The Best 8 Top Fill Humidifiers for Small Spaces

Living in an environment that has cold weather almost half the year can be very challenging for any household. Which makes it necessary to try to find the best Top Fill humidifiers for small spaces.

One of the key issues living in a cold place is how dry the air can get in any small space where we live or work in.

This can be worst for those whose household is an apartment or condominium where the air (inside and outside) can become colder the higher up you live in.

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Problems that the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces can alleviate

Cold air tends to hold less moisture making the air dry and uncomfortable, especially in enclosed spaces, and can eventually lead to a number of problems.

Personal Discomfort

Some problems are easy to handle, such as dry skin, chap lips and dry eyes, where lotions, moisturizers, lip balm, and eye drops can help.

However, one of the bigger issues is often nasal and sinus congestion, where our body tries to compensate for the cold dry air coming into our system. The irritation caused by breathing in the cold air often creates extra nasal and sinus fluid.

This can be worse if one were to suffer from a cold, flu, allergies, emphysema, making breathing even more uncomfortable and difficult. And not just for the average adult, but for infants and seniors too.

Aside from the physical discomfort to humans, the same can also affect our precious four legged friends to a greater extent, especially for those pets whose physical extremities, such as their nose or paw pads are more sensitive than us normal bipeds.

Issues in the household

Cold dry air can also affect other things in the household, such as causing the wooden floor boards to shrink and separate. Any type of leather product not regularly treated can become dry and crack.

Over time even paint or wall paper can crack or peel, and any caulking can shrink and lose their protective properties.

Plants are especially sensitive to lack of moisture which can lead to wilted leaves at best, or a complete loss of the plant at worst. Less it be said if the plants were neglected in any way…ahem…

Even the dry air combined with air particles can contribute to a higher build up of static electricity in a small room, especially in the presence of any rugs or carpeting. While only annoying to some, static electricity can be harmful to sensitive electronics.

How to choose a humidifier that is right for you

From personal experience having lived in houses and condominiums here in Toronto, Canada, I can attest to using, and used up, a whole range of small to medium size humidifiers over the years.

My partner can berate me for having a “graveyard” of humidifiers but that doesn’t mean I have been buying and abusing humidifiers secretly to see which works the best…well sorta, but such is the necessity of the circumstance I live in.

Rather the experience has help to garner the understanding that not all humidifiers are created equal or are equally up to the task, as they are purported to. Instead. to find which humidifier works best can be a bit of an experiment.

There are a whole host of guides available detailing which type of humidifier is best for which environment or setting and the instructions provided in each unit often lists this out. Or you can just google about it on the net.

But I find, throughout it all, it’s best to boil it down to just the basics as to what are your needs, and what works for one may not always work for everyone else.

Stick with Simple Criteria for the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces

So keep in mind that there really isn’t any science behind how these humidifiers are choose but are base on the following very simple, common sense criteria.

Size of the small space

The room size will start to determine the size of the humidifier, which in this case, a small space may be a small bedroom, den or home office.

For such spaces the size of the humidifier water tank may start at 1 liter. But this may increase with the time of usage, as longer use will need a larger tank, so constant refilling doesn’t become a bother.

I find for any overnight or long work day use, a 4 to 6 liter tank is sufficient for a small space.

How Noisy are the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces

How loud is the humidifier is important especially if you run it while sleeping throughout the night. This usually leads to ultrasonic humidifiers which normally rates as more quiet than others.

Some may even indicate a whisper quiet noise level at or around 28 dB(decibels), appropriate for adults or babies to sleep with.

What Type of Mist does the humidifier create

Ultrasonic humidifiers are commonly of the type that creates cool-mists which is appropriate since the cool moist mist will help alleviate any type of breathing problems associated with cool dry air.

How Easy is the humidifier to Use

Ease of use is important as we don’t want to be constantly refilling the tank or worry about constant cleaning or replacing any filters.

So a top filling, non-filter, and easy clean unit is way better than those that you need to pull the tank out, turn it upside down to refill, and replace/clean the filter, and probably make a mess spilling water and damaging the unit in the process….nuff said…

How well does the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces works

The durability of the humidifier is important, since how well the unit can pump out the moisture, to how long the unit can last running over a period of time can be a real deal breaker.

Often I find a humidifier works great from the start (as advertised), only to see it degrade and work less (or worse, breakdown) after a short period of time. And this is even just with regular usage, and careful cleaning, without any undue abuse.

With a large enough tank capacity, the average run time, especially for overnight usage, should be about 12-20 hours, before needing a refill. But this will depend on what level of mist setting is in use. The higher the setting the shorter will be the duration.

How much for the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces

Lastly, the cost of the humidifier can often correlate with how many extra features it has and not necessarily how well it performs in the long run.

Depending on your needs and what functions are available we can consider any recommended model within $200. Anything more will require a harder look at what it does and how well it works.

Recommended the Best Top Fill Humidifiers for Small Spaces
(Pokemon not included – 🙂 )

Honeywell HUL570 Top Fill, Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier, 4L

The set up is simple with the instructions provided. The Top fill tank access allows me to easily fill the tank every few days with a water pitcher, with the visible side letting me know if the tank is either empty or almost fill. And the wide open tank top makes cleaning a snap.

