AIRCARE - MA0800 Mini-Console

+1 for Airfare. I have the AIRCARE MA0800CN, it's loud on max fan setting but works great!   I usually run it to the max while I'm at work then on low when I'm home. There's au auto features to, it's gets my 700ft appartement from around 20 to above 35% humidity without issues. 

Get the most basic humidifier with a Wick. No ultrasonic whatever garbage, they will spray germs, bacterias and Mold all over your place like there's no tomorrow. And they have the lifespan of a mosquito. Nothing with an App or wi-fi connection, if the company decide to stop supporting your device Or goes bakrupt, you end up with a big waterfilled door stopper. Also, this is against what you ask, but I don't recommend getting a Humidifier under 200$ish. Pick a model that has been made forever and that will still sell wicks in 10 years like the Aircare Ma0800. You can set humidity level on it. Nothing more, nothing less. There are TONs of them on marketplace, pick one for 20/40$, get a new Wick, profit.

My apartment, which was around 1000 sq ft, was so dry that none of my plants were happy. I bought a portable 'whole home' one. It wasn't cool mist or warm. It was a wicking one with a little fan in the middle. It was cleaner and easier to use. Used less power, that's for sure because it was just a fan. It has a large capacity, I think 9 liters. To keep our apartment at 35%humidity, we'd fill morning and night. It also stops when it gets to the set humidity. Unlike all the others that just run full time. Not usefully in a space with open windows and doors. It was a game changer with my plants. I saw you're in the states so, this won't be helpful from a buy this one perspective, but it's what I own. Maybe it can be helpful to find something similar there. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/aircare-ma0800cn-digital-whole-house-portable-console-style-evaporative-air-humidifier-white-9-46-l-0436199p.html

I have the smaller version, the Aircare MA0800. I've often gone through 3+ gallons per day. That's a *lot* of water it's dumping into the air. I only replace the wicking filter once a season. The Essick Air 1970 bacteriostatic treatment (recommended amount, every fill) seems to keep growth down. OP, you're going to need to do some level of maintenance with any humidifier. That said, I've found the maintenance requirement to be pretty minimal so far.

Look into an evaporative humidifier. The Aircare Mini Console works great for me in the winter.

Aircare Mini evaporative humidifier. It is perfect and easy to use.

I have the AirCare mini console and it is struggling to get our small living room up to 30%.

I own this and my wick turned orangey from my hard water so quickly. I use bacteriostatic additive so I don’t think that bacteria is the issue but the wick changing color certainly doesn’t give me confidence so this humidifier doesn’t feel low maintenance to me, at least not with hard water

I have a whole house evaporative humidifier that I use year round that has been going strong for 4 years so far. The warm mist humidifiers I've used last only a year before my very hard water breaks them. And ultrasonic humidifiers coat everything in a sticky dust that's hard to clean. The humidifier I use (older version of this one: https://share.google/fFdK2WzaIkj0Lc09W) has a wick that needs replacing about once every other month, so long as I keep it saturated. I buy a cheaper generic wick from Walmart to save money. Other than that, I just need to clean it occasionally to remove dust and prevent bacterial growth.

Evaporative is the solution. Once you try one you will never go back willingly. I had one for several years that used a single wick replacement each season. The only maintenance I had to do was add the anti microbial solution to the tap water i dumped into the container every other day, it was spotless inside after months of continuous use. I had a fairly large aircare console that had a humidistat as a controller, it ran through 5 gallons in about two days all winter long.m Before I got an evaporative I went through several cool mist, ultrasonic, style humidifiers. Without fail they all became a petri dish of slime and mold within a week on average. I cleaned these things with vinegar, dish soap, antibacterial solutions, and finally bleach which only extended the average by a couple of days. These require DI water since any dissolved salts will get misted as well, precipitating as dust and being an irritant for many people. I've also read some comments about the slime and bacteria getting turned into mist and either spreading spores or endotoxin to cause problems. Tldr: evaporative is cheaper and easier to use

my dumb whole house humidifier is on all the time. to make it smart, this video helped [AIRCARE Large Evaporative Whole House Humidifier is good. but here's how to make it great!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qp7Ak0-T2M) basically, a smart plug to monitor energy. if power is low, the unit stopped, time to fill it with more water.