Have you ever walked into a retail store or hotel and noticed that it smells really good in there?
Some stores and hotels actually have a signature-scent that they specifically use for their guests. Now you can do this at home, too!
Sure, there are a lot of ways you can make your house smell great every day – like lighting candles, burning incense, using scented wax melts, simmering potpourri… but those methods are generally limited to the space they are in. If you want to make your entire house smell great, you have to up the game so your favorite scent reaches all the rooms at the same time. How do you do that? With a whole-home scent diffuser that connects to your home heating and air conditioning ducts!
Read on to see what diffuser we’re using, why I chose it, where you can get fragrances for it, and a few tips on using a whole-home diffuser.
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Whole-Home Scent Diffuser
I knew that commercial buildings tie into their heating and cooling systems to disperse their signature scent throughout their buildings, and I looked into the systems they use. Those commercial systems are very expensive and probably overkill (and out of budget) for most homes. So, I did some research and found that there are also a lot of systems made specifically for private homes. These range in price from $150 to over $1,000. I wasn’t sure how my family would like to have our home scented with fragrance, so I didn’t want to spend an arm-and-a-leg to try this. Therefore, I was looking for a unit that was: affordable; customizable with any fragrance; uses cold-air diffusion; and is reliable. After a lot of comparing, I chose the JCloud Smart Scent Air Machine Diffuser. This diffuser retails for $170 and it works great!
There are several things I like about this particular make and model:
- Easy Install – It’s very easy to tie into your home heating and air conditioning system. Just make a small hole in the vent that comes out of your furnace, place the hose from this unit into that hole, and use metal tape to seal around the hose. You can either mount this unit on a wall near your ductwork and furnace, or you can just set it on a shelf in that space.
- Waterless Diffusion – This diffuser uses cold-air diffusion versus water or steam diffusion. It breaks essential oils down (nebulizing them) into micro-droplets that disperse throughout your home – there is no residue left as a result of using this diffuser. This diffuser can cover up to 2,000 square feet. There is also a fan inside the diffuser that can be used to spread the scent even further throughout your home.
NOTE: Our house is close to 10,000 square feet across three levels. We have multiple furnaces and air conditioners – and we have this diffuser hooked up to our main living-level furnace. With an open floorplan, we can smell this scent in every room on the main level, and even get whiffs of the scent upstairs on the bedroom level, and downstairs in our walk-out level. It really works well! The unit also has its own fan that can be controlled to disperse more scent.
- Use Variety of Fragrances – The diffuser comes with two bottles that you can fill with your favorite essential oils. You’ll want to avoid water dilution of the oil – just use pure essential oils with this unit. Because you can choose your own fragrances using essential oils, the scent is natural and completely safe for you and your family.
NOTE: This is NOT an ultrasonic diffuser that uses water with the oils. Make sure to just use pure essential oils, or fragrances designed for this type of diffuser. - Easy to Use – The diffuser can be controlled right on the unit, or with an app you can download to your phone or tablet. The app gives you much more control over the diffuser, so I do recommend using the app.
- It’s Affordable – There are a lot of similar diffusers on the market that connect to your HVAC system, but they are around $400-$600. This machine does the same things the other machines do, and more. And, the quality is just as good – if not better – than other brands.
TIP: Cold-air diffusers use a lot less oil than water or heat diffusers, so that is another reason I selected this brand.
Your Signature Scent
Part of the enjoyment of using this diffuser is choosing your own signature scent. JCloud does offer its own scents, but you can also make your own, or purchase scents from other companies that specialize in scents for these types of diffusers.
Here are some of the scents (and places) you can start with:
- JCloud Sandalwood – This Santel Hotel Collection Scent is amazing! It has tones of birch, geranium, bergamot, cedar wood, and sandalwood. Everyone who comes into our house comments on how good it smells. JCloud has other scents available, as well.
- Aroma Retail – Aroma Retail specializes in essential oil blends for this kind of diffuser. They have a lot of scents to choose from! We’ve tried (and love) Golden Bamboo, Pink Grapefruit Resorts Collection, and Mandarin Zest (Harrahs). Aroma Retail also has sample packs that you can purchase in order to try new scents.
- Make Your Own Scent – You can combine your own pure essential oils to make a scent uniquely your own. Just make sure not to add water to your blend.
Additional Tips
- Make Sure Your Blower is Running – This diffuser, and others like it, disperse the scent throughout your home when your furnace or air conditioning blower is running. If the blower is not running, the machine will still diffuse the scent into the ducts, but that scent is not likely to reach your rooms efficiently.
NOTE: We have a variable-speed blower on our furnaces, so they are always idling and moving air throughout the ducts. If your furnace thermostat has a Fan setting, you could set that ON to continuously move air and disperse scent. - Start Out With a Low Setting – When you first begin using this machine, I recommend you program it on a lower setting, and then after a day or two, adjust accordingly. For example, this unit starts by diffusing scent for 10 seconds, then rests for 110 seconds, then diffuses again for 10 seconds and repeats. You can adjust this pattern to fit your needs.
TIP: We have our diffuser set to diffuse for 5 seconds and then has a 180 second pause. This gives us plenty of scent, and makes a scent bottle last longer. - Maintain Your Diffuser – This diffuser needs minimal maintenance. When your diffuser bottle runs out, replace it with more oil and gently wipe off the diffuser to keep it clean. That’s about all you need to do to keep this unit running – easy peasy!
- For Large Homes – If you have up to 4,500 square feet serviced by one furnace, you might want to upgrade to the JCloud Smart Scent Air Machine Pro version. This unit works exactly the same as the one I’ve been talking about here, it just can scent larger spaces.
Give this a try, and share your experience in a comment below!
