Day 40: Today's Pick — A $14 Desk Humidifier That Fixed My Headaches

I have had a chronic morning headache problem for ten years. Every winter, October through April, I woke up with a dry-throated, dull-headed feeling that took two cups of coffee to clear. I assumed this was age, allergies, or my pillow. I was, somewhat embarrassingly, wrong.

The fix was a $14 desk humidifier on my nightstand. The headaches are gone.

This sounds like an infomercial. I am writing it anyway because the failure mode of "I assume nothing will help" is, in my experience, much more common than the failure mode of "I tried too many fixes."

What the device is

A small USB-powered ultrasonic humidifier, about 5" tall and 2.5" in diameter. Plastic body, glass tank. Plugs into any USB port (or a wall plug via a phone charger). Holds 200ml of water. Releases about 30ml/hour as a fine mist.

The brand I bought is "MOI MOI" (yes, that's the brand name) and it cost $14 on Amazon. There are roughly 50 functionally identical brands. They are all, basically, the same device.

What it does

Adds moisture to the air in a small zone (3–4 feet around the device). The mist is not visible from across the room, but if you put your hand 18 inches above the device, you can feel it.

In a small bedroom, an overnight run takes the relative humidity from 22% (winter Brooklyn typical) to about 38% in the air around the bed. The change is enough to keep my throat from drying out overnight, which appears to be the entire mechanism of the morning headache.

What I'd run

• 8pm to 7am, on the nightstand
• Refill morning and evening (the tank is small)
• Distilled water — yes, it matters; tap water leaves mineral deposits and may aerosolize them
• Clean the tank weekly with diluted vinegar

What it isn't

• Not a whole-room humidifier. If you want to humidify a 200 sq ft bedroom, get a $40 console humidifier instead.
• Not a treatment for medical conditions. If you have actual sinus problems or chronic illness, see a doctor.
• Not a magic device. It does one thing.

On the price

$14. There is no rational reason this device should cost more than $14. I bought a $90 "premium" humidifier two years ago and it was actually worse — louder, harder to clean, larger footprint, same actual humidification.

The technology is mature. The cheap ones are fine. Don't overpay.

A note on small fixes

I want to make a broader point here. The morning headache had been a part of my life for ten years. I assumed it was permanent. The fix was a $14 piece of plastic that took 90 seconds to set up.

I have, since then, started thinking more carefully about other "permanent" minor problems in my life — things I've adapted to and stopped questioning. Some of them have $14 fixes. Some of them don't. But the assumption of permanence is, I now think, often wrong, and the cost of testing a fix is usually low.

Test the fix. Be willing to look silly. The $14 humidifier might solve a ten-year problem.

Tomorrow: a strange small kitchen tool for cherry-pitting that has earned its drawer space.