I want one just for my bedroom since my poor nostrils get sore during heating season (despite spraying saline up them frequently, which does help a little).
I’ve googled and read blogs and read the others threads on this subject, none of which are recent.
I don’t like cleaning them but I know you have to.
I have hard water so I think filter free is a bad idea since I also hate to lug home distilled water. But then filters are expensive! Google AI says thrifty alternatives are getting cartridges you drop in the tank (so why not just get the kind that takes it’s own filter) or get a counter top water distiller (now another thing to research/buy)
I just want one in my bedroom for sleeping, don’t care about the noise (I like white noise).
If it were me, I’d get a small ultrasonic unit. Pretty efficient and safe (no heating element). But I already own a countertop water distiller that we use for my wife’s CPAP machine, so that would provide the only water I would ever use in it. I once used an ultrasonic unit for some months with filtered tap water and the bedroom looked like a concrete plant…white dust on everything. YMMV and I’m sure that some units are better or worse in this regard. But simple water filtering with a carbon/paper filter did not prevent this.
I have a Vevor 1.1 gallon unit. It’s worked fine for over 3 years. I don’t think that my model is still available, but there is a very similar one (probably just a newer model) for $51 on Amazon.
NP! I use pre-filtered water from an under-sink filter unit and the residue left in the tank after use is minimal. We run it about once every two weeks and clean it every 90 days or so using white vinegar. It takes about five hours to process a tank.
My mom just got a 2-pack of little humidifiers for her bedroom and family room (where she sits all day) from Costco. She said the one she put in her bedroom really helps. She doesn’t use the other one much yet, but I think she will when it gets colder.
Understood. I’m not suggesting that you need to get another filter, I just wanted to make clear that my results are obtained by using pre-filtered water in the distiller.
I have a Honeywell HCM350B in the bedroom. It is super simple- just a mechanical/analog fan control and a replaceable filter.
We mostly run it in the winter, and use one filter (currently $40 for a 3 pack) for the whole season. Tap water is fine. I generally keep it on the lowest speed, which you can hear but is very quiet white noise, and a full gallon tank can last for two days depending on how we’re heating.
I’m also interested in a humidifier. I’ve been using the ones that create steam, because I’m a lot more worried that I’ll not get around to cleaning the thing and I’ll be poisoned by mold than i am that I’ll get burned.
But it’s a dying market, and the ones I’ve been able to find are really crappy.
Any advise for a very low maintenance humidifier that uses tap water and won’t kill me?
TL;DW: Don’t get the ultrasonic or boiling ones, get a console style evaporative style with a large water tank and a wick & fan. You can use ordinary tap water with some added anti-mold water treatment products to fill it up (although if your water is extra hard, I’d run it through a brita or something similar if cleaning becomes a pain). For some reason, they are generally stocked at hardware stores, not Walmarts and the like.
