Using a diffuser with essential oil for your home or office creates an amazingly inviting atmosphere! Diffusers are becoming more and more popular, and they have been used for thousands of years in many cultures to purify the air, repel insects, calm nerves and provide a pleasant mood-enhancing aroma.
Diffusers work by vaporizing water combined with essential oils or other aromatic ingredients, including flowers, citrus peels, herbs such as mint or basil, even bacon!
The diffuser will slowly and gently release the fragrance into the air continuously until all of its contents are dispersed. But how many drops of essential oil should you put in a diffuser?
While they are no one-size-fits-all answers, this article provides a dosage guide on how many drops of essential oils are needed for different environments.
How Many Drops of Essential Oil in a Diffuser: 3 Factors
1. Room Size
The amount of essential oil you put in a diffuser depending on the size of your room.
The optimal amount of oils in the diffuser will give off a light scent that allows people to associate it with being clean and fresh, not overwhelming.
However, too many drops in a small area can quickly make people feel uncomfortable, overwhelming the air with a much too strong scent.
- For a personal or small room size, use 3 drops of essential oil per 100ml of water.
- For medium size, use 6 drops of essential oil per 100ml of water.
- For large rooms or very humid areas, 9 to 12 drops of essential oil per 100ml of water.
- For small spaces such as hallways where there are no other odors present that could compete with the fragrance from the diffuser – less than six drops should do it!
It is important to note that this is just an estimation, and it can vary depending on how much air circulation there is in the room or how many windows are open. If these factors change significantly, then adjust accordingly.
2. Essential Oil Quality
The quality of essential oils significantly influences the effectiveness of a diffuser. The more concentrated the essential oil, the stronger its fragrance will be, and the less you will need to use in a diffuser.
There are many different grades of essential oils on the market, but typically they fall into two categories: Therapeutic grade and fragrance grade.
Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils are pure essential oils grown without pesticides or herbicides and distilled with no chemicals added during their processing. They undergo rigorous analytical testing to ensure they are pure and meet all standards.
Fragrance Grade Essential Oils may be synthetic, a mix of natural oils, or chemically processed to produce an appealing smell but not necessarily therapeutic. They do not undergo any lab testing for purity or safety before being made available on the market.
Lower quality oils will be diluted with carrier oils like jojoba or almond, making them less potent than higher priced brands that use 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils.
Here are some tips to consider when choosing the best essential oils –
- Purity and Potency: A pure and potent product will have more therapeutic benefits than an impure or diluted one.
- Quality Standards: Be sure that the company has standards for extracting their oils from plants, how they store them, and how they test them. These details should be clearly communicated on the packaging so that customers know what they’re getting into when buying a particular brand.
- Brand Reputation: Look up the company online and see how many reviews they have, how long the company has been in business, how well-known their brand is. A reputable and established brand will be more trustworthy than one that’s just starting out or struggling to break into the industry.
- Product Line: As we have seen with brands like Young Living, doTERRA, and Plant Therapy, the quality of each essential oil available is consistent across their entire product line.
- Freshness: Essential oils have very short shelf lives and need to be used or discarded within 18 months of production. Proper storage will keep the oils from spoiling and maintaining their potency.
3. Diffuser Type
Finally, the types of diffusers you choose will also play a significant role in how much essential oil is needed. Some diffusers are more powerful than others and will require fewer drops of essential oils.
Let’s break down how different types work and how they impact how much oil is needed.
Nebulizing Diffuser
This style distributes the water and essential oils into a fine mist in the air, which can be suitable for large rooms or when used intermittently because it does not have to heat up like other styles. It also has no fan, so there are no moving parts that could wear out over time.
Nebulizing diffusers are made for dispersing oils in their purest form. Therefore, more essential oils are needed, but you only need to have them running for a shorter time to cover large spaces.
This style works best with higher concentrations of oils (0.25 to 0.40 ounces per quart of water) to create that fine mist, which also means it will be less economical than other styles over time.
Candle Diffuser
This style involves placing a lit candle underneath the cup part and then adding some essential oils on top before turning the flame off when you want it to stop spinning so that oil is released into your room in waves as it is heated by the wax below.
Candle diffusers are best for small rooms because they do not require much space or electricity as fans do; however, how good each type smells depends mainly on how close you can get them to where people spend their time.
This style works well with low concentrations of oils (less than 0.125 ounces per quart, which is how much most candles use to get a scent throughout the room). They are usually more economical over time because you can reuse them for more extended periods between refills.
Tabletop Diffuser
These are small plug-in units that sit on tables or counters for convenience purposes. They work like nebulizing diffusers but are limited by size. They are suitable for small rooms (like bathrooms) because they do not require any additional power source outside of plugging into an outlet nearby.
Tabletop diffusers work best with low concentrations of oils (less than 0.125 ounces per quart) because how much essential oil you need depends on how many rooms it needs to fill up.
Ultrasonic Diffuser
These are the most popular style because they are affordable, easy to operate, look nice, and do not require any additional power source outside of being plugged into an outlet nearby.
They work by using a small fan that blows air from below upwards so as the water falls onto the surface where your oil or fragrance sits (this should be no more than 50 milliliters), some droplets get thrown off in all directions, and the surface remains misty.
Ultrasonic diffusers work best with low concentrations of oils (less than 0.125 ounces per quart) and how much essential oil is needed depends on how many rooms it needs to fill up.
Final Words:
Just a rule of thumb, if you are still unsure how to get the right amount, just try adding one or two drops at a time and then smell your diffuser after about 30 seconds. If it is too strong, add less next time; if it is not very noticeable, add more oil until you find what works best for you.
