I finally got sick of my house being so dry and was researching whole home humidifiers, but we don’t have central air. Found several articles claiming the Levoit can do 3500sqft. Mine arrives tomorrow. Our house is two stories, can’t imagine it can do that, but will find out soon!!
We just moved into a new house with baseboard heat and mini splits (no ducts). The humidity is 20% and we're all dry and itchy. What is the best way to add some moisture to the air?
I see the AprilAire 865 is about $1200 (on amazon) but I assume it needs professional installation. But if it doesn't require constant filling or expensive maintenance, it might be worth it. It says it can do up to 10,000 sqft, and we're about 2500 so well under that- but we have two floors. Can one unit really do the whole home, or will it just work on one floor?
Or should we get a few freestanding units and just suck it up and fill them every few days and save some money? (the Levoit 6000S looks good) Would we need one on each floor or can one unit really do the whole house?
Maybe start with the freestanding one and see if it's adequate before making the bigger investment?
Ok well I got the levoit 6000S, and so far so good. Definitely not as elegant as an automatic built in system, but for $250 compared to $5k I was willing to give it a shot. I have it downstairs and humidity in my house (even upstairs) is pushing 40%. Yes it’s annoying to fill it every day, and the max fan speed is loud, but, it’s working. I run it on Max at night and when we’re not home and turn it on low when we’re all downstairs. Low is nearly silent. No problems with the white dust or condensation. I don’t know impact on electric bill because it’s only been a couple weeks.
I don’t have any context for the Carepod models, but I do own the Levoit 6000S and I’ve been really happy with it. I’m so glad I went with the evaporative style instead of ultrasonic.
This will be my third winter using it, and the filters last me the whole season (about 3–4 months. I’m in the south, so I don’t run heat as much as someone up north might). I haven’t had to deal with any mold or funky buildup either, which was a big concern for me when I was shopping too.
I think both brands you’re considering are solid though. I just checked. The Humidifiers subreddit has a [post on reputable humidifier brands ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Humidifiers/comments/1ffuk7n/humidifiers_complete_product_list_features/)and both Levoit and Carepod are on it. That thread might be worth a look if you’re still deciding.
Mine does NOT humidify my house. I wish it did. I run it at 60%, it never actually gets above 45% (the app says its at 60 but i have a seperate one 10 feet away thag says 45.) Typically in the winters its around 15-25% humidity indoors here so 45 is better than that. The adjacent room sits at 25-29. Everything else is the 15-25%. I have to fill it up daily.
We went with the Levoit 6000S. It’s done well to keep our entire home that’s typically about 12% humidity at 40% consistently. Only downside is we have very hard water here in Colorado and it goes through filters like Girl Scout cookies.
There’s cleaning methods with citric acid and a cleaning cycle built in. But still change filters (4) every month. It just has to run nearly non stop here because it’s so dry. The good news is it will run on tap water so a lot of money saved vs buying distilled water
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