U3S

Ufox humidifiers https://allaway.fi/ufox-ilmankostutin/ Ugly AF but the design won prices all over the world in the early 1970s. Built like bricks. I inherited one that is over 30 years old and it works like a charm. Every household in Finland used to have one but as they are so "ugly" they are not so popular anymore. Humidity gets really low in the arctic circle for +6 months of the year. Down to 5% or so. So the humidifier has been in active use for at least 15 years. If your tap water is hard, the heating element gathers lime faster. I need to clean the humidifier once a year with citric acid and its good as new. They go for 140€ and last decades. Bang for buck stuff. No filters, only water. Edit/ https://allaway.fi/en/ufox-humidifier/

I've got two humidifiers. The one is 160W and the other 160W/320W, they are UFOX HK2 & UFOX U3S. They are both on now, in the livingroom and bedroom. Last night both were on all night, UFOX U3S only running at 160W, but when I woke up, the humidity was only at 24 %. I can only imagine how low it can go without humidifiers. This long freezing temperature period doesn't happen every winter but it's rough. Only increasing humidity helps and even with my two humidifiers, the humidity barely goes above 30 %. But 30 % feels a bit comfy already, even though it's still low humidity. Good moisturising lotion helps for skin, but for respiratory or eye symptoms, you need a humidifier. Eta: you also need to make sure that you have a good humidifier. Not all of them moisture equally well.

Things you can do: - get a better humidifier. Ufox U3S is highly praised, if you've got the floor space for it. (Requires empty space around it.) Ultrasound ones aren't bad though; we've got a Wilfa Haze and it gets the apartment to 50% humidity (I've set that as the goal) when used 24/7. - keep the bathroom door open while showering with very hot water - get a ten liter pot, fill with water, boil until it's close to empty. Repeat. - put buckets of room temperature water in the corners of the room. Swap the water every few days. - hang small containers of water on radiators (there are bowls made for this purpose, though fairly rare) - hang your laundry to dry on a rack in the apartment - get eye drops and a nose spray from pharmacy - drink tea with honey - get better moisturiser and use it several times per day - use rubber gloves when dishing - evaluate when you need soap and when you can skip it. If you shower daily, skip shower gel every second day.

Not optimal, true. But if the water you use is reasonably clean (and soft), and you clean the water container & filters regularly, it suffices. The steaming floor models require space around them; Ufox U3S needs 50cm in all directions, which would be difficult in our tiny apartment. A larger issue is that with two playful dogs regularly holding wrestling matches, keeping a steaming device on the floor would be unsafe. So yeah I agree ultrasound is not _optimal_, but it is functional enough when used and cleaned correctly, and suitable for spaces where a steam model may be difficult or unsafe.

Bad humidifier in that case. Just get an Ufox

Depends on the size of the home and which Ufox is being used, for instance the U3S can supposedly deal with up to a 100 m2 place

This. And they last forever and ever. At the end of the day the price is justified, because you don’t have to buy a new one like ever. I don’t think the same can be said of almost any other humidifier.