Best 11 Whole House Humidifiers

AIRCARE MA1201 Console Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

To start things off we’re going to talk about the Aircare MA1201 Evaporative Humidifier, a portable humidifier that can run for up to 36 hours before it needs refilling, has a tank capacity of 3.6 gallons, and has a coverage area of 3,600sq.ft. The latter is especially impressive considering its price in comparison with other humidifiers.

Aircare actually has a wide range of whole house humidifiers and they’re recognized as being one of the more popular manufacturers around at the moment. We have featured a number of their humidifiers on our list simply because in general, their products work well, are easy to maintain, and have better energy-efficiency compared to many other brands.

This humidifier runs on a voltage of 120v and its humidistat will instantly detect when the humidity levels in your home are lower than what is considered to be ideal. When needed, your humidifier will turn on and operate until those humidity levels have reached when the desired levels have been reached. The only other occasion this unit will switch off is when the unit has no more water and needs refilling.

Light and mobile due to casters on the bottom, the Aircare MA1201 comes with 4 fan speeds, an easy to read digital display that will keep you informed of current humidity levels and will also remind you when you need to refill the water or check the filter.

Aircare EP9 800 Digital Whole House Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

Next up we have another from Aircare – we did warn you that there’d be a few! This one is the elegant and stylish looking Aircare EP9 800 Digital Whole House Evaporative Humidifier. There are some differences between this and the last humidifier and no, not just by how they look. This one is not designed to be overly portable, it will offer coverage of 2,400sq. ft, and will run for as long as 60 hours for starters.

It’s also a little more expensive but that is probably more down to its stylish design and the many additional features that it has. Designed to be placed in a room and left, rather than being moved around when you see fit, the design of it would make it look appealing no matter your homes décor. It can even double as a small table or bedside cabinet.

Like the previous Aircare MA1201, this has a 3.5-gallon water capacity but instead of being able to run for up to 36 hours, the EP9 800 can give you up to 60 hours continuous running when needed. Another area where it’s slightly improved is that it has 9-fan speeds instead of three but other than that, it pretty much has the same features.

A digital display will allow you to either manually control the humidifier or customize your preferred settings for it to run automatically. Here you’ll also be able to see the current humidity and temperature in your home. The different fans speed really do help to increase the speed at which you can increase humidity levels in your home.

Honeywell Drum HE120A Whole House Humidifier

Editors Rating

Honeywell is another well-known manufacturer of whole house humidifier and their He120A is the most expensive on our list so far. This is not by too much however, which considering drum bypass-type humidifiers are renowned for being the most expensive type, this is actually quite a good sign. As you’ll see later, drum humidifiers can sometimes cost as much as four times this unit.

Like other drum humidifiers, this works by being mounted on your furnace and works alongside it to keep your homes humidity levels in check. Installation is not as complicated as you might think and an installation kit is shipped along with it to ensure that you know what you need to do.

Ideal for small to medium sized homes and rooms, the HE120A the humidifier comes with a humidistat which is what you’re going to use to control it. It does not have as many features as other drum humidifiers but we feel that this is reflected in the price. All said and done, this is an excellent cheap Honeywell whole house humidifier that will do a solid job of keeping your home at the required humidity levels.

Aircare EA1208 Console-Style Evaporative Whole House Humidifier

Editors Rating

If you’re not in the market for a drum humidifier and would rather have something that’s far more portable or you simply don’t have the correct heating system to accommodate one, the Aircare EA1208 Evaporative Whole House Humidifier.

What we like about this humidifier and Aircare humidifiers, in general, is that they really focus on the aesthetic nature of their products almost as much as they do on the quality humidified air that they produce. This looks like an espresso machine which means it’d look fantastic sat in your kitchen or bedroom.

As for the technical stuff, this evaporative humidifier is able to cover a good 2,400 square feet, it holds 3.5 gallons of water, and can run for up to 45 hours before it needs to be refilled. To do the latter, all you need to do is open the pour-in cap on the front of the humidifier and start pouring in your water. If you’re unsure on when it needs a refill – not to worry as the innovative digital touch screen display will be sure to let you know. It’ll also let you know when it’s about time to check and change the filter.

