned with soap and water (which is a big no-no as soap leaves residue inside the diffuser and will eventually clog it even worse, and destroy in the long run. Our Nebulizer doesn't require water or soap-ever. All you need to do is fill 1/3 of its own bottle with rubbing alcohol (any type), program it with the remote control to diffuse for 1 hour once a week, and then leave it alone to self-clean. This literally takes 30 seconds to do- it's really that simple and makes no mess! If you clean your nebulizer with alcohol once a week, you'll enjoy it for many years to come in great working condition.

5. It Comes with a Remote Control

You can change your nebulizer’s 9 different settings by using the small, user-friendly remote control. This allows you to turn your nebulizer on and off even from the comfort of your bed, without getting up. The vast majority of nebulizers don’t have remote control and if they have one, the control settings are very limited.

6. It Has a Beautiful Sleek Design + It’s Silent

In general, nebulizers are the best for therapeutic benefits, but most people don’t like them because they’re the noisiest of all diffusing devices. Our nebulizer is different – it’s quiet and light free. These two features make it perfect for use also at night. Its beautiful sleek design makes it a perfect décor accessory in any setting both at home, as well as in any professional environments such as offices, spas, yoga studios, health clinics, etc.

7. 1-Year Warranty + Post-Warranty Service Offered

Your nebulizer will come with a 1-year warranty, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee. Once the warranty has expired, you can benefit from the paid-service repairs we offer. None of these perks are available with other diffuser companies. This means you can enjoy your nebulizer for years to come without ending in landfills as the cheaper diffusers which don’t last too long thus saving you money in the long run.

Diffusing Essential Oils in a Nebulizer

With a nebulizer, how you diffuse your essential oils is up to you. On the remote control, you’ll see that there are three categories of settings.

The black buttons are for aroma density — most diffusers lack this option. You can increase or decrease the volume of the oil being dispersed into the air depending on how much oil aroma you prefer.

The blue buttons are for interval diffusing. You can set the device for either of the following options:

  • 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off
  • 30 seconds on and 60 seconds off
  • 30 seconds on and 120 seconds off

This is perfect if you want to keep diffusing for several hours, or throughout the night. It will reduce how much oil you use while keeping the pump working optimally and increasing your nebulizer’s lifespan. This feature will also save you money on essential oils in the long run.

The red buttons are for a timer to allow for continuous diffusing. The timer allows you to have the device shut off automatically by itself. You can choose between one hour, four hours, and eight hours. This eliminates the risk of forgetting to turn off your nebulizer and running on empty, or also ending up diffusing too much oil — which can be an expensive cost over time.

You can combine the buttons from the three categories in any way you want to personalize your nebulizer to your individual needs.

Essential Oil Nebulizer vs Diffuser: The Verdict

A regular diffuser provides you with just some of the benefits of essentials oils, which is mostly a great smell because the use of heat destroys the therapeutic properties of essential oils, and therefore their health benefits.

Furthermore, diffusers lack all the extras that make a nebulizer great. For instance, with a regular diffuser, you will likely spend much more on oils to get the same health benefits or if any at all. Plastic or glass diffuser will have a shorter lifespan (another expense), and you may not be able to use your diffuser while you sleep unless it has a programmable timer.

When deciding between a regular essential oil diffuser or nebulizer, the right choice seems obvious.  So next time when you choose a diffusing device you may want to keep in mind that the old saying “you always get what you paid for” is true, and you deserve the best for your health because health is wealth and without it, nothing else matters.

Get your Nebulizer! 

diffusing nebulizer

References 

1. Swamy, Mallappa Kumara, Mohd Sayeed Akhtar, and Uma Rani Sinniah. “Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Essential Oils against Human Pathogens and Their Mode of Action: An Updated Review.Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM 2016 (2016): 3012462. PMC. Web. 4 Nov. 2017.

 

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