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Adjusting the quality of air in the home has become vital in extreme temperature conditions.
In dry climate or winter conditions, the humidity level usually goes down and you need to add moisture in your room by some effective means.
It can be added with the aid of humidifiers that can help in increasing household humidity when you need it most.
Keep in mind that portable humidifiers are not ideal for your spacious home, it is where a whole house humidifier works for you.
In this review article, I’ll discuss about the top 5 best whole house humidifiers that worth your money.
Top 5 Best Whole House Humidifiers for Allergies & Dry Climate
Here are the best whole house humidifiers for your family:
- Aprilaire 500M Whole Home Humidifier – Best Value Whole House Humidfier
- Aprilaire 865 Whole Home Steam Humidifier – Best Whole House Humidifier for Large Home
- Honeywell Home HE360A107 – Best Whole House Humidifier for Medium Home
- LEVOIT LV600HH Humidifiers – Best Budget Whole House Humidifier
- Honeywell HEV685B Top Fill Console Humidifier – Best Whole House Humidifier for Small Home
Why You Need a Whole-House Humidifier?
Keep in mind that you experience extreme conditions where summer days and winter days are extremely hot and cold respectively.
In such extreme conditions, the quality of air to breathe matters the most especially in winter conditions when it becomes dry.
The best humidifiers for the whole-house are essential tools to maintain the humidity level and keep the dry air away.
Improves Your Health
Dry air can cause several serious health-related problems in winters such as flu, nausea, itchy skin, and dry nasal passages.
In winters, air lacks moisture thus it draws from your body and poses you to serious health-related threats. If you have already breathing problems such as asthma, dry air can ignite it at a rapid pace making your super frustrated at the same time.
In such a worse situation, a whole-house humidifier becomes a way to comfort you by adding the moisture in your entire house to maintain the humidity level.
Protects Furniture
A whole-house humidifier doesn’t only improve your health, it also protects your furniture in dry conditions such as wooden furniture, books, etc.
All of these objects are affected by low humidity level that makes pages to become brittle and paint to crack.
With the help of the whole-house humidifier, you can ensure about marinating the humidity level to a certain level that protects your possessions.
Cost-effective and Easy to Maintain
The best whole house humidifiers are easy to maintain and require no as such routine maintenance, which makes them cost-effective.
You just need to check your whole house humidifier once per year and if any maintenance requires, seek assistance from the provider who can fix it with little effort.
Types of Whole-House Humidifiers
A whole-house humidifier yields several health-related and energy-saving benefits for you.
Let’s have a look at three main types of whole house humidifiers you can opt for.
Bypass Humidifiers
These types of humidifiers work via a furnace by taking warm air from home’s heating ducts and passing through the collection medium. As it passes, it collects moisture on the way, and while returning it gets distributed to your home’s room through duct systems.
These humidifiers need to drain the water supply but you can even opt for drain-less humidifier if you lack floor drain. Bypass humidifiers use less water and they can reuse water again over time.
Fan-Powered Humidifiers
Fan-powered humidifiers produce more humidity as compared to bypass humidifiers.
These types of humidifiers are more energy-efficient and do not require a bypass duct. The internal fan uses as much power as a 25-watt light bulb.
Steam Humidifiers
In steam humidifiers, steam is created by electrically boiling the water where it is then pushed through the ventilation system.
To maintain a good level of humidity, steam humidifiers are the most efficient and fastest as compared to above two humidifiers.
It provides a natural and purest form of humidity to give you peace of mind in extremely cold conditions.
Top 5 Best Whole-House Humidifiers Reviews 2023
Let’s go through the reviews of the 5 best humidifiers for whole house.
1. Aprilaire 500M Whole-Home Humidifier Review – Best Value Whole House Humidifier
This whole house humidifier covers up to 3000 square feet and ideal for medium-sized houses.
It can dispense up to 12 gallons of moisture per day, and it comes in both automatic and manual variants.
Being a bypass humidifier, the warm air from the heating ducts passes through water tray from where it collects moisture and then gets distributed to the house.
Pros:
- Budget-friendly humidifier
- It saves water due to bypass nature
- Automatic variant increases functionality
Cons:
- Cannot cover larger spaces
- Professional installation is required
Why you should buy the Aprilaire 500M Whole-Home Humidifier:
- It can help in maintaining 35-45% of optimal humidity in your home to reduce the risk of respiratory infections.
