This is our buying guide on the best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators in 2023. Below is a quick summary of our top recommendations. Scroll further down to read our in depth, hands on reviews, for each humidifier.
AIRCARE MA1201
- Simple to operate
- Traps mineral deposits from hard water
- Extensive coverage
- Four-speed cycling fan to maintain acceptable noise levels
- Easy to clean
- Can handle hard water
- Easy-to-understand controls
- Digital humidistat
- Automatic shut-off
- Huge water tank capacity
TaoTronics 6L
- Super-easy to use
- Automatic humidity monitoring
- Auto humidity settings
- Warm or cool mist
- Auto on/off
- Essential Oil diffuser tray
- Good build quality
- Remote control
- 60-hour runtime
- Easy to clean
- Huge water reservoir
The Honeywell Top Fill Cool Moisture Humidifier
- 24 to 36-hour runtime
- Excellent for large and small spaces
- Quick to humidify from zero point
- Cost-effective to maintain
- No fuss, simple operation
- Excellent for hard water
- Top-fill design
- Various moisture output settings
- Easy to clean
- Generous water tanks
- Quiet operation
- Filter free
This article covers the best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators
The side effects caused by the dryness of pure oxygen can easily be countered with a proper humidifier. Those that regularly use a concentrator won’t be strangers to sore throat, nasal irritations, and lung irritations caused by pure oxygen.
With this in mind, we tested a handful of humidifiers to find the best three humidifiers for oxygen concentrators and chose the Honeywell Top Fill Cool Moisture Humidifier as our top unit.
The Honeywell is an ultra-quiet, filter-free humidifier that produces a delicate, almost invisible, mist. This prevents the formation of water droplets on your furniture.
It’s designed for medium to large-sized rooms and features variable moisture output settings and a rotating mist nozzle.
Read on to see our test results of the Honeywell, as well as the two other winners in the categories of best budget humidifier, and best premium humidifier for oxygen concentrators.
TaoTronics Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier
BEST OVERALL
At a glance
The TaoTronics provides both cool mist and warm mist options to keep your sinuses and skin hydrated. It is the perfect humidifier for the bedroom or kids’ rooms.
The remote control is a welcome addition and makes the unit extra user-friendly.
The water tank is large, which means this unit will run throughout the night without the need for a refill. It has every bit of clout to set it apart from the rest and make it to the top of the list as our premium unit on the best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators list.
Design
The TaoTronics designers added an essential oil diffuser to the unit’s features. This is a wonderful addon!
Standing warm water is a nursery for airborne germs and other nasties. In the owners’ manual, TaoTronics recommends cleaning the unit at least once every seven days. This is critical, especially if someone in your household already struggles with breathing difficulties or nasal- and throat irritations.
The good news is, it’s an easy job.
During the test, we simply unplugged the unit, allowed it to cool down, descaled it (a water/vinegar solution does the trick here), and used the included brush to get to the difficult spots in the water reservoir.
If you want to be extra safe, disinfect the unit with a bleach solution.
The whole process to us about twenty minutes, with another three minutes to reassemble the humidifier.
During our test, we did all of the aforementioned, and the whole process took less than 20 minutes.
Water Tank Capacity
The water tank on this TaoTronics humidifier is more than generous. It holds a full 6 liters.
That’s the upside. The downside is that such a big tank can be a hassle to fill up.
It’s too big for a kitchen or bathroom sink with a standard faucet, which means a couple of trips between the faucet and the humidifier with a jug in hand.
Runtime
Depending on how hard it has to work, and your mist settings, the humidifier will run without a hitch for anything up to 60 hours. If your fan settings are higher, and the ambient humidity more challenging, the runtime will decrease accordingly.
Coverage
TaoTronics 6L Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier For Home will moisturize the atmosphere in any area up to 430 square feet.
Mist Volume
Mist volume in this TaoTronics humidifier is generous – it runs at an average of between 100-300ml/h. This makes the TaoTronics exceptionally proficient at maintaining humidity levels according to your settings.
