Warm-Mist Humidifiers

Warm-mist humidifiers are soothing but can be a burn risk

Although recommended less often than evaporative humidifiers, warm-mist humidifiers can make a room feel warmer, allowing you to bump your thermostat down a notch or two without feeling cold. Warm-mist humidifiers also offer the benefit of dispensing medications for inhalation. Because warm-mist humidifiers boil water before expelling it into the air, they kill bacteria and don't require filters so there's less maintenance expense.

Some warm-mist models use an absorption pad to collect mineral deposits left behind after water boils; otherwise, these deposits can be cleaned away with vinegar. However, these advantages are offset by the higher cost to run warm-mist humidifiers, because they use more energy than other types of humidifiers. Experts (and parents contributing to opinion sites) advise caution with warm-mist humidifiers, especially in a child's room where curious hands could tip over a humidifier filled with hot water.

Among warm-mist humidifiers, Honeywell's newest line of QuickSteam Warm Moisture Humidifiers isn't nearly as well liked by owners as the highly regarded (but discontinued) Honeywell HWM-2030. At Amazon.com, the top-of-the-line Honeywell QuickSteam HWM-450 (*Est. $65) earns an average of 3.5 out of five stars from more than 300 owners, who like the digital controls and LCD display, as well as the ability to humidify adjacent rooms of up to 1,400 square feet in total size. The most recent complaints say that some owners' humidifiers stopped working suddenly. Many users report that mineral scale builds up very quickly and that the humidifier must be cleaned constantly. Slate.com's Laura Moser reported "zero leakage problems" in her review of the HWM-450 and said it "trounced" the other warm-mist humidifiers in her test. She cites the Honeywell HWM-450 as a "quiet and compact" unit that takes little effort to maintain.

Good Housekeeping's favorite warm-mist humidifier is the Enviracaire Germ-Free EWM-211D (*Est. $85). Editors there like the user-friendly digital controls as well as how quickly this unit raises room humidity. The downside is the higher energy cost: up to $7 per month, say editors. We could only find a couple of owner reviews for the Enviracaire EWM-211D, one positive and one negative.

Overall, we found better reviews for cool-mist humidifiers, which appear to be more reliable than warm-mist humidifiers overall.