Humidifiers

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A HomeKit humidifier is worth the premium for one reason: the humidity reading becomes something the rest of the house can act on. The machine runs on a schedule with everything else, it appears in scenes, and — on the good ones — its humidity sensor is available to other automations rather than trapped in the manufacturer’s app.

Then the practical warning, because it is the most useful thing on this page. This category is very hard to buy in the UK. Six humidifiers are listed below and we could not verify a single Amazon UK listing for the smart ones. We searched for each by name: the results come back full of DREO and Levoit machines that are not HomeKit accessories at all. Where we have no buy link, it is because there is no correct listing to link to — not an oversight.

So treat this page as a shortlist to buy direct from, and be sceptical of any search result that promises otherwise.

HomeKit humidifiers worth knowing about

The best of them: AIRVERSA Humelle

The AIRVERSA Humelle was the first humidifier for Apple Home to run over Thread, and that fixes the specific problem this category has. Humidifiers live in bedrooms, usually the part of the house furthest from the router, which is exactly where a Wi-Fi accessory is least reliable. Thread meshes through your other mains-powered Thread devices instead of fighting for Wi-Fi.

It has a 5.5 litre tank, runs up to 60 hours between fills, and outputs up to 330 ml an hour.

Not stocked on Amazon UK — buy it direct from Airversa. This is the same situation as the Airversa air purifier, and the same answer.

VOCOlinc MistFlow

The VOCOlinc MistFlow is the one people search for by name, and VOCOlinc’s HomeKit support has historically been solid. It is not on Amazon UK either; the searches return unrelated diffusers. Buy direct.

Smartmi Humidifier Rainforest

The Smartmi Humidifier Rainforest is an evaporative machine rather than an ultrasonic one, which is the difference worth understanding — see below. Smartmi sells other humidifiers on Amazon UK, but not this model, and buying the wrong Smartmi is easy. Check the model name before you order anything.

Diffusers, not humidifiers

The VOCOlinc FlowerBud and the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Essential Oil Diffuser are aroma diffusers. They put a small amount of scented moisture into a room and they are pleasant, but they will not move the humidity of a bedroom in winter. If your problem is dry air, they are not the answer.

Not a humidifier at all: De’Longhi Tasciugo AriaDry Pure

The De’Longhi Tasciugo AriaDry Pure is listed in this category and it does the opposite job — it is a dehumidifier, which takes moisture out. It is genuinely useful for a damp British house with condensation on the windows, and it is the one product here you can straightforwardly buy.

Check price on Amazon UK

Worth being clear about which problem you have: dry air in a heated bedroom in winter wants a humidifier; water running down the windows and mould in the corners wants this.

How to choose one

Evaporative or ultrasonic. Ultrasonic humidifiers vibrate water into a fine mist. They are quiet and cheap, and if you have hard water they distribute a fine white mineral dust over the room — a genuine and common complaint in most of England. Evaporative machines blow air through a wet wick, which leaves the minerals in the wick, but they hum and the wick is a consumable. In a hard-water area, evaporative is usually the right choice.

What it exposes to Apple Home. The minimum is on, off, and a target humidity. The useful addition is the machine’s own humidity sensor published as an accessory, so other automations can read it. Not all of them do, and it is the difference between a smart appliance and an appliance with an app.

Tank size against how often you will refill it. A humidifier running properly in a dry room gets through more water than people expect. A two-litre tank is a daily refill; five litres is a couple of days. This decides whether you keep using it in February.

Cleaning, honestly. A humidifier is a warm tank of standing water. Every one of them needs regular cleaning or it becomes a problem rather than a solution. Look at how the tank comes apart before you buy — a machine you cannot get your hand inside is a machine that does not get cleaned.

Noise, at the speed you will run it. Quoted figures are for the lowest setting. A humidifier is a bedroom appliance and one that is only quiet on setting one is a humidifier you will run on setting one.

A humidity sensor is cheaper than a humidifier. If you do not know that your air is dry, measure first. An Eve Weather or a Qingping monitor costs a fraction of any machine here and tells you whether you have a problem at all. Below about 40% relative humidity is worth acting on; above 60% you want the dehumidifier instead.

The full list of HomeKit-compatible humidifiers in the directory is below.