Managing the humidity level in your home is a simple way to help safeguard your family's health while protecting your home's structure from the damaging effects of too-dry air.
Humidifiers introduce moisture into dry air as an invisible mist, increasing the indoor humidity levels for a more comfortable environment. Adding a humidifier for winter helps ease physical discomfort caused by winter heating, and they also alleviate respiratory problems and protects household furnishings year-round.
- Why Do You Need a Humidifier?
- What Size Humidifier Do You Need?
- Choosing the Right Humidifier
- How Much Does a Humidifier Cost?
- Maintenance and Care
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you need a humidifier?
Whether you live in a perpetually dry climate or your home tends to be much drier during winter due to the use of heat, dry indoor air can be the cause of these annoying and potentially harmful conditions.
- Dry Sinus Passages
- Bloody Noses
- Cracked Lips
- Sore, Scratchy Throat
- Dry, Scaly Skin
Humidifiers help alleviate these dry air symptoms with added benefits:
- Soothing Moisture: The moisturizing mist that a humidifier adds to the air soothes breathing passages, making it easier for air to pass through.
- Respiratory Medication: Some humidifiers feature special medicine cups that release respiratory medications into the air along with the mist.
- Home Interior: Dry air can cause peeling in wallpaper and paint, and contracting or warping in wood flooring and furniture. Regularly running a humidifier will eliminate these problems.
- Static Electricity: Eliminate unexpected shocks and prevent damage to electrical equipment.
- Valuables: Humidifiers can protect musical instruments and fine art from damage.
Read our article Understanding Relative Humidity to learn more about humidity and the importance of monitoring it indoors.
What size humidifier do you need?
Deciding whether you need focused humidification for a single room or the whole house is one of the most essential steps in choosing a humidifier.
Standalone Humidifiers: These humidifiers plug into standard residential electrical outlets and can be tabletop humidifiers for adding moisture to single rooms. Larger console humidifiers that humidify multiple rooms or whole homes are also available.
- Small-to-Medium-Sized Spaces: A tabletop or room humidifier is an excellent choice for bedrooms, nurseries, and home offices. These are often compact, portable, and long-running models.
- Large Areas and Multiple Rooms: Add moisture to larger common areas or open-plan, multiple rooms with a console or standalone unit, which are well-suited to the task.
HVAC/Ducted Humidifiers: Installed directly onto your home's heating and cooling system, HVAC/ducted humidifiers use your home's existing ductwork to disperse moisture. Learn more about whole-house humidifiers in our Furnace Humidifier Buying Guide.
Whole-House Humidification: A whole-home humidifier is an ideal option for homes or offices with a significant need for moisture. These humidifiers are installed directly onto a central HVAC or furnace system and connected to the water line.
Choosing the Right Humidifier
Humidifiers add moisture to the air in different ways and are available in multiple types with varying benefits and drawbacks, so figuring out what kind of humidifier you need depends on a few factors.
- Cool mist humidifiers disperse a room-temperature mist that generally covers larger areas and uses less electricity than other types. They do contain more moving parts and can be slightly noisier. These can be ultrasonic or evaporative humidifiers.
- Warm mist humidifiers contain a heating element that warms the water and releases it into your room as warm, comfortable moisture. Because they use heat, they may use slightly more electricity than other humidifiers and are generally not child- or pet-safe. Some warm mist humidifiers are also known as steam humidifiers. This type is a great winter humidifier option, as the warm mist helps keep you cozy and comfortable.
- Evaporative humidifiers are some of the most popular types, as they use a wick filter to absorb water from a reservoir to release moisture into your space.
- Ultrasonic humidifiers use high-frequency sound waves to vibrate a ceramic disc to turn water into mist. They are available in both cool and warm mist types and are known as the quietest humidifiers on the market.
How Much Does a Humidifier Cost?
Humidifiers can vary significantly in price depending on the type you need, whether a whole-home model that connects to your HVAC system or a simple tabletop unit. Here are some specific price ranges for the various styles of humidifiers available:
Whole-House Humidifiers
An actual whole-house humidifier connects to your HVAC or furnace system and is sized for small, medium, and large homes. Some large console humidifiers that can humidify small homes are freestanding and designed to look more like furniture.
