The Quietest Humidifiers – Decibels And Capacity


Humidifiers are useful devices that increase the moisture content of the air in your room and help prevent dry skin, chapped lips, and even allergies of nose and throat. While a quality humidifier can do all that and create an overall pleasant experience in your home, a loud humidifier can do the opposite, disturbing your work, sleep and well being. 

A humidifier is considered quiet if it produces less than 40 decibels (dB) of noise. Humidifiers that do not use a fan, such as ultrasonic or warm mist are often quieter than those with a fan, similarly a small humidifier is typically quieter than a larger model. The Mooka (24 dB) and Lovoit (25 dB) are two of the quietest humidifiers on our list.

Thankfully, there are a number of humidifiers available that not only perform well but are also super quiet, meaning you won’t have to compromise on your sleep or work just to breathe in moist air. If you are new to the world of humidifiers, however, finding these devices can be quite a daunting task. This is because there are a lot of brands that claim to work well but are actually of low quality, while many are downright gimmicky.

What to look for when buying a quiet humidifier

The noise levels produced by humidifiers, like most electronic appliances, are measured in a unit called ‘Decibel’.

Since we don’t use this unit in our daily lives, it can be difficult to understand how loud the noise of a certain decibel (dB) really is. Thankfully, the CDC has provided an easy guide on this:

Everyday NoisesDecibel level
Normal breathing10 dB
Ticking watch20 dB
Soft Whisper 30 dB
Refrigerator hum40 dB
Normal conversation60 dB
Washing Machine70 dB
City Traffic80 dB
Motorcycle90 dB

Anything less than 60 decibels is not necessarily harmful to the body, but it can still get annoying. Depending on where you want to put your humidifier, you should be looking for humidifiers that produce less than 40 dB of noise. Ideally, a ‘quiet’ humidifier will produce sounds from 24 to 34 dB. 

To create our list today, we have looked for the following features:

Noise level

Humidifiers that produce less than 40 dB of noise are ideal. If you are looking for a humidifier for somewhere delicate, like a nursery or a recording studio, we recommend devices that produce less than 30 dB. 

Please be mindful that many humidifier brands do not mention noise levels explicitly, which is often because they are loud. It is always a safer option to go with brands that are open about what their products can (and can’t) do.

Type of humidifier

Broadly speaking, humidifiers can be one of four types: evaporative, cool mist, warm mist and ultrasonic. Evaporative, cool mist and warm mist humidifiers often have a fan that they use to emit the moisture outside, which makes them noisier than their ultrasonic counterparts, despite being cheaper.

We recommend ultrasonic humidifiers if you are more concerned about noise than the costs.

Tank Capacity and Coverage Area

Humidifiers come with a tank from which the water is converted to mist and dispersed into your room. If the tank capacity is low, you will find yourself having to frequently refill the tank, which no-one really likes to do.

Tank capacities larger than a gallon should usually last you overnight.

Ease of Maintenance

Cleaning a humidifier regularly is essential to keep your device functioning well. As such, we recommend buying a humidifier with easily removable parts so that cleaning and re-assembling becomes easy.

Additional features

Many humidifiers come with extra features like a filter, smart humidity sensors, indicators for cleaning and refilling, and even an in-built air purifier. In the list below, you will see that we have highlighted these features for each product. 

The Quietest Humidifiers

Currently, the Mooka cool Mist Humidifier and diffuser is the quietest humidifier available – producing just 24 decibels of noise. This is slightly louder than the ticking of a clock and quieter than a whisper. This means you wouldn’t notice this sound unless you really make an effort. 

1. Mooka Cool Mist Humidifier and Diffuser (2-in-1)

Although Mooka is not a popular name in the world of home appliances as a whole, its cool mist humidifier has quite a following in the humidifier space for its simple, ultra quiet functioning.

It produces less than 24 decibels of noise in the process, meaning you won’t be able to hear the humidifier unless you really pay attention. In terms of performance, its 4L (1.05 gal) tank can produce mist up to 380 ml/h on max, and can last up to 24 hours without any refill.

2. Pure Enrichment MistAire Humidifier

Pure Enrichment’s MistAire humidifier is one of the most popular and highest rated humidifiers, thanks to its super quiet and simple operation.

Based on the fact it produces less than 32 decibels of noise, this is one of the best humidifiers you can get for this price range. With a large 1.5 litres’ tank, it can keep running continuously for 25 hours and provides sufficient coverage for most medium sized rooms of up to 250 sq. ft.

3. Everlasting Comfort Humidifier

Everlasting Comfort’s Ultrasonic cool mist humidifier produces less than 30 dB of noise. It’s one of the most popular and highly rated devices in our list, thanks to its large capacity, added function as a diffuser, and a two year warranty. 

The 3.1 pound device features a massive 6 litres tank that can last for up to 50 hours in larger rooms up to 500 sq. ft.

4. Levoit Smart humidifier Classic 200S

When it comes to home appliances, let’s be honest Levoit is the go-to brand that offers consistent quality, and the Levoit Smart Humidifier Classic 200s is no exception. With noise levels as low as 25 decibels, it offers the quietest performance in our line-up today.

Its large 4 liter tank can work in rooms of up to 400 sq. ft, producing 40 hours of continuous mist.

5. Afloia Miro Pro

Afloia’s Miro Pro is a stand-out, producing less than 30 decibels of noise, which is as quiet as a soft whisper. 

The humidifier is an evaporative one, meaning it uses heat to send water into the air. This unit has a dual function as both a super quiet humidifier and also a fantastic air purifier. The pre-filter, activated carbon and HEPA filters clean the air up to five times every hour in standard sized rooms of up to 219 sq. ft. 

6. Homech Cool Mist humidifier

Homech’s cool mist humidifier is one of the quietest units available for larger rooms.

You might expect the device to be loud considering the massive specs we see in the performance department, but it’s actually one of the quietest in our line-up, producing just 27 decibels of noise.

Featuring a massive 6 litre tank capacity, it can generate a continuous mist output for 100 hours for larger rooms up to 430 sq. ft! This means you won’t have to replace the water for almost 4 days, even when it runs continuously!

7. HemingWeigh Ultra Quiet humidifier

This humidifier from HemingWeigh produces just 28 decibels of noise.

Featuring a 2.2 litre capacity, this medium sized device can run for up to 24 hours in a medium sized rooms.

8. Xburan Cool Mist humidifier 

This cool mist humidifier from Xburan deserves a spot in our line-up because it produces less than 28 decibels of noise, while covering relatively large areas of up to 430 sq. ft.

The tank capacity is 3.5 liters, meaning it can run for about 32 hours continuously without the need to refill.

Other Humidifiers

There are lots of other brands of humidifiers out there, and many of them are relatively quiet. If you have your eye on a particular brand or model, just check that it makes less than 40 decibels, and ideally closer to 30. Especially if you are wanting to use it at night time in the bedroom.

For example Vicks humidifiers mostly make noise in the 40 decibel range, which is similar to the noise created by a refrigerator.

Theresa Orr

Theresa Orr holds a PhD in Earth Science and specializes in determining past climates from rocks using geochemistry. Her passion for clean water, soil and air drives her to provide easy to understand information for everyone to read.

Recent Posts