I need a Humidifier recommendation

[GreenMTBoy]

I'm looking to buy a humidifier for my practice room,it is about 335 sq ft .
Anyone have a recommendation for a good one in the $100. range??
Thank You
Tom

[mandobassman]

For the last several years I have been using the really nice ultrasonic humidifiers from Holes and Crane to humidify 3 rooms in my house throughout the Winter. They work great, are easy to use and maintain, don't use filters and are very quiet. However, I have yet to have one last the entire Winter without breaking. After going through five of them in the last three years, I decided to try something different. After all, it gets expensive at $50 - $70 each. This year we bought 3 Vicks Steam Vaporizers and have used them in the same places I used the humidifiers. They work great. I have humidity guages in each room and these Vaporizers have worked very well at keeping the humidty above 45% all Winter. Just fill it with water each night and clean it every week or two and it has worked flawless. The best part is the cost is anywhere between $13 and $18, so if one does happen to go bad, it's not much to replace it.

http://www.target.com/p/vicks-1-5-ga...FQIOOgodcR0Ayw

[mandodan1960]

My experience with this very unit h

[mandodan1960]

Larry my experience with this unit has been a little different. It stops working when only half of the water has been used. It also creates black flecks of charcoal? In the water. Perhaps a filter coming apart? Will steam for approx 5-6 hr. I take it you haven,t had these issues

[Jakerex]

I bought this one at the beginning of winter.
http://www.iallergy.com/product_info...oducts_id=1784
I keep it in my smaller 12x20 basement game room where my furnace cold air return is. I keep it on low, set to continually run, and with my cheapo hygrometer the basement room stays at 30% humidity if the temperatures are 20 degrees ferinheight or lower outside, 40% when it's 35 or so outside, and 50% when it's 50 outside. Again, that's running on low. The outside temp matters because, as stated earlier, this room is where my furnace pulls it's cold air from to run, so the colder out, the more air the furnace pulls air from the room. I would think if I put this in a room without an air return that it would be able to keep that room at 50%, on low, using the thermostat so it only runs 1/2 of the time without a problem. When it's 50 outside and my furnace don't run, it will keep the room at 55-60%. But it does have a thermostat that cane be used. I live in western PA, so we haven't had many 50 degree days this winter! Low gets me about 10-12 hours of run time. It fills from the top. I just keep a 1 gallon water jug handy and bring water to it that way. It's kinda of a pain to clean the heating element, but they all are. I have had to clean the element twice since the beginning of winter and it has run 24/7. No problems with it whatsoever I bought this at walmart. It was about $60-70.

[Mandodork]

I bought a 12 gallon evaporative one (#15412) at Sears about 10 years ago. It still works great. It has a digital humidity sensor, that keeps the humidity level steady.

I buy a new filter every year ($15) and it keeps my practice room properly humidified and the rest of the house as well. It doesn't require filling very often and runs very quietly on the lowest fan setting.

Before that I had a ultrasonic one that, unless you use distilled water, left white dust everywhere.

[Folkmusician.com]

Of note, most humidifiers are rated at the amount of humidity they can introduce, not the tank size. So a 400sq ft humidifier may have to be filled multiple times per day to maintain a 400sq ft area. From my experience, you want something rated at twice the sq footage of the room.

I have been happy with is an old Essick we have used for years (too large for a single room). We occasionally give it a thourough cleaning and change the filters and it does a great job. On low, it still gets a good amount of airflow through it without being overly loud.

We bought a Honeywell Quietair last year and while it seems to work well at humidifying, it is nowhere near quiet!

If I could swallow the price, I would get a Venta Airwasher, BUT, these are not exactly inexpensive.

[BlueMt.]

I'm with Mandobassman, I've tried multiple types of humidifiers and the Vick's steamers are the best option for me; everything else gets clogged by our hard water. The Vick's also eventually clog but at least they're cheap to replace. They do create some kind of black residue in the tank but mine run almost to the bottom unless they're about to die. They usually last all winter.

[GreenMTBoy]

Thanks everyone for their recommendations .
I looked up the Venta Airwasher Humidifier on Amazon,it gets like 5 star reviews from just about everyone .
As a bit of a collector of old BMW motorcycles I very much like the fact that it is made in Germany .
I think I may save up my penny's and get a Venta Airwasher Humidifier LW25 @$260.its more then double then I wanted to spend ....but we all know how that song goes,you know what they say...you get what you pay for.

[DCHammers]

Doing a search on case humidifiers as my 1917 Gibson is showing some issues, possibly related to humidity. But saw the remark regarding Venta room humidifier and wanted to say that they are totally worth the extra dollars. Before Venta I could get maybe two years out of a humidifier and I've been running this one for 12 years now and it is still going strong. Also easy to clean and run.

[Chuck Leyda]

I like evaporative humidifiers. This one has been helping us through some cold temps where the heat is cranking. Should be good for 350 sq feet.https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ivancook]

Great for a small room...

https://www.honeywellstore.com/store...te-hcm-710.htm

[darylcrisp]

i've had these two for a couple years. purchased at lowes. adjustable for fan speeds, humidity level. i keep the fan speeds on 2 which are pretty quiet(automatic setting can be loud at times when it kicks in-like a jet taking off-lol). usually have 45% humidity dialed in, they will run off and on to maintain that. usually fill the large one with a 5 gallon bucket each morning, the smaller upright takes about a gallon a day. there are filters, changed around 1.5 months. they've worked fine for years. keep hygrometers in each room of the house to moniter the levels. we don't wake up with stopped up/nosebleeds, and our skin doesn't show typical winter dryness, animals sleep and seem better also.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/AIRCARE-Ped...eet/1000036085

https://www.lowes.com/pd/AIRCARE-Hor...eet/1000106417

[darylcrisp]

Thanks everyone for their recommendations .
I looked up the Venta Airwasher Humidifier on Amazon,it gets like 5 star reviews from just about everyone .
As a bit of a collector of old BMW motorcycles I very much like the fact that it is made in Germany .
I think I may save up my penny's and get a Venta Airwasher Humidifier LW25 @$260.its more then double then I wanted to spend ....but we all know how that song goes,you know what they say...you get what you pay for.

I spent some time in woodstock Vermont back in 1986 if memory serves. Went to Peter Picketts BMW Wheelshop to acquire certification for mechanic levels on BMW motorcycles(airheads). Saw your mention and your location, wondered if you are old enough to know/remember Peter, if so, is he still around, and is the wheelshop still there?
He married a lady with 2 sons, and they lived in a beautiful old reclaimed grinding mill that was then a house-very wide lumber all thru the house, thinking 1800's vintage. A few years later one of the sons opened an Orvis shop in woodstock. thats about all i remember. love to hear anything you know regarding Peter or the shop.
d