The demineralization cartridge that comes with the unit helps minimize any white dust from the ultrasonic misting process by capturing any minerals in the water. So this keeps the humidifier cleaner longer and functions better. Even running at its highest output, the water tank can last a whole day easily.

It has been running well without issue and I can’t ask for anything more than that. One of the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces.

Get this great humidifier for about $100, an affordable deal at:

CTOMOA 2-in-1 Top Fill Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier, 3L, Aroma Diffuser

With a water tank of 2.5 liters, this simple column humidifier not only provides sufficient mists but colorful mood lighting as well making it quite the entertaining top fill humidifier model in our selection.

This medium size humidifier has a built in humidity sensor that provides both automatic and adjustable humidity settings as part of its Intelligent Mist mode feature. So you can let the unit set the proper humidity levels or you can customize the low, medium and high humidity levels to find the right humidity.

The top of the water tank comes off completely to make refilling and access for cleaning extremely easy and efficient. And the tank is robust enough to allow essential oils to be added directly into the water for aromatherapy.

The sensitive touch screen controls allows you to: set the three mist settings, Low/Med/High, set the 1-12 hour timer, turn on and select any of the 7 LED mood lights. The mood lights can automatically cycle through the 7 colors or you can set it to one color. The LED display and mood lights can be turn off when sleeping.

Aside from the handy mood lights, this humidifier can still provide up to 30 hours (at low setting) of soothing moisture, while keeping the noise at a whisper quiet 28 dB level.

Built not only to provide proper humidity in your space, the aroma diffuser and variations of mood light all help to make this humidifier a delight to your senses. Making it one of the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces.

Check out this charismatically colorful humidifier, or purchase it at:

PARIS RHÔNE Top Fill Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier, 4L, Aroma Diffuser

The Senville model SENHU-55 humidifier is larger with a 5 liter tank, and is design for small to medium size rooms, but is an award winning design fit for any size room.

This humidifier has an Auto/Sleep mode feature that automatically adjusts and maintains optimal humidity levels. And the adjustable 360 degree rotatable mist vent allows you to direct the mist exactly where you want it. With Aromatherapy Pad for Essential Oils.

There is an illuminated LED Display with Soft-Touch Button Controls for Mist Settings, Timer & Quiet Mode. Nightlight Feature with Calming Cool Blue LED. LED display and night light can be switch off.

The large capacity 5 liter water tank allows up to 40 hours of continuous use and the top of the water tank comes off completely to make refilling and access for cleaning extremely easy and efficient.

This award winning humidifier looks amazingly modern and has all the right features to make it one of the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces. And you can use it for larger spaces too!

Check out or purchase this futuristic looking humidifier at:

Levoit Dual 300S Top Fill Cool Mist Humidifier with Smart Control, 6L, Aroma Diffuser

If the previous two Levoit humidifier models are insufficient for your needs, then perhaps their even bigger brother may be more suitable.

With a water tank of 6 liters, this larger squarish humidifier has all the features of the model 200 including the Smart Control features.

This Wi-Fi enabled humidifier with its Smart Control feature can be control by your cell phone with Levoit’s free Vesync app in order to turn on/off the Auto/Sleep mode, create schedules, connect to voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistance, and set and adjust the humidity level.

The digital display works with the built in humidity sensor as part of its Auto mode feature. So when in use the unit automatically senses the room’s humidity level and makes automatic adjustments to maintain a comfortable humidity level. The unit’s light mode and display can also be shut off on sleep mode.

The top of the water tank comes off completely to make refilling and access for cleaning extremely easy and efficient. And the update design with noise damping technology makes this model run very quiet.

There are simple push controls for the mist settings, which allows you to adjust the mist output up to 220mL/h, and these are enhance with the Smart Control. And it still has the diffuser pad feature for the essential oil aromatherapy.

This model is also made with materials that are BPA free, and combine with the digital display and the Smart Controls, this larger humidifier comes with enough features to keep your space nice and comfortable. Making it one of the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces.

Check out this larger but still affordable humidifier, or purchase it at:

Some Thoughts on the Best Top Fill Humidifiers for Small Spaces

Given that these 8 listed humidifiers all come highly recommended and are currently considered the best top fill humidifiers for small spaces.

They do keep your space adequately humidified and comfortable day and/or night, but this does not mean that they are by any definition perfect.

Far from it, as I mentioned earlier, these are still just appliances that can work great for some, and not so great for others, based on how they are when first unpacked to how well they are maintained over the course of their useful life.

Having read many of the reviews for all these models, I find, reflects similarly on my own experiences with the many humidifiers that I have broken in…or rather broke me up.

Some may run well, some may peeter out shortly thereafter, and some may just end up as lemons due for a quick return and refund.

Conclusions for the Best Top Fill Humidifiers for small spaces

Throughout it all, this is still a journey of discovery, sometimes out of necessity, yet still a happy journey of discovery.

Hopefully coming up with this humble list of top fill humidifiers will have help you along in your quest for the right humidifier.

But as often is the case, it is best to choose the right humidifier based on your own specific needs.

However, the ones listed here comes pretty close to checking off many of the mandatory boxes of features we expect to see in a good working top fill humidifier for small spaces.

I’m happy to say that the latest humidifier model I am using is still running well after about 6 months of hard winter use.

There will be more to declare and review later as I find some more of the best humidifiers for small spaces, or maybe larger spaces?