Where to put your new humidifier depends on the conditions of each room in your house and what you hope to achieve by using one. For instance, if you struggle with snoring, then it would make sense to put your humidifier in your bedroom. Humidifiers in the bedroom should be kept at least three feet away from the bed to avoid disturbing you while you sleep, although you might want it temporarily closer if you’re battling a respiratory infection. Some humidifiers have LED displays and run louder than others, so you might want to place it somewhere the lights aren’t directly visible from the bed and far enough away that the sound isn’t disturbing.

You should empty the tank of the humidifier, wipe all of the surfaces dry and refill the water in portable humidifiers daily. This will help to reduce the growth of microorganisms.Humidifiers are of most use in arid countries and well-sealed modern homes with air conditioning, which is very drying. It’s also worth noting that a humidifier won’t be as practical if your home has poor insulation, old-fashioned floorboards with no carpeting or you leave your windows open all year long. This is because outdoor air already has a relatively high level of natural humidity. and what’s outside comes inside. Using an external humidity sensor, I found that the reading in the test room was a couple of per cent out from the SH8820’s own internal reading. Certainly, you can trust that that this humidifier’s automatic setting will get you close enough to the comfort level you’ve set. There are two main types of humidifier: ultrasonic and evaporator. Ultrasonic models use a vibrating diaphragm that agitates water droplets which are then blown out of the unit by a fan. These machines tend to produce a fog-like mist that is clearly visible. However, they also tend to leave a very fine layer of white calcium dust on furnishings, unless, of course, you use expensive distilled water. 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.

Using the humidifier in a large room (742 square feet), I found that the SH8220 was pushed to its limit. It was slow to raise humidity from the 42% starting point to my set level of 55%, taking a few hours. However, use this humidifier in a smaller room – your average living room or bedroom, for example – and it will cope exceptionally well. If you’re going to buy a humidifier, it makes sense to opt for a model that can kill bacteria in the tank, and can automatically turn off when the desired humidity level is reached. The best in the business is the Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool, which effectively kills all bacteria without having to use heating, lowering running costs. The Dyson Pure Humidify+Coo is also a brilliant purifier, and it’s smart too, working with Alexa and the Dyson Link 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 tank is small enough to easily fit under a shallow bathroom sink. Our tester tried the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier in her bedroom and was able to fill the tank in the bathroom closest to her room instead of carrying it to and from the kitchen.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.