I started out by measuring the power draw of the humidifier. In Cool mode, the SH8820 used between 17W and 25W, depending on the humidifier option chosen. That’s little more than a regular fan, making this humidifier efficient to run. If you live in a hard water area, Elechomes recommends that you use distilled water in the humidifier, or you can buy an optional water filter. Furthermore, there’s an anti-scale pad in the bottom of the machine, and a spare one in the box, which helps to prevent the build up of limescale. This should be cleaned every three months or so. 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.

There are myriad benefits to using a humidifier, from helping to ease congestion to combatting the dry winter air throughout the night. But you don't want to treat your humidifier as a cure-all and overdo it. According to a 2012 study, too much humidity can actually disrupt your sleep cycle. Having worked for many years in the NHS, initially as a GP, and then as Lead Clinician for an integrated Community Sexual Health Service, Dr Deborah Lee now works as a health and medical writer, with an emphasis on women’s health. She is a menopause specialist. How we test How do we test humidifiers on Live Science? When choosing a humidifier, it’s important to pay attention to the range of room sizes it can humidify. The Elechomes HTJ-2119 cool mist humidifier has a range of 322 to 528 square feet, which makes it great for a master bedroom or small apartment.

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier is an ultra-quiet model with an aroma diffuser, remote control, 4.5-liter water tank, and a range of 538 square feet.

The humidifier does feel a little bit flimsy (which surprised us for the price), and leaked a bit when we tried to transport it into another room with water still in the tank. However, it's an efficient machine that does a good job of improving indoor humidity, and it has the added benefit of looking good too.

Elechomes 5.5L Large Room Humidifier SH8820 design and features – Simple and easy to use, it does what you need it to Reviewers who were less impressed with this humidifier noticed water pooling around the humidifier, as our tester did. "The humidifier releases it's mist from the top of the device and the water will pool around the nozzle and drip down the side of the humidifier and leak everywhere", said one reviewer. Other complaints were that the handle is too small to lift and carry the water tank comfortably, and that the display lights are too bright at night. Should you buy the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier?The front of the humidifier is home to all the controls, which are duplicated on the thin remote control that comes with the appliance. Although the controls all have an icon, they’re neatly labelled in English, too, leaving no doubt over the function of each button.

There’s no oscillation feature, but you can manually adjust the angle of the air outlet – be careful if you’re doing this when the humidifier is on Heat mode, since the output can be very hot. Finally, you can use the aromatherapy pad to add essential oils to make your room smell nice. Elechomes 5.5L Large Room Humidifier SH8820 performance – Quiet and effective, but it only just copes with its maximum rated room size The Elechomes SH8820 is an excellent value ultrasonic humidifier that comes with a full gamut of features. At 26.5cm x 18cm x 30.5cm, this humidifier is a perfect size for both floor or desktop use. We especially like its simple Apple-esque styling, the clearly etched lettering on the touch sensitive control panel, the ingeniously simple uni-directional vapour spout with integral aroma diffuser, and the way you can fill its ample 5.5-litre water tank without having to lift it out. Small wonder it’s one of the most popular humidifiers in the USA. Clean and dry the humidifier thoroughly when storing the product or when it is being used infrequently.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. 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. The ability to set a humidity target and set a timer so the humidifier will turn off after a certain amount of time are nice features that let you keep the humidity of your room at a comfortable level without wasting extra water. The timer, for instance, would let you run the humidifier in a bedroom for a few hours before bedtime and through the night, making it automatically turn off during the day when no one uses the room.