LEVOIT - LV600HH Hybrid Ultrasonic Humidifier

My needs seem to be similar to yours and I use Leovit LV600HH in my bedroom. It's quite basic but does the job. It's the only humidifier I've had so can't say how it compares to competition. I use distilled water and this pretty much completely eliminates buildup. I only have to clean it maybe once every 3 months. But if you use tap water there will be buildup that you would have to deal with constantly.

I love Levoit warm-mist humidifiers! We’ve been using them for almost 10 years - there’s one in each bedroom. They make an incredible difference when the weather is really dry in winter. We Ala have the whole house one on our main floor, but it doesn’t do warm mist; only cold, and warm is probably better for your kitty. I use the 6L ones for the bedrooms, and have to fill them 1-3x/day depending on how night I set them. They will last for years if you frat them well - charge the filters and do vinegar soaks to remove buildup every so often. I do it every 1-2 months for a few hours each time, but we have pretty hard water.

i have a levoit with a hygrometer and it has lots of bad reviews specifically for that white dust

I bought a Canopy, without realizing how gamed the marketing is in this sector. It was essentially a paper filter tower dipped in a reservior of water with a computer fan drawing air through the filter. It worked, but the construction was dead simple for being over $200. And required a new filter every few weeks. And of course, it had a noticeable cooling effect. Then, I bought a Levoit with warm mist option. It had a design flaw where it was very easy to water log the boiler, which caused flooding. I then tried a Dreo and so far so good. It also has a heat option.

YES! We just bought a Levoit with both warm and cool air options. So we run a dehumidifier in the summer, and a humidifier in the winter. Plus a couple of air purifiers. So glad we switched to solar panels.

There is no such thing as a maintenance-free humidifier, whether it’s evaporative, ultrasonic, or even steam, they all require regular cleaning or regular changing of filters (or sometimes both). Steam is less prone to mold, but also super hot, and is prone to scale buildup which still requires cleaning. I would suggest giving your current unit a thorough clean first to see if that solves the issue. We have a 6L LEVOIT (ultrasonic/cool mist) humidifier, and I check ours every couple of weeks. If I see the mold, wipe the affected areas down with vinegar and rinse. Hydrogen peroxide 3% works well if I really want to feel thorough. We also make sure to change out the filter as recommended or more often (you can buy them in bulk). We also run two Vornado evaporative humidifiers on the first floor of the house. Let me tell you, the wicks in those develop considerable mold, and we change them out once a month or sometimes more often. Regardless of humidifier the concept is the same. You have to take care of them no matter what you buy.

I run two, Levoit (6L) humidifiers on the main level of my home (1900sq), one in the living area and one in the primary bedroom. They only run in the morning and evening.  They do enough to keep things from getting too dry. I don't bother with the basement. Went this route instead of replacing the whole house humidifier at a cost that made me balk. The 120ish cost was a bit more palatable. 

100% agree. We purchased the Levoit 6L (distilled water) two months ago from Amazon for our bedroom. The capacity and simplicity to operate this humidifier makes it worth the purchase. It is used mostly at night, and we have not needed to clean it yet. You won't be disappointed.

I've had this one for about 7 years from Amazon. It works great because you can set the humidity level and choose warm vs cool vapor. My bedroom has a cathedral ceiling, so it takes the right setting to humidify the room due to that. It also has a timer, I find 6 hours is enough for the night. Levoit Model 6L

Dealing with a couple dozen in-case humidifiers vs. one room humidifier is bonkers. OP, I'd go one something like Wirecutter and pick a highly-rated model with the features you want. Be aware that there are two types—evaporative and ultrasonic. Both have their ups and downs. Ultrasonic is silent and doesn't require replacing filters, but they release whatever is in the water into the air. That means mineral dust and any bacteria growing in the water. If you go this route, make sure to use only distilled water and thoroughly clean the unit regularly. Evaporative humidifiers on the other hand don't release anything into the air, but you need to replace the filters regularly and they produce some fan noise (not great if you're recording). And even though they don't release stuff into the air, they absolutely still will grow bacteria inside, so you still need to clean them regularly. Personally I use a Levoit ultrasonic unit running with distilled water. It's great and very low maintenance, I just clean it once a week which is much less effort than dealing with a bunch of in-case humidifiers like I used to. And because the humidity in the room is pretty much 45-50% all year round, my guitars almost never need adjustment. Once they're set up, they play great for years with no tweaking required.