Best humidifiers 2024: Relieve dry skin & allergy symptoms

Investing in one of the best humidifiers is an easy and effective way to improve the air quality in your home or workplace — especially if you live in a hot, dry climate. Humidifiers release moisture into the air, often in a form of water vapor, to increase the overall humidity levels. This in turn can help relieve dry skin and nasal congestion, and in some instances, even alleviate symptoms of allergies and respiratory conditions. 

So what humidity level should your home be? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, people should keep their indoor humidity to below 60% — ideally between 30% to 50%.  “If air is too dry, this dries out mucous membranes and exacerbates coughing and wheezing,” explains Dr Deborah Lee, MD and representative for Dr Fox Online Pharmacy. 

But which humidifier should you invest in? 

To help you find the right appliance, we have tried some of the best humidifiers from top brands like Levoit, Elechomes and Dyson. We have looked at design, durability, price, smart features, ease of use and performance, as well as portability, ease of maintenance and energy consumption. Here is our roundup of the best humidifiers we have tested.  

But if have the opposite problem and want to get rid of excess moisture in your home, take a look at our selection of the best dehumidifiers on the market.

The best humidifier overall

The Dyson AM10 is a sleek model that features a stylish loop design and a clear water tank.

It acts as both a humidifier and a fan, featuring 10 levels, and will look good in any office or living area space. With some great functions, it enables you to set it for sleeping, while an auto mode gives you a choice of your preferred humidity level. However, it’s one of the most expensive models on the market and its water tank is relatively small - only holding 3.75 quarts.

One of the best things about this Dyson Humidifier is that before the water gets vaporized it purifies the water - getting rid of bacteria and minerals with its ultraviolet light. This is one of its best qualities, especially for those who are worried about the air quality in their house. It’s easy to refill the water and our tester found that it ran continuously for 12 hours before it needed to be refilled. This model is better for smaller rooms up to 172 square feet.

Unlike other humidifiers we’ve tested, the Dyson AM10 Humidifier doesn’t have multiple mist settings. Instead, it asks you for your preferred humidity level. The appliance will run until your target is reached and adjust the moisture output from there. Humidity levels can be set to between 30 and 70 per cent. However, this humidifier also aims to regulate your desired temperature and will change according to the temperature in the room. Our tester also noted that the noise on any level was never louder than her air conditioner. 

This Dyson humidifier is a great investment piece, especially as it doubles as a fan, which means that in the summer months it won’t sit dormant. 

• Read our full Dyson AM10 humidifier review

Best humidifier for performance

This humidifier is great for big rooms due to its large water tank, which holds up to three gallons of water. 

However, it’s a loud and bulky model, so it’s not ideal for an office or sleeping environment. This humidifier features a fairly basic design, with fewer features than its competitors at this price range.

This model is easy to set up and it comes with two flat paddles, which are easy to install and two water tanks. As an evaporative humidifier, the model sucks in dry air from the room via a wet filter and then pumps out warmer air in order to change the humidity of the room. If you’re looking for a high tech humidifier, then you might want to look elsewhere, as this model only has two buttons to control its humidity and fan speed. The fan speed can be either fast, medium or low, which is also its quiet setting. With no LED screens, being able to actually set the humidity level you’re after can be confusing.

This humidifier performs well. In our at-home testing, it reached up to 63% humidity on its highest level, while on the lowest level it reached up to 53%. As its two water tanks are so large, it can also run continuously for 24 hours on its lowest setting before needing to be filled up again. 

• Read our full Honeywell Top Full Cool Moisture review

Best humidifier for bedrooms

The Levoit LV600HH humidifier has some interesting features, including three mist settings, an essential oil diffuser for aromatherapy and a dual nozzle that twists 360 degrees. 

As a smaller model, it’s ultra-quiet but is capable of holding a large amount of water, which means that it can run for up to 36 hours. 

This humidifier is great for larger rooms that measure between 430 to 753 square feet. The built-in water tank is see-through, which means that  you always know how  much water you have left in your tank. Able to sit on your worktop or tuck under a table, it’s a little tricky to fill up. However, this humidifier is ready to use as soon as you get it out of the box, with nothing to set up aside from filling the water.

