This is our buying guide on the best humidifiers for congestion 2023. Below is a quick summary of our top recommendations. Scroll further down to read our in depth hands on reviews, for each humidifier.
Raydrop Cool Mist Humidifier
- 2 liter water tank
- Up to 15 hours of constant use
- Smallest footprint
- Ideal for smaller spaces
- Lots of adjustment for the mist volume
- Large knob for adjusting volume
- Maximum mist volume of 240 ml/hr
- Cool mist function
- Cool mist improves sleep and reduces snoring
- Helps relieve symptoms of congestion
- Auto shutdown feature
- Whisper quiet operation
- Top-fill design for easier refills
- Filter-free design
- Inexpensive humidifier for congestion
Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier
- 4.5 liter water tank
- 24 hour runtime
- Most compact design
- Fits under most low shelves
- Easy to refill
- Adjustable mist levels
- Large knob for adjustment
- Filter-free design
- No need to buy replacement filters
- Does not allow any irritants or contaminants into the air
- Can be used with Vicks Vaposteam
- Warm mist function
- Ideal for relieving you of congestion
- Also works effectively for combatting cough, cold, flu, etc
- Lowest noise levels of any humidifier
- Best for use in bedrooms and baby nurseries
- Auto shutdown feature enabled when water runs out
LEVOIT Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier
- 3 liter water tank
- Upto 24 hour runtime
- Can cover up to 290 sq-ft of space
- Fully adjustable humidity level and mist speed
- 3 mist speed levels
- Really effective auto mode
- Essential oil diffuser
- Dishwasher safe
- Cleaning brush provided in the box
- Can be paired to an app
- Voice controls offered
- App can control timer, adjust mist settings, turn on night light
- Schedule settings allow for automatic start/stop at specified times, days
In this article, we recommend the best humidifiers that help with congestion.
If you suffer from heavy congestion, especially when sick, a humidifier could help relieve some of the symptoms. Besides that, it’s also common for people to experience congestion even when they aren’t sick.
The Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier caught our eye with its compact design, extended runtime, and decent-sized water tank. It’s a great buy if you want a high quality humidifier that can also effectively counter congestion.
If you weren’t sure which humidifier to buy to help with congestion, you came to the right place. We recommend humidifiers for all purposes, and all price points.
Keep reading to find out more about the best humidifiers for congestion.
Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier
OVERALL BEST
The LEVOIT Smart humidifier is versatile, powerful, and hands down our #1 choice. With its sizable 6-liter water tank, beautiful design, and high-tech features, this humidifier is an excellent investment for your home or workplace.
The standout feature of this humidifier is its ability to switch between warm and cold mist so that you can have the best of both worlds.
The warm mist mode allows for fast humidification during the winter, keeps your room warm, and soothes sore throats. On the other hand, the cold mist mode keeps your skin perfectly moisturized during the summer.
With the capacity to cover an area of nearly 750 square feet, the LEVOIT is excellent for larger spaces, such as studio apartments or large living rooms. On the low mist setting, the 6-liter tank allows for continuous use of up to 50 hours before you need to refill it. Impressive, right?
This humidifier uses a top fill design, which avoids spills during refill and makes cleaning easier, unlike bottom fill designs, which are far more complicated to clean.
Cleaning the Levoit Humidifier is also as easy as using it. All you need to do is rinse the tank under water thoroughly, and you’re good to go!
It has a built-in humidistat, enabling you to monitor the humidity level in your room constantly. It’s also WiFi enabled with smart features.
The remote features allow you to turn the humidifier on and off, change the fan speed, and monitor and adjust the humidity level while you’re away.
It’s also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant and can thus seamlessly become a part of your home automation system.
The LEVOIT also uses a patented hybrid mist technology that allows nearly four times faster humidification than conventional cold mist humidifiers! So if you’re always in a rush and need a quick fix to your humidity-related problems, this is the humidifier you should opt for.
The Levoit Smart Humidifier, with its smart features and reliable performance, fulfils all your humidifier-related needs. It is absolutely worth the money!
Pros
- 4.5 liter water tank
- 24 hour runtime
- Most compact design
- Fits under most low shelves
- Easy to refill
- Adjustable mist levels
- Large knob for adjustment
- Filter-free design
- No need to buy replacement filters
- Does not allow any irritants or contaminants into the air
- Can be used with Vicks Vaposteam
- Warm mist function
- Ideal for relieving you of congestion
- Also works effectively for combatting cough, cold, flu, etc
- Lowest noise levels of any humidifier
- Best for use in bedrooms and baby nurseries
- Auto shutdown feature enabled when water runs out
Cons
- More adjustment options for the mist would have been nice
Raydrop Cool Mist Humidifier
BEST BUDGET
If you’re battling congestion on a budget, Raydrop’s cool mist humidifier might be just the weapon you need. Sure, it doesn’t have the runtime or coverage capabilities of larger units, but it’s still a great budget-friendly option for smaller spaces.
The operative word there is ‘small’. Raydrop didn’t make this humidifier to deliver Amazon rainforest levels of humidity, instead opting to cater to the less demanding customer. Their cool mist humidifier is outfitted with a meager 2 liter water tank.
So it comes as no surprise that the runtime is a bit on the low end as well. In fact, even on lower settings, we didn’t get more than 15 hours of constant usage out of this thing. Crank up the mist volume or speed, and you’ll get even less.
That does mean you at least have mist speed adjustment available on this humidifier. And that’s more than we can say for our top pick!
Mist speed settings are handled by a large knob up front that also doubles as the power button. Overall, we were satisfied by the wide range of adjustment, though more could have been added.
