Do you want to find the best portable whole house humidifier?
Portable whole house humidifiers are a great alternative to small room humidifiers or furnace humidifiers.
In this product review guide, I will go over...
- My #1 top pick for the best portable whole house humidifier
- Where to place the humidifier
- Is a portable whole house humidifier better than a furnace humidifier?
Let's get started with this guide!
My Overall #1 Rated Pick
- Portable whole house humidification for homes up to 2,400 square feet
- The most stylish humidifier on the market with a removable 12" x 12" granite tile
- 9 fan speeds and digital display for full humidity control
My overall top pick for the best portable whole house humidifier goes to the Aircare EP9 pedestal-style humidifier. This portable whole house humidifier is rated for homes up to 2,400 square feet so you can prevent dry skin, bloody noses, and electric shocks. This stylish humidifier comes with a 12" granite tile that is can be easily replaced to match your decor. It has 9 fan speeds and a digital display.
Top 5 Best Portable Whole House Humidifiers
Short on time? Check out our top 5 portable whole house humidifiers below! Keep reading to learn the details of each pick, and to see our buyer's guide.
What Is A Portable Whole House Humidifier?
A portable whole house humidifier is a machine that adds moisture into the home which is rated for an entire home.
Stand alone humidifiers are intended to relieve physical discomforts such as dry skin, throat, nose, and lips. In addition, proper moisture levels will reduce static shocks and interior cracking of furniture.
Most humidifiers that you see in homes are smaller desktop cool mist humidifiers --- they are usually quite small and are just for small rooms. Whole house humidifiers on the other hand are generally rated for entire houses, anywhere from 1,000 to 3,600 square feet.
The water tanks or reservoirs generally hold from 2 to 5 gallons of water which is significantly larger than their smaller cousins. If you ran the humidifier continuously, depending on the size, you may have to fill it up once or twice a day --- or it may be able to go for days without a refill.
Unlike most smaller humidifiers, portable whole house humidifiers also have powered fans with usually from 3 to 9 different speeds. The fan will help blow humidified air throughout the entire home.
Portable whole house humidifiers also usually have more functions and control than small room humidifiers.
Read Also: What Are The Pros & Cons of Whole House Humidifiers?
Where To Place A Portable Whole Home Humidifier?
In general, you want to place a portable home humidifier in a central location of the home.
This way the humidity has a better chance of circulating throughout the entire home. Most portable home humidifiers have casters so you can wheel the humidifier to a different location if you choose to.
Besides a central area, you can also experiment with placing the humidifier next to an HVAC return vent which may help disperse the moisture throughout the home.
Read Also: What Are The Best Whole House Humidifiers?
Which Is Better A Furnace Whole House Humidifier Or A Portable One?
As a home inspector, it is obvious to me that a furnace installed whole house humidifier is hands down unbeatable. The reason is because an HVAC whole house humidifier is attached to the furnace (or air handler) so that humidity is blown throughout the entire ductwork.
A stand alone home humidifier could be placed near the HVAC return vent, but some of the same problems still apply.
Besides the increased distribution of a furnace-attached humidifier, with a portable humidifier, you have to continuously refill the water tank. With a furnace humidifier, there is a water supply line attached to the humidifier, so there is no need to ever refill anything.
Read Also: How Do Steam And Evaporative Whole House Humidifiers Compare?
In addition to refilling, portable home humidifiers also have to be regularly cleaned and treated with a bacteriostat so that mold doesn't grow. A furnace house humidifier needs to be cleaned (pad replaced) just once a year.
That being said, there can be a number of reasons why you can't or don't want to install a furnace whole house humidifier such as...
- The higher cost (sometimes very costly)
- Installation trouble
- You don't own the house (or it's a condo)
- The home doesn't have air ducts
So even though a furnace whole house humidifier is better, the portable units still will work in humidifying a home --- just not as well.
Here is an article I wrote on my best picks for steam whole house humidifiers.
These furnace installed whole house humidifiers are hands down the best way to increase humidity in your home.
Instead of just blowing air over a wet pad or filter, steam home humidifiers actually heat up water to product high quality steam.
