When is a cool mist humidifier good

It operates with both ultrasonic warm and cool mist so you can get the benefits of both. The handy humidity readout means you can easily know the status of the room without an additional meter. You can operate it with the panel's touch controls or the remote, adding a layer of convenience most lack.

Even better, it has an automatic mode to choose the mist level without your interference. This cool-mist model is perfect for bedrooms under square feet, and it has a tank capacity of just over a gallon. Our favorite feature about this humidifier is the humidistat. It will inform you of the humidity level in your room , and turn on or off based on your desired level. There is also a sleep mode setting that will turn off all lights — including the LED screen!

If you have asthma, then look no further than this Dyson humidifier that has been certified asthma- and allergy-friendly by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America AAFA.

With its ultraviolet light technology, this humidifier claims to kill The intelligent climate control feature helps maintain a steady level of humidity without over-humidifying, which can be bad for people with asthma. It comes in 16 different kid-friendly designs, including unicorn and alien themes. It's very quiet when operating, so it won't wake up your baby. With a one-gallon tank, this humidifier for babies adds moisture to the air for rooms up to square feet, and the base is also relatively easy to clean.

If you prefer a simpler design, try the Crane Drop Cool Mist version. With its compact design and shockingly quiet operation, you might forget you are using a humidifier. And as for the humidifier setting itself, reviewers are just as pleased. No more dry sinus problems. No more reaching for my inhaler in the dark in the middle of the night. The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments , rolling luggage , pillows for side sleepers , natural anxiety remedies , and bath towels.

Otherwise, the Levoit Classic has all of the same perks and flaws as many ultrasonic humidifiers, including quiet but buzzy operation and a slight chance of water puddling underneath. If you want an extremely effective evaporative humidifier that requires less-frequent cleaning and refilling than our other recommendations, consider the Venta LW25 Airwasher.

And in our tests, the LW25 consistently ranked high in humidification performance. Like our other evaporative picks, this model is suited to spaces that are the size of a large bedroom. Competitors require weekly cleaning. But Venta recommends that you rinse this unit every two weeks and thoroughly clean it every six months.

The earliest versions of this guide were written by John Holecek, a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher who has studied atmospheric physics and chemistry everywhere from the continental US to the Arctic to the remote island nation of the Maldives. Tim Heffernan took over in , building on that earlier research.

Tim has also written guides to air purifiers , water filtration systems , and more. If you are bothered by problems associated with dry air—dry sinuses, nosebleeds, cracked and sore lips, or shocks from static electricity—the air in your home is likely under-humidified. In most of the US, this is primarily a winter problem, especially in homes with forced-air heating systems, which can drive indoor humidity down to desert-like conditions. But dry air can also be an issue if you have radiators or other types of heating, because the relative humidity of cold winter air is generally lower than the air in the summer.

This will alleviate the symptoms listed above while discouraging mold and mildew growth, which can happen in excessively humid conditions. Proper humidification can also help slow the spread of airborne viruses, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2, aka the coronavirus. Humidifying your home involves more than just buying a machine and keeping it filled with water. This is the seventh iteration of this guide, so we went into it with considerable knowledge of what makes for a good humidifier, in terms of technology and design.

Because you generally have to interact with a humidifier daily to refill the tank, sometimes more than once, and then restart and reset it , these factors always weigh heavily in our decision on which machines to pick for testing. As always, we researched popular models on Amazon paying attention to both positive and negative reviews , consulted AllergyBuyersClub. We focused on portable humidifiers rated to cover between and square feet.

We limited our search to models that needed to be filled only once a day, which meant a minimum tank size of 1 gallon although we have made occasional exceptions. We also limited our search to ultrasonic and evaporative humidifiers, the two types you commonly see at retail.

Evaporative humidifiers work by taking advantage of the natural process of evaporation. The air from the room gets drawn in by a fan, then passes through a wet wick or a filter, which adds humidity to the air before it gets blown back into the room. This process gradually slows as the air gets wetter, which helps to prevent over-humidification of the space. The wick or filter also removes most of the minerals from your local water supply, eliminating the residue that ultrasonics can leave on nearby surfaces as a white, dust-like film.

Mechanically, these models are robust and virtually fail-proof, working much like a basic room fan—and sounding much the same, too. Even though evaporative models are mechanically simple, the maintenance process can be frustrating. The wicks need regular replacing every one to three months as they clog with minerals, or else they can become breeding grounds for mold and bacteria.

You need to clean the tank and internals once a week for the same reason. We favored models that made these tasks easy and inexpensive. Ultrasonic humidifiers use a rapidly vibrating diaphragm to launch microscopic droplets of liquid water into the air, where they quickly evaporate and become water vapor as they fall to the ground.