- It comes up with a compact design which makes it perfect for even tight spaces.
2. Aprilaire 865 Whole Home Steam Humidifier Review – Best Whole House Humidifiers for Large House
It is the best whole house humidifier for large house.
Being a steam humidifier, Aprilaire increases the humidity of your home by producing higher amounts of moisture in less time because it doesn’t depend on the heating system.
It can cover up to 6200 square feet and provides 34.6 gallons of moisture per day. The electrode technology makes it the best whole house humidifier and no filtration mechanism is required.
Pros:
- Ideal for a spacious home
- No Furnace or heating system required
- High moisture output and low maintenance
Cons:
- Much expensive as compared to other humidifiers
Why you shoud buy the Aprilaire 865 Whole Home Steam Humidifier:
- It features a wall mount fan that doesn’t require an HVAC duct system.
- It provides 6 levels of output from 11.5 to 34.6 gallons of moisture per day.
3. Honeywell Home HE360A Review – Best Whole House Humidifier for Medium Home
This one of the best whole house humidifiers optimizes the humidity level in your home by using a powered flow-through mechanism.
It covers up to 4200 square feet of space and produces almost 18 gallons of moisture per day. It provides an additional feature of variable speed which allows you to adjust the output that suits your humidity needs.
Pros:
- Variable speed control
- 18 gallons of moisture in a day
- Wide range of mounting options
Cons:
- Need to buy installation kit separately
Why you should buy the Honeywell Home HE360A Whole House Humidifier:
- Filter pad and PerfectFLO tray help in speeding up the saturation of the humidifier pad.
- It comes up with one extra filter pad and installation instructional video.
4. LEVOIT LV600HH Whole House Humidifier Review – Best Budget Whole House Humidifier
Levoit LV600HH is a whole-house humidifier with a wide coverage of 735 square feet. Being a money-saving option, it is ideal for large rooms and offices. It features automatic shut off that makes it turned off when it runs out of water. Moreover, it has a timer function that enables you to set the turning on and off time of this whole house unit.
Pros:
- It even works with LED screen completely turned off
- Warm and cold mists for different seasons
- Timer function
Cons:
- It has more power consumption of almost 280W
Why you should buy the LEVOIT LV600HH Whole House Humidifier
- It has an ultra-quiet operation with a display-off feature while the humidifier works throughout the night
- It comes up with remote control that lets you adjust settings such as a timer, and you don’t need to wake up in the middle of the night.
5. Honeywell HEV685B Top Fill Console Humidifier Review – Best Whole House Humidifier for Small Home
Honeywell provides an ideal solution for those homes plagued by mold. It has a filter Model HC-14 that is treated with antimicrobial to ensure preventing up to 99.9% of mold.
It has a console mechanism that doesn’t require a connection to your HVAC system. It can help in humidifying rooms for 24 hours on a low setting.
Pros:
- Antimicrobial filter
- Auto shut-off
- High moisture output
Cons:
- Lack of wheels
- The second tank requires more power
Why you should buy the Honeywell HEV685B Console Humidifier:
- The antimicrobial filter helps in prevention against the growth of mold, bacteria, and algae.
- It improves your breathing comfort by providing 40-60% of humidity levels in your home.
What is a Whole-House Humidifier?
A whole-house humidifier, also known as a central humidifier, is connected to both hot air ducts and cold air.
It is a device that serves the purpose of increasing humidity by adding moisture to your home.
When it comes to installation, you can either install it on a new or existing furnace.
Different types of whole-house humidifiers are available out there in terms of design such as drum, flow-through, disc wheel, etc. Each type has its specific advantages and disadvantages.
But, all types of whole house humidifiers serve the same purpose of increasing household humidity in dry climatic conditions when the air is very dry naturally.
How does a Whole-House Humidifier work?
A whole-house humidifier is connected to your home’s water supply to add moisture to your home.
Water starts flowing from the collection medium as soon as the humidifier is turned on. Foam pad or a plastic disc serves as a purpose of collection medium.
The function of the collection medium is that when air passes through the furnace to the water collection medium, it collects moisture along the way.
After collecting the moisture, the air is returned to furnace from where it is distributed to your home with the help of the duct system.
When it gets distributed to your home, all rooms in your home contain more humidity as a result, which keeps you healthy and protects your furniture from cracking.