Using that touch screen, you’ll also be able to check the temperature and humidity in the room and fine-tune your own customized settings and when to shut it off. This will allow it to work automatically if you decide you’d rather not have to turn it on and off manually.

Summing up, if you wanted a stylish humidifier on wheels that if highly effective at bringing your homes humidity levels to where they need to be, the Aircare EA1208, like many Aircare humidifiers is well worth checking out.

Aprilaire 500 Whole House Humidifier

Editors Rating

The first of a couple of Aprilaire whole house humidifiers that feature in our list of the best 11, is that of the Aprilaire 500. A bypass drum humidifier, this works in tandem with your furnace and heating ducts to send humidity throughout your entire home. With coverage of 3,000 square foot, this will be more than enough to be sufficient for a small to medium sized home.

Control of this humidifying system can either be done manually or via a convenient digital control screen. If you wanted to set up some customized humidification settings and let it run on autopilot you can do so easily. You can also set when you whether you ever want it to run when your furnace is running or even when it’s not. Additionally, you’ll be warned whenever you might need to change out the water panel when the system is in need of a service and the current humidity percentage.

As well as all the splendid functions and the obvious quality in performance, we also have to say that we find the design to be pretty attractive too. Sure, this is not going to be the biggest priority when choosing a drum humidifier but some of them do look a little on the ugly side. This is well-designed and at least it looks and feels sturdy.

As for the price, we think it’s about right. It’s a little more than some but a little less than others. When you consider the benefits of whole house humidifiers on the whole, especially health benefits, the price is actually tiny.

Aircare H12-400HB Whole House Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

You just have to love the designs of some of these portable Aircare whole house evaporative humidifiers. The Aircare H12-400HB has been designed with an oak finish which will alow out to fit right in if you have similar oak furnisher in your home. We find it refreshing that they factor in the look of their units while other brands are quite happy to have their humidifiers looking bland and unattractive.

As for how it performs, the Aircare H12-400Hb will give you humidifying coverage of around 3,700 square foot. That is good for a small home and perhaps even a medium sized home at a push. It will run for a good 45-hours and will be able to provide an output capacity of 12 gallons per day.

We found it to work efficiently well to keep humidity levels up to speed and that was even when using just the lowest of the four-speed setting on the fan. Of course, the faster the fan, the quicker your desired humidity levels will be reached and this can all be changed up via the digital display.

When it comes to refilling this attractive humidifier, this can be done easily via an included hose in your nearest sink. This is not the most ideal method for refilling which is a slight negative but for the money, the look, the performance, and the fact that this is a wheeled-humidifier that can be pushed around easily, we’re willing to ignore it.

Aircare 4DTS900 Console Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

Aircare is back with yet another of their highly stylish but incredibly effective portable whole house evaporative humidifiers and this one has been given a beautiful brushed nickel finish to go along with the excellent benefits that it will bring to your health.

The Aircare 4DTS900 is one of their more expensive models but this is likely to be because of the 5.7 gallons of water it can hold, its runtime of up to 48 hours, and the 9-speed fan that you can use to determine the speed at which your home gets humidified. Coverage of 3,600 square feet means that it can output more than enough humidity to keep a small home well humidified and with durable casters, mobility is never going to be an issue.

Like the other Aircare humidifiers, you’re able to control the settings via a touchscreen. You can decide to set your own custom humidity levels or let it automatically decide for you, tell it when to automatically shut off, and you’ll also receive important notifications such as when it needs to be refilled with water.

You have to hand it to Aircare, they really know how to develop high-quality whole home humidifiers that not only perform great but look the part as well.

Aprilaire 800 Whole House Steam Humidifier

Editors Rating

if you have a large home that needs to be humidified, you’re not going to find much better than the Aprilaire 800 Whole House Steam Humidifier. As the only steam humidifier on our list, and also the most expensive of all of the humidifiers, it stands to reason that this should have the best coverage. With 6,200 square feet of coverage, it certainly does manage that.