This steam is then blown throughout the entire home. The great thing about steam humidification is that you are much more likely to actually reach your desired indoor relative humidity level (likely the #1 complaint of homeowners).
The ideal indoor humidity level should be between 30% and 50%.
What Are The Best Portable Whole Home Humidifiers?
Here are my top picks for the best stand alone whole house humidifiers...
My overall #1 top pick for the best portable whole house humidifier goes to the Aircare EP9.
The EP9 is probably the most stylish stand alone humidifier on the market, and it is a suitable unit for homes up to 2,400 square feet.
A digital display can either show current humidity, desired humidity, or fan speed --- it will also let you know when the water tank needs to be filled.
The EP9 comes with a 12"x12" decorative granite tile which can be replaced with any standard tile of your choice.
- Suitable for whole home humidification up to 2,400 square feet
- 9 fan speeds for humidity control
- Digital display
- Complaints of inaccurate humidity output
- Loud noise on higher fan settings
The Aircare 4DTS 900 is a premium whole house humidifier that is totally portable.
It is rated for homes up to 3,600 square feet, one of the highest capacity portable humidifiers I have come across.
This humidifier comes with a large 5.7 gallon tank, 9 fan speeds, custom humidity settings, and automatic turn off. It is also installed with casters (wheels) so you can easily move it to a new location.
- Installed with casters (wheels) so it is easily portable
- Large 5.7 gallon tank so you don't have to refill it so often
- Rated for homes up to 3,600 square feet (very high capacity)
- Complaints of poor moisture output
- Cheap plastic materials
The Aircare credenza-style humidifier is a stylish unit with the appearance of light oak (plastic).
It has a very high capacity, rated for homes up to 3,600 square feet with a 5.2 water tank.
The digital humidistat will maintain your chosen humidity level automatically.
A great portable humidifier if you want it to match your decor such as in a dining room.
- High capacity rated for 3,600 square feet
- 5.2 gallon water tank
- Light oak appearance (plastic)
- May not work if not perfectly level
- Fan is loud at higher speeds
The Lacidoll portable humidifier is a stylish unit rated for smaller homes up to 1,000 square feet.
It's water tank is 4.2 gallons which will last up to 48-hours.
This humidifier comes with four different misting modes so you can control the humidity levels throughout the dry season.
It also comes with an extra wide water tank so refilling is easy.
- Full tank lasts 48 hours
- 4 different misting modes
- Up to 1,000-sf homes
- Smaller humidifier only for 1,000 square foot homes or less
The Aircare MA1201 is an easy single bottle design whole house humidifier.
Like some of the other Aircare humidifiers, it is also rated at 3,600 square feet for whole house humidification.
It comes with a 3.6 gallon tank and has up to 36 hours of runtime (which means less filling up).
It comes with four fan speeds and adjustable humidity settings.
- Portable humidifier rated for 3,600 square feet homes
- 3.6 gallon tank (36 hour runtime)
- Fully adjustable humidity and fan speeds
- Higher fan settings are loud
My #1 Top Pick: Aircare EP9 Pedestal-Style
My overall #1 top pick for the best portable whole house humidifier goes to the Aircare EP9. Here's why...
1. Large Capacity
This portable humidifier can be easily moved from room to room or left in one location to humidify an entire house up to 2,400 square feet.
2. Stylish
This is likely the best looking portable whole house humidifier on the market. It has a contemporary look and comes with 12" granite tile that can be easily replaced to match your decor.
3. Full Control
The Aircare EP9 comes with 9 fan speeds and adjustable humidity settings so you can have full control over your home humidification.
1 thought on “Top 5 Best Portable Whole House Humidifiers (2024 Review)”
Your number one pick apparently also is loud at higher settings. Is that a problem if I want to have it in our kitchen to be centralized ? That is where I currently have our Honeywell 3 gallon that just started making a loud noise after 5 years. 🙁 It was great, but they no longer manufacture it. I am looking to replace it. Thanks for your help !!!!! It is overwhelming selecting a replacement and the air is sooooo dry now.