The cool mist from this humidifier is also ideal for nasal irritations, scratchy throats, nosebleeds, and burning eyes. But the unit does offer a warm mist feature as well, which means it is equally adept at handling the colder winter months.
Noise levels
Although the TaoTronics humidifier is not the noisiest unit we’ve ever tested, it is not the quietest either. It is easy to get used to the low purr and the occasional burble, though. And you have a degree of control over the noise by the fan speed setting you select.
Special Features
TaoTronics 6L Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier For Home starts and stops by itself as it monitors the humidity levels in the atmosphere. All you need to do is set it, and leave it to do its job. This is a great feature when you struggle with nasal, lung, and throat issues because you can rest assured that the humidity levels in the areas you frequent are always optimal.
In the bedroom the noise the TaoTronics makes when it switches itself on and off can be disturbing – in fact, we found it more annoying than the actual hum the humidifier emits.
As mentioned, the essential oil diffuser is a brilliant addition. And it is simple to operate. Simply add a couple of drops of your favorite oil to the oil tray, and the result is a clean and fresh smell throughout your home.
And, we’ve saved the best for last. The humungous water tank capacity of 6 liters is this TaoTronics Humidifier’s most outstanding feature. It is undoubtedly one of the longest-running humidifiers we’ve tested to date.
TaoTronics 6L Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier For Home comfortably takes the top premium humidifier spot on our list of best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators. And we recommend it without qualms.
Pros
- Super-easy to use
- Automatic humidity monitoring
- Auto humidity settings
- Warm or cool mist
- Auto on/off
- Essential Oil diffuser tray
- Good build quality
- Remote control
- 60-hour runtime
- Easy to clean
- Huge water reservoir
Cons
- Not a fantastic industrial design
AIRCARE MA1201 Whole-House Console-Style Evaporative Humidifier
BEST BUDGET
At a glance
This humidifier isn’t ugly to look at, but the designers clearly favored functionality over aesthetics.
The layout of the unit also has a bulky feel to it. With a little bit of forethought, it could probably have been fitted into a sleeker package. This may be personal taste, though, especially if one bears in mind the unit was designed to moisturize the air in areas of 1000 square feet.
That makes it almost a whole-house humidifier – perfect as a companion for a good oxygen concentrator.
Design
It will arrive on your doorstep with no assembly required. Even the filter is preinstalled.
Fill the AIRCARE with water, pop the plug into the wall, and you’re ready to go.
The reservoir fills easily at any kitchen sink. But do look out, though – the design is such that spillage can be an issue. We learned this the hard way!
The unit is easy to clean. A simple wipe-down and rinse do the job in less than 15 minutes.
Water Tank Capacity
A nifty feature is that you can actually double the water capacity by filling the reservoir, reinstalling it, waiting for the water to drain into the base, and refilling it again. This obviously increases the runtime of the AIRCARE MA1201. We found this out by accident in the first week of testing, and ran the humidifier on a double-fill for the remaining two weeks – with incredible runtimes!
And, working with an oxygen concentrator, fewer refels are only a plus.
Runtime
The Aircare will run for 36 hours between refills, provided you don’t run it on a high mist and full fan setting all the time. And then, of course, with the double-fill possibility, the runtime starts touching on 70 hours!
Coverage
This unit is specced to be able to humidify areas up to 3200 square feet. It does so admirably, which makes it ideal for whole-house use. This level of coverage also earmarks it as one of the best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators.
Mist Volume
The performance of this AIRCARE is peerless. Whether you use it in a smaller room like a home study, or a large living area, it simply shines. Its only limitation seems to be the sheer physics of airflow.
In a large area, such as the living room of my house, this unit caused condensation on the windows – even on colder nights!
Noise levels
The AIRCARE has a four-speed fan. At higher speeds, the humidifier does tend to become noisy. And the runtime decreases accordingly. To balance out the noise and runtime, we ran it on a medium speed, and this proved to be optimal.
Special Features
The unit is simple to operate. A clearly marked button gives you total control, and the unit will switch itself off and on to maintain steady humidity in the space you place it.
Like many other manufacturers, AIRCARE recommends the use of distilled water in this humidifier. This generally prevents scale buildup and white dust, especially in regions with mineral-rich water.
