What's a good quality, efficient and quiet room humidifier?
 

Anyone have some experience with this?

I have central air but the air circulation in the guitar rooms isn't as great as the rest of the house so I think a humidifier will work. It's two rooms, both are about 12 feet square. The humidity is currently 38 degrees. I don't believe the humidity ever goes below 30. I'm looking to keep the humidity at or above 40 consistently.

I'm not sure there is one. Actually, a lot depends on your water supply and other factors. I'm yet to find one that is a clear winner in my environment. The best compromise for me is probably an ultrasonic unit used with distilled water. At about a buck a gallon, the water gets expensive but I get a substantial coating of white dust when I use tap water. On-board filters haven't worked. Ultrasonic units are quiet and capable of putting q lot of moisture into a room. An ultraviolet light is a good idea because ultrasonic units can also disperse a lot of bacteria into the air.

I've tried evaporative units and the metal filter just dissolved and crumbled after a few months. It also re4quired anti-microbial chemicals or drud started to grow in it. I've tried vapor units and they raise the room temperature so much that the relative humidity hardly budges despite the added moisture in the air. Despite these setbacks, I continue to humidify and just bite the bullet on the expense of the distilled water. In the grand scheme of things, it's a small price to pay for protecting the instruments.

I'm glad that I live in North Carolina where the season for humidifying is fairly short and where, even in winter, there are respites of warmer moister weather most years. Our house has a central humidifier, which prevents really extreme dryness but doesn't quite get the RH where I want it to be -- hence the room unit.

Your circumstances may be entirely different, depending on your water source's characteristics and the extremity of your weather.

http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-1115-Eva...171086&sr=8-17

here it is, trust me, Ive done ALL the research. Looks and sounds like urinal and everything... works like a charm but you do go through a few filters, which are cheaply ordered from the company... i use well water with very high ph btw-

Thanks, looks good. I'm thinking I'll probably get this along with some soundhole humidifiers for if I'm out of town or some such.

Try hanging up a wet towel.

Google Hunter whole room humidifiers. They are quiet and work like a charm. Just replace the filter once a year and you are good to go.

Re your central air, if you close the door to your guitar room perhaps that would help keep the humidity in there instead of leaking into the rest of the house.

The cold mist units are quiet but as mentioned if your water has minerals in it you will get white dust all over. On the other hand, if you have soft (low mineral) water either from a water softener or naturally, there will be little or no white dust.

If you get an evaporative unit, do follow the maker's instructions regarding disinfectant, if any. The filters can be a source for serious disease.

Most or all humidifiers have a built-in humidistat to cycle the unit on and off depending on the room humidity. A separate hygrometer is a simple and cheap way to verify that all is well. I highly recommend getting one.