Article Index
Aromatherapy and Essential Oil Diffusers
diffusers pg 2
diffusers pg 3
All Pages

Fan Diffusers

* Fan diffusers come in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles. A fan diffuser uses a fan to blow the essential oils into the air. To use a fan diffuser, essential oils are usually placed onto a disposable absorbent pad or into a tray. The pad or tray is placed into the unit and then powered on. The fan then blows air across this pad or tray and carries the aroma throughout the room. Since fan diffusers come in a variety of sizes, some fan diffusers will only diffuse a small room whereas others can diffuse very large areas. Some fan diffusers require the use of an absorbent pad (the pads can usually be reordered from the retailer or directly from the manufacturer). In others, the use of absorbent pads is optional.
* Advantages: Fan diffusers are available in a wide variety of brands and styles. Depending on the brand and model, fan diffusers can fragrance a large area. Fan diffusers are generally easy to use. Some fan diffusers are powered by both electricity and batteries making them quite portable.
* Disadvantages: Some fan diffusers, depending on the brand and model, require the purchase of replacement absorbent pads. Some fan diffusers are noisy.

Electric Heat Diffusers

* Similar to a fan diffuser, heat diffusers use heat and a fan to gently heat the oil and disperse the aroma into a room.
* Advantages: Electric heat diffusers may fragrance larger areas, depending on the brand and style. They can also help to more efficiently disperse the aromas of thicker oils such as Sandalwood and Patchouli.
* Disadvantages: Heat may alter or destroy certain constituents of the oils and thus the therapeutic benefit may not be as optimal as using cold-air diffusion methods.

Nebulizers

* A nebulizer is a device that takes essential oils and breaks them into separate molecules before dispersing the smaller molecules into the room. It is said that these smaller molecules can be more readily absorbed by the lungs and thus create greater therapeutic value than by use of other diffusion methods. A nebulizer is a small (perhaps 8" x 4" x 6") device that consists of two main parts: the plastic base that contains the motor and a very unusual, clear blown-glass looking device that holds and "nebulizes" the oils. Instead of the use of the unusual glass piece, some nebulizers use a special bottle that looks like a Boston round bottle.
* Advantages: It is said that nebulizers can supply greater therapeutic benefit than the use of other diffusers because they break the oils down into smaller molecules.
* Disadvantages: The glass piece is breakable and expensive to replace. Compared to other methods, cleaning the glass between different oils is time consuming. Depending on the style nebulizer, thick oils such as Sandalwood and Patchouli usually cannot be used as they can clog certain style nebulizers.