a machine that humidifies, cools, and cleans the air in a room.
The room air humidifier consists of a metal housing containing a fan, pump, filters, water receptacle, and auxiliary devices for visual observation or automatic operation. Air is drawn into the machine by the fan through dampened filters (porous plastic or wood shavings saturated with a preservative). The air is cleaned of dust, humidified, and cooled by evaporating water and returned to the room through a decorative grill with louvers to control the direction of flow. The pump collects water from the humidifier and feeds it into a distributor to ensure that the filters are evenly moistened. The housing contains a device to switch off the machine in the absence of water, a water-level indicator, and warning lights. The machine can cool 350–500 cu m of air per hour. The humidifier is useful in areas with a hot and dry climate (for example, in the Soviet Middle Asian republics).