How do evaporative humidifiers work
Evaporative humidifiers work differently than misting humidifiers that put a mist of moisture in the air. Evaporative humidifiers typically use a wicking system. The wicking filter pulls water up from a reservoir, and then an internal fan blows air over the wet wick, making the water evaporate. This evaporated water turns into humidity in your air.
Features to consider while choosing an evaporative humidifier
The best evaporative humidifier is one that meets all of your humidity needs, including coverage area, runtime, noise level, and dimensions to make sure it will fit in the space you would like to place it. The below qualities will help you choose the best evaporative air humidifier for you and your home.
Coverage area
Coverage area may actually be the most important aspect when considering which humidifier is best for you. If you get a humidifier that is too small for your space, it won’t put enough moisture into the air, making it practically useless. If you get one too big, it could take up too much room in your space, be too loud, or possibly even put too much moisture into the air. Also, units with more coverage areas are typically larger and more expensive.
If you are looking for a humidifier for a large space, you may want to consider our Budget Pick, the Honeywell Cool Moisture Console Humidifier which can cover multiple rooms. Or if you’re looking for a humidifier for a single room or small space, look at the OPOLAR EV01.
Water tank capacity
Water tank capacity is important for a variety of reasons. Larger tanks can hold more water, which means the unit may be able to add more moisture to your space. It also typically means you have to refill your humidifier less frequently and often means that the unit can run for long periods of time without being monitored.
Humidifiers that can hold more water, though, often have more than one tank. Which means more cleaning. And water tank capacity often correlates with the size of the humidifier: smaller humidifiers have smaller tanks, and larger ones have larger tanks, so keep your space in mind when trying to decide which is the best evaporative air humidifier for your home.
If you want a unit with a large water tank capacity, look no further than the Vornado Evap40 which holds an amazing four gallons of water in its tanks.
Runtime
Runtime is a setting that is useful for those users who don’t want to refill their humidifier regularly, because they are frequently out of the house, or because they want to use the humidifier while sleeping. The good news is that most humidifiers, even the smaller ones, will provide at least 12 hours of runtime, but this often depends on the fan and moisture setting. If you want a lot of moisture overnight, make sure the model you choose has a runtime that matches your preferred humidity setting and fan speed.
For the humidifier with the longest runtime, the AIRCARE MA1201 has an astonishing 36 hours of runtime. It is also our Editor’s Choice model.
Number of settings/speeds
Some people prefer a lot of different settings and speeds, and some people don’t. Fan speed setting can change how quickly or how slowly moisture is added to your air. Moisture settings can also let you choose how much moisture you want added to your room.
If these setting are important to you, make sure you choose a model that lets you choose the specific humidity settings you want.
Our Budget Pick is the Honeywell Cool Moisture Console Humidifier has an adjustable humidistat, which means the unit will automatically turn on or off to meet the setting you’ve chosen for your space.
Noise level
Noise level is another category that is very important for some people, and not as important for others.
If you are going to use your humidifier in a nursery, or in your bedroom and you plan to run it while you’re sleeping, then noise level may be one of the most important considerations when choosing which is the best evaporative humidifier to meet your needs. But for some people, the humidifier is stationed out of the way and therefore the noise level does not matter as much for them.
If the noise level is an important concern for you, then consider the OPOLAR EV01. Which, while small, is specifically designed to be used in nurseries and bedrooms and is our choice for the best evaporative humidifier for babies.
Dimensions and weight
If you have a small house, you’ll most likely want a smaller humidifier to fit in that space. But if you’ve got a large room that needs moisture added to the air, then perhaps a unit with larger dimensions will better meet your needs. And if you plan to move your unit from room to room, or to different spaces, then weight should be a consideration, too.
If you’re looking for a robust, large unit, then check out the AIRCARE MA1201 or the Honeywell Cool Moisture Console Humidifier. And for smaller spaces, look no further than the OPOLAR EV01 which is our choice for best single-room humidifier evaporative.
Warranty
Hopefully, you will never need to rely on the warranty for your evaporative air humidifier, but sometimes accidents happen, or you use a product so much that you wear it out before you expected. The good news is that most evaporative humidifiers do come with a warranty, anywhere from a year in length to something longer. If a warranty is important to you, then look no further than the Venta LW25 which has an astonishing ten-year limited warranty, which really cannot be beaten in terms of warranties for evaporative humidifiers.
If your humidifier doesn’t work as intended or is damaged in some manner, the warranty will help you get your humidifier repaired, or even replaced as necessary.
Extra features
Humidifiers come with a variety of extra features, from automatic shut-offs, LED displays to ease of cleaning and other settings. It’s important to remember, though, that sometimes extra features can cause problems as well. For example, LED lights that always remain on, like with the OPOLAR EV01, means it may not be the best humidifier for a nighttime sleeper who needs complete darkness.
The Venta LW25, however, is actually a two-in-one humidifier and purifier. It is the only model on our list that prioritizes not just humidity, but also air purification, removing dust, pollen, dander, and other allergens from the air as it humidifies.
How to maintain an evaporative humidifier
Depending on the model of evaporative humidifier you choose, maintenance may be barely anything at all, to a regular annoyance. Most of the models use filters, which means they either need to be regularly replaced, or regularly cleaned.
If you’d rather take the time to clean a filter than putting up the money to buy new ones, then the OPOLAR EV01 is probably your best bet because it has a permanent filter that can be easily cleaned with household chemicals and water.
If you don’t like the idea of filters at all, the Venta LW25 is filterless and easy to clean, but you may need to use special chemicals to clean the unit.
If you’d rather not clean as frequently, then choose a model with disposable filters, and you can throw them away and replace with new ones as needed.
Finally, filter cleanliness has much to do with the quality of water you’re using in your humidifier. If you have tap water that is very hard, or full of minerals, consider using distilled water in your humidifier to limit the amount of buildup on your filters.