One unexpected feature of this tiny humidifier is the whisper quiet noise levels. Again, it is our experience that very small humidifiers tend to be a bit louder, as the smaller internal components need to work harder to achieve the same effect as larger models.
But on the Raydrop, we were surprised to find that even at full blast, the unit stays nice and quiet. That and the miniscule footprint make it another great option for bedrooms, baby nurseries, and anywhere else you might need some discreet humidification.
You get the same auto-shutdown feature as the Vicks, so the unit won’t keep running after the tank has run out of water.
This is where we bring up the elephant in the room. The same compact design that enables easy setup and storage of the unit, also means you can’t really use it to humidify very large spaces.
Now, credit where credit is due, Raydrops’ humidifier for congestion holds its own against the big boys. It can output a maximum mist volume of 240 ml/hr, which is good by any measure. But still, coverage is nowhere near the level of larger units.
Put simply, this humidifier is designed for smaller spaces. Forget living rooms, forget dining areas, and forget large hallways. The most this puppy can handle is a medium to large size bedroom.
But bringing it right back to the good stuff, we have a similar filter-free design as the Vicks. The water tank refill process is intuitive, thanks to the top fill design.
Then we have this humidifier’s flagship feature, and the reason we put it on this list. It can produce cool mist, which has its own benefits for relieving symptoms of congestion.
Specifically, it is great for when you’re sleeping with the humidifier on. It prevents snoring, and also makes for a noticeable difference in your quality of sleep.
So that’s the Raydrop cool mist humidifier. It is a tiny, pipsqueak of a humidifier, but sometimes, that’s all you really need. And it’s one of the cheapest ways to humidify a space, which earns it some extra points.
Pros
- 2 liter water tank
- Up to 15 hours of constant use
- Smallest footprint
- Ideal for smaller spaces
- Lots of adjustment for the mist volume
- Large knob for adjusting volume
- Maximum mist volume of 240 ml/hr
- Cool mist function
- Cool mist improves sleep and reduces snoring
- Helps relieve symptoms of congestion
- Auto shutdown feature
- Whisper quiet operation
- Top-fill design for easier refills
- Filter-free design
- Inexpensive humidifier for congestion
Cons
- Not best suited for humidifying larger spaces
LEVOIT Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier
PREMIUM CHOICE
Levoit’s humidifier for congestion blows other units out of the water with its high-end design, awesome performance, and impressive runtime. Just be prepared to pay a bit more!
Levoit’s design language is clean and simple. The unit itself has an ergonomic cylindrical shape that looks nice on a table, a shelf, or a nightstand. The size is a tad larger than other options we tested, but that has perks of its own.
For one, you get a healthy 3 liter water tank capacity. That tank sports a top-fill design, letting you easily refill the unit without much hassle. This is a nice departure from cheaper units that take longer to refill, and also end up making a mess!
Large tank equals higher runtime. Levoit claims around 24 hours of continuous use, which we found to be pretty accurate.
That rating is of course, on lower mist volume settings, but the drop off isn’t too bad even when you do crank up the humidity. Expect between 18 and 24 hours on one tank.
Coverage is surprisingly high as well. This humidifier for congestion easily beats the competition, as it’s rated to cover a maximum of 290 sq-ft. That should work for most large bedrooms, living rooms, and the like.
One of the most important things about humidifier use is regular cleaning. Some users ignore the process, which causes a variety of problems. Levoit makes it easier to clean the water tank by making it completely dishwasher safe.
Another feature that makes cleaning a lot easier is the included brush. Usually, we have to source our own, so this was a pleasant surprise.
That being said, we should mention that this unit requires a bit more cleaning than your average humidifier unit. We found that we had to clean it at least twice a week, even when it was being used sparingly.
The inclusion of an auto mode is always appreciated, especially when it’s this good. We almost didn’t have to mess around with any of the settings, since the auto mode was so effective.
It kept our environment nice and humid, without under-humidifying, as so many auto modes often do.
When you do want to get a little bit more ‘pro’ with the settings, Levoit’s unit offers 3 speed settings, which can help you humidify different sized spaces more efficiently.
Essential oil trays may not be essential in a humidifier for congestion, but they’re always nice to see. The Levoit’s essential oil/aroma tray works well for diffusing a bit of fragrance into your space. This could even be soothing for the sinuses, further helping relieve congestion.
But probably our favorite feature of this humidifier is the option to use smart controls. The unit pairs to your phone via an app, or you can even use your voice. And you get a surprising amount of control and adjustability with this app.
You can set timers, adjust the relative humidity, and control the night light (yep, it has one of those).
But the real star of the show is the ability to create schedules for the humidifier. You might confuse this feature for a timer, but it’s more than that.
It allows you to set times for when the humidifier should turn on and off, and even make different schedules for different days of the week. This is so convenient if, say, you want your living room to be nice and cozy when you get home from work, but don’t want to leave the humidifier running when you’re away.
Lastly, we liked the crisp and clear LED display that shows you all the relevant info and settings you need. The unit is among the quietest we’ve tested, and the 360 degree adjustable nozzle makes it a lot easier to direct mist to a particular spot.
Pros
- 3 liter water tank
- Upto 24 hour runtime
- Can cover up to 290 sq-ft of space
- Fully adjustable humidity level and mist speed
- 3 mist speed levels
- Really effective auto mode
- Essential oil diffuser
- Dishwasher safe
- Cleaning brush provided in the box
- Can be paired to an app
- Voice controls offered
- App can control timer, adjust mist settings, turn on night light
- Schedule settings allow for automatic start/stop at specified times, days
Cons
- Requires more frequent cleaning than other units
