Best Humidifier for Hardwood Floors
If you have a hardwood floor, you probably already know that too much moisture can be damaging. All humidifiers will naturally add moisture to a room, so knowing the best humidifier for hardwood floors can help you avoid damage to your flooring.
Along with giving you my personal recommendations for the best humidifiers for hardwood floors, I’ll also give you more in-depth information regarding what to look for in a humidifier in general, as well as what to stay away from.
Just as the right humidifier can change your quality of life for the better, the wrong humidifier can have far-reaching consequences. Not only is moisture a perfect environment for things like mold, but wet air can cause significant damage to wood.
If you live in a warm and dry climate, you face the potential that wood can shrink due to insufficient moisture. This can be a risk all year, and is no small matter. If, on the other hand, you live in a moist climate, you still face some serious concern during the dry cold months. On average, the air inside your house can get as dry as a desert region, just from lack of natural humidity combined with use of a central heating system. This creates the same arid conditions that can be seen in the driest regions found on Earth.
The other thing you battle is too much moisture. With or without a good solid humidifier, wood expands when wet. Just as shrinking wood planks can make for significant creaking and damage, so too can excessive moisture cause hardwood to swell. This can create just as much havoc as wood panels stretch and strain at cement foundations or other types of framing.
You don’t need a flooring expert to tell you that either condition can be a significant source of danger for your beautiful wood flooring. For this and other reasons, take ethe time to understand your humidifier options in order to ensure that you are investing in the right product for your time and money.
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My Top Pick for the Best Humidifier for Hardwood Floors
AIRCARE EP9 800 Digital Whole-House Pedestal-Style Evaporative Humidifier (Espresso)
My number 1 pick for a humidifier is the pedestal humidifier by Aircare, for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, this elegant humidifier monitors the humidity levels and automatically shuts off—precisely the thing you want if you expect your hardwood to stay moist but not TOO moist.
The Aircare Pedestal EP9800 is also powerful—it’s rated as being able to singly maintain air quality for a entire house of up to 2400 square feet. With its own built-in humidistat, this humidifier is literally the next best thing to a central unit.
This fantastic piece is also singularly decorative when compared to basically any other humidifiers on the market—Aircare has taken the time to place this machine inside an artful body that resembles lacquered hardwood (colors available), and the top of the pedestal holds a ceramic tile that can be replaced with any 12×12” tile. This way, you can match the flat storage surface with any element of your home décor motif for charm and synchronicity.
Factors to Consider When Seeking the Best Humidifier for Hardwood Floor
You can probably feel your way around the edges of the idea, here. There are multiple factors to consider, cost being the least of them. Humidifiers come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, and that’s true for cost too.
You will be able to afford a humidifier that will “get it done” on any budget. While you get what you pay for, what you save in money you might trade in convenience, but with the right preparation and diligence you can make any system I’ve mentioned here work for your hardwood floors in 2021.
What you DO need to think about are three things: Does it filter your water, does it do a good enough job at what you need it to do, and does it have any safety mechanisms in place to avoid oversaturation?
You might have other considerations to make. Depending on your housing situation, health, and location, there are certainly other things to keep in mind.
By and large, though, if you focus on these three points, you can get a very strong sense of the best humidifiers on the market as they relate to your needs with hardwood flooring.
Which Other Humidifiers are Good for Hardwood Floors?
Because you can generally get the right output out of any well composed piece of hardware if you apply the appropriate amount of effort and take care of your product, I’ve organized the following by price. In this way, you can consider the relevant factors without going further than you need in terms of your wallet.
As with anything, the higher priced devices will tend to include the most sophisticated functions and the least amount of effort.
Best Luxury Humidifiers for Hardwood Floor
AIRCARE H12-400HB 4-Speed Whole-House Console-Style Evaporative Humidifier (Oak Burl)
This alternative to Aircare’s EP9 also does well to disguise itself using faux wood paneling and also pushes an amazing 700 square feet—great for small houses or apartments or single-level living. Unlike many other electronics, this humidifier accepts analog input (it uses a dial), and only displays in digital.
Like its counterpart, the Aircare H12 system also includes a humidistat. This makes for a great combination while remaining a little more accessible to those who prefer not to get lost in the digital menus and screens and programmable options of digital life.
Honeywell Top Fill Tower Humidifier with Digital Humidistat (White)
This small and elegant humidifier saves space for those of you looking to fill your space without taking up significant real estate. Particularly valuable to those of us who have apartments in the city!
Honeywell has been in the business of humidifiers since the beginning, and their technology continues to push the margins. This sleek machine features a removable tank that can be easily filled at almost any tap, a filter to ensure that particulates are removed prior to the water being dispersed, and a digital humidistat to let you keep a close eye on humidity within your space. You can also set timers to ensure that the system isn’t’ left to oversaturate the air, or your hard-won wood floors.
Honeywell Evaporative Cooler TC09PEU (White)
This convenient and elegant machine is actually an evaporative cooler and not simply a humidifier, but it also implements a fan-only mode to humidify air if it’s too cold to run the evaporative unit (swamp cooler) technology.
The Honeywell TC09 system uses air vents that keep fingers out while constantly monitoring for low water so your system never runs dry. It uses minimal energy in a compact design, and features wheels that swivel 360 degrees.
Best Value Humidifiers for Hardwood Floors
If you are looking to balance budget and quality for the greatest value, you’ll need to look more along the lines of what trades can be made, and I’m happy to say that you have plenty of great options.