With a small LCD display on the front, it also has various buttons that enable you to control the mist level, humidity and how long the humidifier will run for. The mist function has three settings going from low to high, while the humidity button enables you to change the percentage of humidity in the air. During testing, we found that even on the highest mist level, the humidifier didn’t need a refill until the next day, running for more than 17 hours. Meanwhile, the nifty remote control means that you can control the humidifier from up to 16 feet away. 

Usefully, this humidifier is both easy to operate and extremely quiet.

• Read our full Levoit LV600HH humidifier review

Best humidifier with a remote control

This is a small and attractive model that features touch screen buttons and a large display that shows the temperature and humidity levels. 

The humidifier pumps out a cool mist, while the built in humidity sensor enables you to set your preferred humidity level. Other functions include a child lock, sleep mode and the option to add essential oils.

This model is sleek, but tall, so you’ll need around a foot of height if you want to tuck this into a corner or under furniture. Filling the tank is fairly easy and it performs best in a medium sized room or house – or anything that equates to 322 to 528 square feet. The buttons on the display are easy to use and very self explanatory, while the remote control can also control the humidifier as well. 

The highest mist setting can raise the humidity levels in a medium sized room up to 69% in just under an hour, while the humidity target can be adjusted so you never feel uncomfortable with the humidity levels in the room. However, be careful that the water doesn’t leak on the highest setting - our reviewer had a pool of water escape when it was tested. The aroma pad is also a nice extra, enabling you to add essential oils to the pad that the humidifier then emits with the mist, giving an extra scent to the air. 

• Read our full Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier review

Best humidifier for easy cleaning

The only smart humidifier on our list, the Levoit Classic 300S humidifier connects to the VeSync app, which enables you to control the mist levels and notifies you when it needs cleaning. 

A medium sized sleek model, the clear water tank sits on the top, giving you a clear indication of how much water is left.

Perfect for small or medium sized rooms, the humidifier will need some assembling, but it's not a complicated affair. With a large LED display, it clearly indicates the humidity level, while the buttons for mist levels, night mode and humidity levels sit around this.  The connecting app is easy to download and connects via WiFi. Once downloaded, the app enables you to switch between the manual, auto and sleep modes. You can also set a timer and change the humidity levels via the app.

This humidifier is easy to clean and its humidity levels perform well on both the high and middle mist setting, climbing to a 68% level within two hours on the highest setting. Another quiet model, it will last for 19 hours on a high setting, but 60 on a lower setting. However, the built-in humidity sensor is quite sensitive and the model does need to be cleaned regularly to avoid bacteria getting into the water. 

The aromatherapy option is a nice touch — with six drops of tea tree oil added to the aroma pad, we created a beautifully scented air that lasted in our room for hours. However, we need to point out that six drops is more than the recommended 2-3 drops.

• Read our full Levoit Classic 300S humidifier review

Best looking humidifier

If you’re looking for a humidifier that seamlessly blends into your home without being an eyesore, the HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe is a great option. This stylish, sleek appliance can hold 1.47 gallons of water, has a run time of up to 70 hours, and can cover large rooms up to 426 sq ft. 

You can choose from three cool mist settings to best fit your space. These can be controlled using the intuitive buttons on the front of the humidifier. There is also the option to set an auto-off timer for four, eight or 12 hours. 

The HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe is whisper quiet (measuring around 13dB in our in-house tests), so you will hardly notice it in the background if you’re trying to work, or when you’re asleep at night. In fact, it also has a built-in nightlight and an auto-shutoff mode when the tank is out of water.

The humidifier does feel a little bit flimsy (which surprised us for the price), and leaked a bit when we tried to transport it into another room with water still in the tank. However, it's an efficient machine that does a good job of improving indoor humidity, and it has the added benefit of looking good too.

• Read our full Homedics TotalComfort Deluxe Ultrasonic Humidifier review

Our experts

Environmental Protection Agency

We spoke with members of the Environmental Protection Agency to confirm the latest research and findings on humidifiers, as well as advice on how to maintain a humidifier so that it performs smoothly.

Dr Deborah Lee

Having worked for many years in the NHS, initially as a GP, and then as Lead Clinician for an integrated Community Sexual Health Service, Dr Deborah Lee now works as a health and medical writer, with an emphasis on women’s health. She is a menopause specialist. 

How we test

FAQs