During the four weeks of testing, we used tap water without any detrimental side effects, though.
Wick replacement is recommended at 30-day intervals – that should give you around 700 hours of worry-free operation in 100-square foot areas. Besides, the unit will warn you of the necessity of a filter replacement after around 20 days.
This AIRCARE MA1201 Whole-House Console-Style Evaporative Humidifier thoroughly earned its spot as the budget-humidifier-king on our list of best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators.
Pros
- Simple to operate
- Traps mineral deposits from hard water
- Extensive coverage
- Four-speed cycling fan to maintain acceptable noise levels
- Easy to clean
- Can handle hard water
- Easy-to-understand controls
- Digital humidistat
- Automatic shut-off
- Huge water tank capacity
Cons
- Not a great aesthetic design
The Honeywell Top Fill Cool Moisture Humidifier
BEST PREMIUM
At a glance
This Honeywell uses evaporative technology. Dry air from the atmosphere is drawn into the unit and passed across a wet filter. The air absorbs the moisture, and it is then pushed from the unit into the atmosphere again.
This unit also filters various damaging minerals from the water and prevents the formation of white dust – something that is common, especially in regions with hard water.
This dust, in turn, aggravates many conditions that require the use of an oxygen concentrator.
The Honeywell Top Fill Cool Moisture Humidifier is large, and it has fewer features than many units in the same price range. We found the simplicity of the unit a plus, though. Fewer features make the unit’s controls easier to understand and operate.
The water reservoir is generous, allowing for long runtimes between refills.
Design
Even though this humidifier from Honeywell is bulky, it still easily fits into a counter or dresser. It’s comparatively big, but it won’t be unobtrusive.
The optimum placement, according to the designers and manufacturer of this humidifier, is at least 12 inches from the wall. The water reservoirs are a top-fill design that makes refilling super-easy.
Honeywell doesn’t specify ideal room sizes for this humidifier. We tested it in various spaces around the office and home and found it operates optimally in larger, open-plan areas.
If you’re using an oxygen concentrator, this unit from Honeywell will be a perfect fit.
Water Tank Capacity
This unit provides exceptionally long runtimes, and this is largely due to the humungous water tanks. The full capacity is 3 gallons.
Runtime
This varies according to the settings. On low, the water in the two reservoirs should allow for a runtime of around 24 hours. On high, fourteen hours is probably more accurate.
Coverage
To get a clear idea of the coverage this unit provides, we tested the three fan speeds individually.
On all three speeds, the humidifier was able to increase the humidity to 56% within the first hour of use, and then kept it steady at this level.
Different room sizes didn’t have any effect on the performance of this Honeywell. Our testing areas ranged from around 700 square feet to smaller areas of around 250 square feet. The results always remained stable, and the unit didn’t over-humidify the smaller spaces.
Again, this makes it the perfect stablemate for an oxygen concentrator.
Mist Volume
On a medium setting, the mist volume held steady at around 65%. This volume also decreases as the size of the room increases.
Noise levels
For its size, this is a quiet unit. It emits a low hum, but this is so gentle it won’t interfere with your day-to-day life. Think about your fridge – the buzz of this humidifier is many times lower.
Special Features
The greatest feature of this humidifier is the lack of clutter. It was designed to be a no-fuss unit, and that’s exactly what it is. Fill it up with water, plug it in, select your desired setting, switch it on, and forget about it until you need to refill the water reservoirs. That’s it!
Because this Honeywell uses evaporative technology, it doesn’t emit visible mist. That means no droplets of water that settle on your furniture, and no water stains either!
The Honeywell Top Fill Cool Moisture Humidifier comfortably made it to the top of our list of best humidifiers for oxygen concentrators. We recommend it wholeheartedly.
Pros
- 24 to 36-hour runtime
- Excellent for large and small spaces
- Quick to humidify from zero point
- Cost-effective to maintain
- No fuss, simple operation
- Excellent for hard water
- Top-fill design
- Various moisture output settings
- Easy to clean
- Generous water tanks
- Quiet operation
- Filter free
Cons
- It’s a large unit
