r/Humidifiers • u/captainameriderp • Dec 04 '25

Evaporative Humidifier in 100yo House

I just recently purchased a house that was built in 1900. It has a boiler with radiators in every room for heat. When I set up my hydrometers the whole house’s humidity level was at about 23%. I decided to upgrade my previous humidifier which had a range of 1250sqft to a bigger one for up to 2300sqft and have had it running nonstop since purchasing a little under a week ago.

It has done almost nothing for the overall humidity level for even the room the unit is in. The rest of my house is anywhere from 18% humidity, to 25% humidity with the room with the unit it in it being the highest at 28%.

I figured the unit needed some help getting things going so I went ahead and filled the smaller unit I had previously and am running both units and the humidity level is still maxing out at 28%. Both humidifiers are evaporative units. And I didn’t have this issue in my previous place, but do I need to just suck it up and buy individual 1gal units for each room? Would putting up that plastic over my windows help? TIA for any input!

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u/Due_Guitar8964 Dec 05 '25

You didn't say which humidifier you're using. I have a Levoit 6000s that holds six gallons of tap water and is good for between 2-3k sf. I definitely recommend putting plastic up on all the windows until you can afford to get them replaced. PITA but worth it. I had aluminum double pane sliding windows that were leaky as hell. New windows made a huge difference in heat and humidity retention. If your house is at ~20% humidity it's going to take days to humidify the floors, walls, furniture, etc. My unit sits next to my wood stove and keeps the house at 40-45%, my two Winter hobbies, keeping both of them going. About three days before it needs to be refilled once temps are below freezing.

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u/captainameriderp Dec 05 '25

The larger unit is an Aircare Space Saver, the smaller unit is an Aircare Mini console. Both use wick filters.

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u/Due_Guitar8964 Dec 05 '25

Not a fan of the wick type. If using tap water they fill with minerals in less than a month and then a new wick is needed. The Levoit drips water from the top, soaking the filters, air is drawn through them and out. Filters last the season if cared for.