Pure Enrichment HumeXL Pro Warm & Cool Mist Humidifier
Pure Enrichment gives us a fantastic value with the HumeXL Pro Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier, with holds up to 1.3 gallons of water. This translates to about 50 hours of operation in a large room. The sleek and elegant design will fit in with any modern décor or blend into the woodwork of your electronics.
Warm and Cool Mist uses two independently swiveled nozzles to infuse the air with steam, and coordinates the output in concert with a build in humidistat. The machine is operated with a touch-button panel and reads out on a LED control panel. At home in any high tech household, this humidifier is my top pick for value.
AIRCARE 831000 Evaporative Humidifier
The Aircare 831000 is a great evaporative cooler that humidifies while cooling. The great thing about this unit is that it also features a large reservoir and runs on casters that make it a snap to move, even when the basin is full.
The digital controls have 3 fan settings, and the device will filter contaminants out before evaporation. The device is small and unassuming and comes in two sizes for a total coverage of up to 2700 square feet. With a lower price tag when compared to some of the luxury humidifiers, you know this is a fantastic value.
LEVOIT Large Room Warm & Cool Mist Humidifier
Levoit pushes hard for the top space in best value with another warm and cool mist humidifier that uses ultrasound to vaporize 1.5 gallons of water over a period of 60 hours. There’s a spot to add your favorite aromatherapy oils.
With remote control and an almost-silent operation, this unassuming little machine will spare your lungs from dry air while managing the humidity to your personal preference. You’ll need to consider an external humidistat, though, since it’s manually operated.
HuPro Ultrasonic Cool & Warm Mist Humidifier
This large capacity humidifier by HuPro works with a system of triple purification and oil diffusers to ensure that you get a clean and therapeutic experience that can fill up to 500 square feet of space. With a 4-liter (2 gallon) tank, you can expect the system to run for up to 30 hours.
The high-tech interface is great for the tech geek and the machine’s LED lighting give a charming glow. The system is almost silent which makes it perfect for sleeping kids and it uses a programmable timer to ensure your floors don’t get exposed to oversaturation.
Best Humidifiers for Wood Floors on a Small Budget
While we might always want for the very maximum of both value and quality, we have all had those times when the most inexpensive was all we could opt for. If this is you, we have some fantastic recommendations that will keep cost to an absolute minimum without sacrificing quality.
InnoGear Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier
This clever little system by InnoGear features a touch-activated control surface and features a sleek and clean design, making it perfectly blend into any motif. It’s not only easy to refill but easy to carry around if you find you want to move it from room to room.
It’s super quiet and uses ultrasound technology to make it as quiet as a computer. InnoGear has also provided a 360 degree swiveling nozzle so you can direct the flow in the most appropriate direction with just a couple of fingers.
Honeywell Cool Moisture Humidifier
This filtered cool moisture humidifier by Honeywell is designed for smaller rooms and offers 2 speed settings to allow customization for the sake of running time, moisture, and sound volume.
The wicking this system uses will help filter out minerals so you don’t face a buildup of lime or other mineral deposits. This machine runs for up to 18 hours with a little less than a gallon of water.
TaoTronics Humidifiers Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier
With 4L (about 2 gallons), this humidifier by TaoTronics will run for up to 30 hours and works best for rooms of up to 322 square feet. It includes an LED display and three mist levels so you can balance running time and humidity to your preference.
The TaoTronics system uses a microporous cartridge to filter out foreign elements, which lasts up to six months. The system also includes an automatic shut-off for when the water runs out, so you can keep your humidifier and more precious cargo safe at all times.
Honeywell Mistmate Cool Mist Humidifier (Black)
A great buy for your budget, the Honeywell Mistmate runs incredibly quiet and is designed to fit in almost any space. It can run for 20 hours and also shuts off automatically to prevent damage to the system when the water runs out.
This stylish little machine is esay to fill and provides variable output so you can find that perfect balance for your hardwood floors. Perfect for a desktop, countertop, or nightstand. With the technology of Honeywell’s several decades making humidifiers and a price that’s hard to beat, this humidifier is a great complement to your home or nursery or office.
Alternatives to a Portable Humidifier: Get a Hygrometer
While all of these machines will withstand the test of time and perform great for their recommended size and space, you’ll still have to consider whether or not they pack the punch necessary to take care of your entire living space. Between filling them back up and ensuring that you’re finding the right balance for your hardwood, it’s worth considering a more permanent solution—particularly if you’re in a house and not an apartment.
Ultimately, a central humidifier can be a larger cost and a more permanent investment, but it can also be the absolute perfect solution, particularly if you love your hardwood floors and want the very best of air conditions to keep them looking new and well-fitted.
Aprilaire 800Z Whole Home Steam Humidifier
My current pick for a whole-house humidifier is the Aprilaire 800 series steam humidifier. It’s currently only available in a central system that requires air ducts, so be sure to determine whether or not you are working with central air.
The very best thing about this system is obviously that it delivers humidity to every space in the house at once. It covers an amazing 6200 square feet, which is easily large enough for most single family homes out there. It uses sophisticated sensor technology to monitor temperature inside and outside of the home, and maintains the humidity automatically if desired, and manually if you find the automatic setting is too aggressive for your hardwood.
The Bottom Line Regarding the Best Humidifier for Hardwood Floors
Ultimately, you want to do right by yourself, the people you live with, and the materials with which you’ve built your home. Hardwood, in particular, takes some special consideration. Because you work hard to keep your space nice and deserve a comfortable living space, you’ll do the right thing for your situation.
Whether it’s a budget humidifier from the list or the best luxury system that money can buy, you have a range of options in order to get the best humidifier for hardwood floors to meet your needs.
