Distilled vs bottled vs tap water

[ylo2na-cl]

How much difference is there in using distilled water vs bottled vs tap water when using the water in a small room humidifier? In my walk-in, I have 3 small humidifiers for a 9 x 12 room and I am constantly refilling two of them because there is no humidistat control or automatic turnoff switch on them. Because they are left on all the time to regulate the humidity, I am spending about $1.50 per day purchasing distilled water from Wal Mart!
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
Best,
ylo2na

[GreySmoke]

At that cost buy an undercounter reverse osmosis set up for about $100 the resulting water will be fine for a room humi....

http://www.aquasana.com/category.php?category_id=1

[iloveclmore]

Well, distilled is preferred since both tap and bottled water have a certain amount of minerals and flavor enhancers in them. If you use tap or bottled you can risk ruining your humidification device because of mineral build up.

[Lok17]

Ya what 00024 said

[Harpo Marx]

Originally Posted by GreySmoke

At that cost buy an undercounter reverse osmosis set up for about $100 the resulting water will be fine for a room humi....

http://www.aquasana.com/category.php?category_id=1

I'd agree.

[Fishhound-cl]

If there is no humidity control on the units how is humidity controlled? I would worry about over humidification, which could result in mold issues. I would look in to a device to control your power source for your humidifiers.

RO filtered water would be a good option but the process is very slow. Cheaper RO filters will only produce a few gallons a day. The better units don't come cheap.

[ylo2na-cl]

regarding RH levels, I am between 60 and 70 % most of the time. Rarely do I get much above that level because I am very anal about checking, rechecking and then repeating the process again, ad nauseum. I appreciate the info about the mineral buildup in the humidors and that is a concern. I think my next move will be a filtration system running into a humidor with a humidistat. Have one in mind which correct the problem. I do appreciate the comments.
Best,
Ylo2na