DreamWell Humidifier 2 Gallon

I have 4 small (one 2-gallon, 3 1-gallon) BlueAir evaporative humidifiers running 24/7. They are set to a desired humidity level (I have to lie to them a bit, but there’s a reason). I don’t screw with fan speed controls (the fan speed adjust automatically to maintain the desired humidity) nor timers. They only consume about 5 W each. I’m not worried about saving the electricity and it’s better just to have them going all the time. Unfortunately, I cannot particularly recommend BlueAir. It’s a very clever design, and the newer Dream Well models are better designed than the older H 35I, but it seems they still have mechanical bugs to work out. In current weather – hovering around 0F – I need to fill the 1 gallon ones every single day. So that is what you are getting yourself into if you were going to properly humidify. I have mine distributed around the house, one in each room, except for the kitchen and the bathroom. I don’t have much of a choice in the matter because I do not have a forced-air system. I have steam heat. And so FWIW, the reason I have to lie to the humidifiers is because I have placed them near radiators which increases the heat locally, and thus increases the humidity in the vicinity of the radiator, but that doesn’t represent the humidity in the room as a whole. Now, do you see why I am trying to talk you out of this if you do have the option of adding a humidifier to your forced-air system? I would suggest asking the same question in a sub about HVAC. Your problem is not specific to century homes. Be specific, and post pictures. Copy/paste what HVAC techs wrote (if they did) as to why this is “impossible”. A lot of of them just don’t like to work on old houses - you need to find the gems who will, and who are in fact expert at it. My neighbors who have newer (but still old just not as old as the steam age lol) homes seem to be happy with their humidifiers incorporated into their forced natural gas furnace systems. And all of them have it because it is necessary in the winter here. What a joy it would be not to have to carry humidifiers back-and-forth to the sink every single day! And yes, you could choose just to top them up – you might want to use a watering can to help prevent spilling on the floor. But if you don’t empty the remainder out of the humidifier, and at least wipe the inner surface of the reservoir, even evaporative humidifiers will get yucky eventually. One of the actually good things about the blue airs is that they say that the reservoirs are dishwasher safe. I haven’t felt the need to put them in the dishwasher though because simply wiping them down each time they are filled seems sufficient.

I did some research and bought Blueair Dreamwell. But it is not problem free either, just sounded better than the others. We wanted an evaporative device with filters.

Blueair evaporative humidifier. You just have to wash the tank with soap and water once a week. Very easy, easy to fill, no mold.

Blueair evaporative humidifier is more expensive, but upkeep is SO EASY. You use regular tap water (doesn’t even have to be filtered), and the only cleaning is washing out the tub once a week with soapy water—like washing a big bowl. No tubes or corners to grow mold. And, to add water you pour it through the vents in the top, so you can’t have to carry a big reservoir around. I use mine just at night, and the filter is going to last two years for me. I don’t have a chronic illness, but I am someone who struggles to keep up with maintaining regular life things, and this humidifier has been a game-changer for me.

I have a blueair evaporative humidifier that I've been happy with this winter season. Cloud integration isn't the best long term, but at least for now it integrates well.

Didn’t do a thing. I returned it. Tried BlueAir evaporative next and also didn’t love. Ended up with Levoit sprout. I like it a lot.

I got the Blueair smart humidifer recently - can recommend that one. Avoid Levoit as their customer support is non-existent - I had to return the 6000S as it stopped working after 2 days

I got the stupidly expensive blueair because Wirecutter said it was easy to clean and can go in the dishwasher.  But then a big snow storm hit and shipping was delayed so I quick got the frida to tide us over. It doesn't look easy to clean! We haven't yet needed to, and it was cheap enough that we'll probably just run it into the ground.  The humidifier didn't stop the noises, but it did solve the congestion due to dry passages. And my nose feels so much better as an added bonus. I'm glad I got the humidifier and wish I had gone ahead and ordered one when I first put it on my list.