This is hardly disastrous, but it can be a little annoying. Ultrasonic models are typically easier to maintain than their evaporative counterparts, with no disposable wicks to replace. But they also have a tendency to over-humidify the air in a room, to the point that moisture condenses on floors, rugs, and furniture, and the whole room feels kind of like a fog.

Over time, this can also promote the growth of mold and mildew. Many ultrasonic models come with built-in humidistats to help avoid this problem. Ultrasonic and evaporative humidifiers are simple, effective, and energy-efficient machines.

And you can clean them both with ease depending on the specific model. Neither is necessarily better than the other; which one you pick just depends on your specific home or situation. Our testing procedures have remained largely the same since , although the exact locations have changed.

We set the test models up in an enclosed, square-foot room with the windows shut tight and the forced-air or other HVAC equipment deactivated. Then we turned the humidifiers on and let them run for four hours each time—first on medium or low, on 2-speed machines , and then again on high. Between tests, we reset the conditions by opening the windows, turning on a dehumidifier, and circulating drier air into the bedroom.

While we ran these tests, we measured quantitative factors to provide a common baseline of comparison between the models. We tracked the rate of humidification in the room as well as the accuracy of the humidistats, and other climate-based data, using a pair of Lascar high-accuracy USB data loggers.

For volume measurements, we relied on an audio spectrum analyzer app , recording our results in both dB-A and dB-C frequency weightings for added accuracy. Before, during, and after these tests, we also paid attention to certain qualitative factors, like the ease of cleaning the machines, the simplicity of operating them, and other details that made living with these high-maintenance machines as easy as possible.

We noted any difficulty opening, filling, and closing the tanks; this can be a pretty crucial factor, since most machines will need to be refilled at least once a day, if you run them constantly on a medium setting. Admittedly, our observations are subjective—we are, after all, fairly normal people who have to live and deal with these things just like anybody else.

But scrubbing a dozen humidifier tanks, filling them twice daily, and carrying them across a 1,square-foot apartment over and over all week does breed some familiarity. Our most recent tests were performed in the fall, in a garden-level Boston apartment with electric radiator heat. From —18, we tested in a New York City apartment that had hot water radiators.

But equally or perhaps more important: The HCM is affordable, simple to use, and extremely easy to live with. Some parts of the Honeywell are dishwasher-safe, and the tank can stand up on its own while it fills.

The HCM is still our consensus winner. The Honeywell HCM performs the most important task of a humidifier—raising the amount of moisture in the air—exceptionally well. In our real-world tests in both New York City and Boston, this model was able to consistently raise the humidity in the room by an average of We observed this in our tests, and these results accord with our earlier tests under controlled conditions.

Compared with other functionally similar evaporative models like the Canopy or our previous runner-up pick from SPT , the Honeywell HCM has a number of thoughtful design elements that make it much easier and more pleasant to use.

No other machine we tested had this feature; typical caps have smooth ridges around the rim that are slippery when wet. The HCM is also far easier to clean than many competitors. By contrast, both the Vornado EV our current also-great pick and the SPT SU our previous runner-up have only dishwasher-safe trays, which means you still need to manually scrub and sanitize all of the other parts, including the tank. You can easily adjust the settings even in the dark, which is handy if, as is common, you plan to use a humidifier in the bedroom.

Because evaporative humidifiers use a fan to blow air across the damp wick, they make a small amount of noise. Finally, many Wirecutter editors and writers own the Honeywell HCM, and they can vouch that this model is extremely durable over the long term. And the tank is blow-molded from a single, continuous piece of plastic like a milk jug. A Honeywell-endorsed Humidifier Tank Cleaner is also available from the same manufacturer.

These affordable, fish-shaped pods are said to help reduce bacteria build-up for up to 30 days. Though they're easy to clean, a downside is that cool mist humidifiers can accumulate bacteria growth more easily if not maintained properly.

Make sure to regularly clean your humidifier to prevent bacteria and mold growth. Cool mist can be accomplished in different ways, including evaporative and ultrasonic technologies:. Evaporative humidifiers use a fan to draw air through a wet wick or wick filters and then release the vapor into the air.

Upkeep is a bit arduous as you must replace the wick or filter regularly to prevent bacteria growth in the device. Ultrasonic humidifiers use a high-speed vibrating plate to turn water into a fine mist.

With smaller fans and no gurgling water, these are often the quietest option when it comes to cool mist humidifiers. Cleaning is also relatively simple just rinse the tank and internals , but you need to keep these raised off the ground to avoid puddling of the water. Bottom line: Both warm and cool mist humidifiers are effective at adding moisture to the air in your home, so they both are helpful in easing respiratory and sinus discomfort associated with colds, coughs, and other illnesses.

If you have children, our GH Institute pros recommend opting for a cool mist option, which poses zero burn risk for babies and curious pets. However, keep in mind that warm mist options are more effective at reducing bacteria and germs. Can't decide?