Blueair - InvisibleMist™ Humidifier

Id recommend the Blueair H35i. its evaporative, so you wont deal with that nasty white dust from tap water, and the tank is dishwasher safe so cleaning is way less of a headache. Its usually right around your budget and has auto humidity control, so you can just set it near 45–50% and let it run without babysitting. You can find some good options [in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/user/SecureRich1212/comments/1nvesr8/the_best_humidifiers/ )

This is a super late comment, but just stumbled upon this thread, I LOVE my Blueair humidifier ! It’s on the pricier side…but to me it’s definitely worth it if you use the humidifier frequently. It’s an evaporative humidifier and it’s the easiest humidifier I’ve ever had to clean! I should mention that I honestly haven’t had it very long yet, but I use it pretty much all day everyday and haven’t had any issues! I’ve had quite a few humidifiers in my life and this is by far my favorite and most convenient. I highly recommend looking into the Blueair humidifier H35i model :) that’s the one I have and the base is even dishwasher safe which is super convenient. Blueair also has a 2 in 1 that is a humidifier and an air purifier that seems pretty nice and easy to clean as well, but that one is about double the price so I haven’t tried that one.

Also it comes with a 3 year warranty if you register it on Blueair within 30 days of purchasing which is definitely a plus!

I recently got a blue air humidifier- it uses a filter so you can put tap water in it. Also super easy to clean and doesn’t have little nooks and crannies like regular mist humidifiers. I almost go the carepod but hate having to use distilled/filtered water.

It’s the Blue Air Premium Smart Humidifier- I think it’s their only one that isn’t also an air purifier (I already had air purifiers)

Id go with the Blueair H35i. its easy to use, dishwasher safe for cleaning, and keeps humidity steady without much maintenance

Evaporative humidifiers are the way to go. I just got the BlueAir one a week or so ago (Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal on Amazon) and it seems pretty good so far. You can set a target humidity level and it'll try to maintain. It is a bit noisier at full fan speed compared to an ultrasonic one, but it's definitely not loud. If you're okay with the noise from a small room fan in the summer, this won't bug you.

For hard water Id skip most of the ultrasonic models since they'll leave that annoying “white dust” everywhere. The Blueair H35i is a safer bet because its evaporative, so minerals mostly stay in the filter instead of going into the air, and the tank can go straight in the dishwasher which makes cleaning way easier. If you’re on well water then thats the one I’d recommend. You can find some good options [in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/user/SecureRich1212/comments/1nvesr8/the_best_humidifiers/)

The humidifier will be costly to run (cost of electricity), because it works by boiling water. There are decent evaporative humidifiers, for example the ones from Blue Air. They are not noisy. They pump water silently over a wick and the water is exposed to UV light inside the pump housing to kill any mold or bacteria. These are not your grandmother’s ginormous, noisy, moldy console humidifier.