One of the best – and the most popular – ways to use essential oils therapeutically is by diffusing them at home. The fragrance of scented oils can add warmth and energy to a room, creating a welcome or festive ambiance at a party, help adults and children to sleep soundly, or encourage calm and focus at work. Essential oils are frequently used by inhalation to boost the immune system, fight off colds and respiratory infections, kill toxic mold in buildings, and more.
If you’re considering buying a diffuser to use at home or in the workplace, the following are a few considerations that can help you pick the right type for your needs and your budget.
Diffuser Types: Cold Air versus Heat Diffuser Models
There are two basic types of diffuser models: heat diffusers or cold air diffusers.
Heat diffusers usually involve a candle or an electric heat source. These are the ubiquitous cheap diffusers that can be found almost anywhere that incense or scented candles are sold. They disperse an oil by heating it from below – exciting the molecules of essential oil until they evaporate into the air.
Cold air diffusers are pricier and more elaborate. They usually involve a motor (that plugs into an electric socket) and a delicate glass nebulizer through which the essential oil is forced. Essential oils are poured into a well on the motor base, and dispersed into the room by air pressure through the nebulizer.
The type of diffuser you choose will ultimately depend on the purpose for which you are diffusing, your budget, and what kind of essential oils you intend to use in it.
What Kind of Essential Oils Will I Be Using?
The type of essential oils really matter – and not only because if their viscosity or thickness.
While lower quality oils (the cheap ones found in many stores) will usually smell just as good after they have been through a candle diffuser, high quality therapeutic grade oils are damaged by exposure to heat. It’s a waste of your money to invest in good oils if you’re going to diffuse them with a candle or by burning them.
Bear in mind, as well, that paraffin candles are made from petroleum by-products, so they’re not doing you much good, either. Some practitioners believe that anything, even natural beeswax, becomes carcinogenic when burned.
A Comparison of Diffuser Types
Heat/Candle Diffuser
- Price: Anything from $5 to $30.
- Efficacy: Not very effective. Diffuse into a small space but also alter the smell as essential oils are heated and some parts chemically change or are burned.
- Safety: Mild fire hazard. Health hazard due to burning oils.
- Medicinal/therapeutic value: Negligible. Potentially toxic, depending on the oils used and how hot it heats them.
Cold Air Diffuser
- Price: Prices range, along with durability and ease of use, from $35 to $120.
- Efficacy: Some work, others don’t. Good ones are very effective and can diffuse oils through one floor of an average-sized house. Researchers have used several cold air diffusers at once with anti-fungal essential oils to kill toxic mold inside the walls of houses.
- Safety: Glass parts must be handled with care. Safe for health since it diffuses essential oils without heating them.
- Medicinal/therapeutic value: High, provided you are using high quality oils.
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Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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