- Steam: Homes 3,000 to 4,000 square feet: $400 to $720; homes 6,200 square feet: $800 to $1,600.
- Bypass: About $140 for small homes to $370 for large homes.
- Freestanding Console: From about $125 for small homes to $220 for large homes.
- Fan-Powered: From $200 for small homes to $750 for large homes.
Freestanding Multi-Room Humidifiers: These larger models are placed on the floor and can humidify larger areas or multiple rooms. Prices range from about $70 to $220. Some include air purification and can run about $600.
- Single Room Humidifiers: These are ideal for any single room and are available in various sizes in freestanding and tabletop styles. Prices can range from $40 to $350.
Note: These average costs are only for the humidifiers and do not include installation or labor fees or estimated monthly costs.
Maintenance and Care
Clean your humidifiers every few days or at least once a week. Consult your owner's manual for more information about the cleaning schedule. Regular maintenance routines usually include the following:
- Cleaning the water tank ensures mold, mildew, and bacteria aren't growing inside.
- Check the misting outlets to ensure that moisture can flow easily.
- Evaporative humidifiers utilize an internal wick filter that absorbs the water, creating a cool mist. These wick filters will require replacement from time to time.
- If using a humidifier for winter, ensure it is completely clean and dry before storing it in Spring.
Read our Tips for Maintaining Your Humidifier article for more information on humidifier maintenance.
Humidifier Frequently Asked Questions
How does a humidifier work?
Humidifiers add moisture to indoor air using one of three methods. Evaporative humidifiers pull water through a wicking filter and use a fan to push air through it, releasing moisture as the water evaporates. Ultrasonic humidifiers vibrate a small disc at high frequency to break water into a fine, invisible mist. Steam (warm mist) humidifiers heat water to a boil and release it as a warm vapor. The right type depends on room size, noise tolerance, and whether you prefer a cool or warm mist.
What size humidifier do I need?
Sizing comes down to the square footage of the space, not the room type. Check the manufacturer's coverage range, listed in square feet in the product specs. A single tabletop or console humidifier typically covers a bedroom, office, or living room, while console and ducted whole-house humidifiers are built for much larger areas — sometimes an entire home.
What does humidifier capacity mean?
Capacity is how much moisture a humidifier can put out in 24 hours — not how much water its tank holds. Two humidifiers with similar-sized tanks can have very different capacities, so compare output specs, not just reservoir size, when choosing one for your space.
What is the ideal humidity level for a home?
The EPA recommends keeping indoor relative humidity between 30 and 50 percent. Above 60 percent creates conditions where mold, dust mites, and bacteria thrive; below 30 percent, cold and flu viruses spread more easily, and dry air can irritate your respiratory system. A humidifier with a built-in hygrometer or humidistat makes it easier to stay in that range.
What's the best humidifier for a bedroom?
Ultrasonic humidifiers are usually the best fit for bedrooms and nurseries because they run without a fan, keeping noise as low as about 32 decibels, roughly the volume of a whisper. Steam humidifiers are also quiet, since a heating element does the work instead of a fan, with some models running under 35 decibels.
When should you not use a humidifier?
Skip the humidifier if your home already sits above 50 percent relative humidity; pushing past 60 percent invites mold, bacteria, and dust mites. If you have allergies or asthma, make sure the unit is cleaned and disinfected often, since a dirty humidifier can do more harm than good.
Where is a whole-house humidifier installed?
Whole-house humidifiers are ducted units connected to your furnace system, installed on the vertical or horizontal warm air supply or the cold air return plenum. Because installation ties into your HVAC system, it's worth consulting the owner's manual or a professional installer before setup.
Still Have Questions?
Before buying a humidifier, determine how much space you need to moisturize, and choose one that can cover the space. If it will be a seasonal winter humidifier, a smaller model may be easier to move around, maintain, and store in the warmer months. Consider which type best fits your lifestyle and which will be easy to maintain.
For additional help choosing the best humidifier for your environment, contact one of our product experts toll-free at 1-800-934-9194.
