Honeywell - Soothing Comfort Warm Mist Tabletop Humidifier (HWM845, HWM845B, HWM845BR1)

I was recently in the same boat and after returning some expensive ultrasonic units, I settled for Honeywell HWM845. I use hard water from my tap, rinse out the deposits and wipe with a wet towel every other day; and deep clean with vinegar once a week. Caution that you WILL see lot of deposit, but at least it’s just minerals and none of it in the air for your child. My takeaway is there are no low-maintenance humidifiers, so I picked one that was easy to clean (no filter headaches). Vicks also has a very similar model if you can’t find this exact one.

Agreed, I also have a Honeywell warm mist, huge fan. If you have an open floor plan, you'll likely need multiple to effectively humidify but they're well worth it. In my bedroom at night I shut the door to trap the humidity. I clean mine every other week, because it makes the cleaning easier, using vinegar and bleach. The maintenance isn't my favorite but I can comfortably get my office and bedroom to 40% humidity and it feels great. Oh, and I run ceiling fans to help distribute and make sure not to place them right up against walls.

Not sure why it needs to be those three, I have 4 Honeywell warm humidifier that works well around my home.

they are fine. If you have the ability to do the steam one its insanely good at getting moisture in the air and cost effective. The hot water loopback ones are pretty good, mine will keep my house maintained if I cycle the fan.

honestly, you want either a steam powered humidifier if you have the money and forced air to do it, or if you have to get something else, make sure its a HOT water humidifier. The ultrasonic humidifiers are pretty much useless in CO and waste a lot of energy. I have two Honeywell hot air humidifiers that can handle about 1000 sq ft each.

The ultrasonic "cool mist" humidifiers are lower-maintenance but I prefer my Honeywell warm mist one. It evaporates about 2 gallons a day and I'm still at 25% humidity with the amount of heating going on. The difference between warm mist and cool mist is where the minerals from the evaporated water are deposited. With warm mist (boiling), the minerals stay in the humidifier and need to be cleaned out periodically with vinegar. With cool mist, the minerals turn into a fine with dust as the mist evaporates in the air, so you'll want to vacuum or mop the area near the unit regularly.