How to Choose the Best Whole House Humidifier in 2023 (Buyer Guide)
There are three features you need to look into when buying the best whole house humidifiers, and there are:
- Supply indicator
- Automatic shut-off
- Automatic or manual operation
Supply Indicator
Before buying a whole-house humidifier, make sure that it has a supply indicator that helps in notifying you when the tank runs out of water or when the limit has been reached.
Automatic Shut-off
Choose the best whole house humidifiers with an automatic switch-off feature because it turns off automatically as soon as the desired level of humidity is achieved. In this way, it saves several bucks for you by offering this amazing feature.
Automatic or Manual Operation
Based on your needs, make sure to opt for automatic or manual best humidifiers for the whole house. The automatic operation has the advantage over a manual operation that you need to set the humidifier just for once.
Advantages of Whole-House Humidifiers
- Whole-house humidifiers are connected to the HVAC system to ensure the optimum level of humidity in each room of your home.
- These are ideal units for your spacious home to increase humidity in the winter season.
- Whole-house humidifiers are invisible and quiet and they work efficiently at the same time.
- The automatic units increase functionality for your comfort and let you adjust the moisture level and timer to operate for a specific time without any manual effort.
- These are easy to install with low maintenance requirements. There is no need to refill water daily as a whole-house humidifier is connected to your plumbing system.
Disadvantages of Whole House Humidifiers
- Whole-house humidifiers are somehow expensive starting from $150 to $800 based on the quality of units.
- The installation process is complex and can cost you extra bucks. You need to hire professional for the installation of whole house humidifier
- Whole-house humidifiers of the least quality do not come up with antibacterial filters that require more maintenance as the minerals or other particles can deposit.
Ducted Vs Non-Ducted Humidifiers
A whole-house humidifier comes into two major types, ducted (Central whole house humidifier) and non-ducted (Stand-alone whole house humidifier).
As the name suggests, ducted humidifiers have duct systems to distribute the returning air as it collects moisture along the way. Central whole house humidifiers get integrated with the home’s ductwork of heating ventilation and air conditioning system.
On the other hand, non-ducted humidifiers are ideal for those homes that lack the HVAC ducted system. If your home has radiators or baseband heating systems, non-ducted humidifiers can work perfectly and often vary from console type to manually water-filled tank unit connected to your home’s water supply.
Whole-House vs Room Humidifiers
Here is the comparison of the whole house humidifiers and room humidifiers.
Capacity
Room humidifiers are designed for small spaces such as for a single room and thus offer less capacity by creating steam by blowing a fan over cold water or by heating to create steam.
Whole-house humidifiers offer the larger capacity to blow the hot air from furnace over a water plate and then distribute it to the whole house evenly.
Maintenance
Room humidifiers need routine maintenance as the water tank needs to be refilled daily, and it must be cleaned due to the growth of mold or bacteria.
Whole-house humidifiers require less maintenance for water panel and most of the units come up with an antibacterial filter.
Noise and Operational Cost
Room humidifiers are placed in the living room or near the bed, and it has fan noise that can make you frustrated.
Whole house humidifiers are attached to the HVAC system to humidify your entire house. Thus, these noiseless units require less energy as compared to room humidifiers.
Summary of the Best Whole House Humidifiers
Below is the summary and comparison table of the top 5 best whole house humidifiers in 2023.
| Model | Coverage | Capacity | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aprilaire 500M | 3000 sq.ft. | 12 GPD | Value | Show |
| Aprilaire 865 | 6200 sq.ft. | 34.6 GPD | Large house | Show |
| Honeywell Home HE360A | 4200 sq.ft. | 18 GPD | Medium house | Show |
| LEVOIT LV600HH | 753 sq.ft. | 1.58 Gallons | Budget | Show |
| Honeywell HEV685B | 1000 sq.ft. | 3 Gallons | Small house | Show |
FAQ
1. How much humidity Aprilaire variants can maintain?
The two discussed variants of Aprilaire can maintain 35-45% optimal humidity in your home.
2. What are the main types of whole house humidifier?
Bypass, fan-powered, and steam humidifiers.
3. Which type of humidifier is more energy-efficient?
Among the main types of whole-house humidifiers, a steam humidifier is more energy-efficient.
Conclusion
Whole house humidifiers are ideal for your whole home in extreme winter seasons or dry climae.
These units keep you healthy in such conditions when you’re more exposed to respiratory problems due to less humidity in your home.
The discussed humidifiers are the best whole house humidifiers that can fit your spacious home and most of them also provide the comfort of automatic operation mode.
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