Particularly effective in homes that are in a dry desert climate, this humidifier will be able to add as much as 34.6 gallons of humidity to the air in your home on a daily basis.

Simple to install and use, this humidifier and its humidistat will monitor the levels of humidity in your home and automatically take action to bring them to the required levels. Unlike drum humidifiers, this steam humidifier will function independently from your homes HVAC system. It still connects to your ductwork and works by simply injecting steamed air into your ducts when required.

Other benefits to using this humidifier over any other are the fact that it’s easy to maintain – all you need to do Is replace the steam canister when needed. As its primarily automatic, operating it easy too although you could opt to operate it manually if you so choose.

All said and done, while this is a very expensive whole house humidifier, in terms of pure performance and coverage, there are not many others that can come close.

Aircare 696 400HB Whole House Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

You’d be forgiven for thinking we work for Aircare in some capacity considering how many of their whole house humidifiers are on our list but truthfully, they’re just up there with the best in the business. The Aircare 696 400HB is another good example as it once again provides a good combination of performance and design.

Providing a solid coverage of up to 3,600 square feet, a small to medium-sized home will have no trouble achieving its desired humidity. Its smart design means that you don’t have to have another ugly appliance in your home as it would not look out of place due to its classy finish. In fact, it would go well in just about any room in the house.

This humidifier can hold up to 5.4 gallons of water and when it comes to refilling, you’ll be notified by a refill light on the humidistat. There’s a hose provided with this humidifier so that you’ll be able to fill it back up a little easier. The digital display will keep you informed of current humidity and temperature levels and when you need to swap something out like a filter.

All in all, a great humidifier, as per usual from Aircare and the cherry on top is the fact that you get a 2-year warranty with your purchase.

Aircare H12600 Digital Whole House Evaporative Humidifier

Editors Rating

We started our list with an Aircare, scattered a bunch more of them throughout the middle, and now we’re going to spoil the trend by not finishing with an Aircare and instead of having it as our penultimate humidifier. The Aircare H12600 Whole House Evaporative Humidifier is one of the cheapest in their range but this does not seem to be at much expense when it comes to quality.

Once again, this humidifier has a stylish look to it and it would certainly compliment many a home’s décors. It’s also fairly lightweight and mobile and the dimensions are slightly smaller than some of their other models. Despite that, in terms of specifications, it’s pretty much on a par with most of them. It has good coverage of around 3,700 square feet and that should be enough to keep a small home well humidified.

Its daily output is a little lower at 11.9 gallons but this is not by much while a 5.4-gallon reservoir will keep you going for a good length of time. All of the controls for this Aircare can be found hidden behind a panel on the top and this will allow you to set customizable settings or simply operate it manually.

Cleaning this particular humidifier is very easy as well as you simply lift off the power unit from the top of the humidifier so that you can get cleaning in a safe manner. Last but not least is the fact that you can choose between four different fans speeds to increase the speed at which your room or home becomes humidified.

Honeywell HE280A Whole House Humidifier

Editors Rating

Drum whole house humidifiers are renowned for being a little tricky to install in general, and most of the time you’ll probably need to call in a professional. With the Honeywell HE280A however, the installation kit provided ensures that you’re given clear instructions on how to do it yourself. In fact, as long as your furnace and cooling systems are compatible, you’ll have yours set up within 3-hours.

Once you’re done, you’ll be able to enjoy the 3,000 square foot of humidity coverage throughout your home as it’s sent through your air ducts all over your property. Within just six hours of your first use, Honeywell claims that you’ll immediately see an increase in your humidity levels of up to 25%.

Through the humidistat, your drum humidifier will now automatically monitor and control your homes humidity levels – as much as you let it anyhow. You can set it to your very own customized preferences, tell it to shut off once it gets to a predefined level, and even to operate when your furnace is not turned on.

We really like this drum humidifier especially at its price and while we recommend you still check out other options, you’re not going to be going very wrong by choosing this one.