Even doing something as simple as using distilled or demineralized water, instead of tap, will help reduce the amount of mineral deposits that get left behind, and that ultimately means less scrubbing. Compared with doing nothing, the pot method was marginally better, raising the relative humidity by about 5% when it was on the radiator. But that humidification rate was easily eclipsed by the performance of our budget pick on its lowest setting, which increased the humidification by double digits. The pot method also had the downside of working only at the whim of the radiator’s heating cycle (and in our tester’s case, the radiator didn’t really kick on until 9 or 10 p.m. each night). We tested this in a Brooklyn apartment using Lascar data loggers, to track the humidity changes over time as the radiator heated up a pot of water. We compared the fluctuations with the performance of our budget pick and with the alternative option of doing nothing at all.
Honeywell has an excellent reputation for producing high-quality humidifiers. Their Germ-Free Cool Moisture humidifier is one of their most popular, if not their most popular model with extremely high reviews across multiple retail platforms. The Dyson Purifier PH03 Humidify+Cool is both a humidifier and an air purifier, and it performed well enough in our tests.
A simple, straightforward humidifier with smart-home capabilities and a built-in night-light, the Dreo HM311S is also one of the rare ultrasonics that won’t over-humidify your room. This unit requires a filter that will need to be changed every 30 to 60 days, depending on water quality and use. The Honeywell brand filter is designed to stop up to 99.99% of mold growth, making clean-up a little less icky.
At that point, your humidifier might be doing more harm than good. Some humidifiers can also release harmful particulate matter into the air along with the moisture, depending on the quality of your water. You can reduce the risk of this by using distilled or demineralized water, and by cleaning them regularly. Honeywell sells replacement filters for its cool moisture humidifiers. You should swap out the filter every one to three months, depending on the manufacturer’s recommendation. The primary difference between a cool mist and cool moisture humidifier is that the latter creates an invisible stream of moisture in the air.
The Honeywell Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier is a great addition to any medium-sized bedroom and can run for up to 24 hours on its slowest fan speed. Why you can trust Live Science Our expert honeywell air purifier reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best ones for you. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times.
At just over $60, many people seemed to be displeased with the Honeywell, considering its high price compared to other humidifiers that typical retail between $30 and $40. Ferguson.com reserves the right to limit the quantity of items purchased per person, per household or per order. These restrictions may be applicable to orders placed by the same payment account and also to orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address, or same email address. We will provide notification to the customer email and/or billing address provided should such limits be applied.
Honeywell’s product lineup is diverse, but it could have a bigger selection across room sizes. If you’ve got a tiny studio or a big space without central HVAC, you may be limited to one or two models. We like that this flow through model comes with a humidistat. This tool will allow you to check and adjust your home’s humidity level. While there are some highlights to the Filter Free Warm Mist, it’s got some functional shortcomings that we need to address.
Our tester found these controls to be a bit confusing, especially compared to humidifiers that have screens that let you very clearly set a target humidity level. It’s unclear what humidity you’re setting the device to when you turn the humidity control down, unless you have a separate humidity meter (which Honeywell also sells). The Venta LW25 is the most low-maintenance humidifier we’ve tested. The Venta is basically just a big cube, about one foot in each direction. But it also comes with a bottle of the company’s proprietary antimicrobial additive, which is specially designed to help keep the funk down.