LV600HH Hybrid Ultrasonic Humidifier

My needs seem to be similar to yours and I use Leovit LV600HH in my bedroom. It's quite basic but does the job. It's the only humidifier I've had so can't say how it compares to competition. I use distilled water and this pretty much completely eliminates buildup. I only have to clean it maybe once every 3 months. But if you use tap water there will be buildup that you would have to deal with constantly.

I love Levoit warm-mist humidifiers! We’ve been using them for almost 10 years - there’s one in each bedroom. They make an incredible difference when the weather is really dry in winter. We Ala have the whole house one on our main floor, but it doesn’t do warm mist; only cold, and warm is probably better for your kitty. I use the 6L ones for the bedrooms, and have to fill them 1-3x/day depending on how night I set them. They will last for years if you frat them well - charge the filters and do vinegar soaks to remove buildup every so often. I do it every 1-2 months for a few hours each time, but we have pretty hard water.

i have a levoit with a hygrometer and it has lots of bad reviews specifically for that white dust

I bought a Canopy, without realizing how gamed the marketing is in this sector. It was essentially a paper filter tower dipped in a reservior of water with a computer fan drawing air through the filter. It worked, but the construction was dead simple for being over $200. And required a new filter every few weeks. And of course, it had a noticeable cooling effect. Then, I bought a Levoit with warm mist option. It had a design flaw where it was very easy to water log the boiler, which caused flooding. I then tried a Dreo and so far so good. It also has a heat option.

YES! We just bought a Levoit with both warm and cool air options. So we run a dehumidifier in the summer, and a humidifier in the winter. Plus a couple of air purifiers. So glad we switched to solar panels.

There is no such thing as a maintenance-free humidifier, whether it’s evaporative, ultrasonic, or even steam, they all require regular cleaning or regular changing of filters (or sometimes both). Steam is less prone to mold, but also super hot, and is prone to scale buildup which still requires cleaning. I would suggest giving your current unit a thorough clean first to see if that solves the issue. We have a 6L LEVOIT (ultrasonic/cool mist) humidifier, and I check ours every couple of weeks. If I see the mold, wipe the affected areas down with vinegar and rinse. Hydrogen peroxide 3% works well if I really want to feel thorough. We also make sure to change out the filter as recommended or more often (you can buy them in bulk). We also run two Vornado evaporative humidifiers on the first floor of the house. Let me tell you, the wicks in those develop considerable mold, and we change them out once a month or sometimes more often. Regardless of humidifier the concept is the same. You have to take care of them no matter what you buy.

I run two, Levoit (6L) humidifiers on the main level of my home (1900sq), one in the living area and one in the primary bedroom. They only run in the morning and evening.  They do enough to keep things from getting too dry. I don't bother with the basement. Went this route instead of replacing the whole house humidifier at a cost that made me balk. The 120ish cost was a bit more palatable.