HoMedics
HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe Warm & Cool
One 1.38-gallon top-fill tank, warm and cool mist, a demineralisation cartridge in the box, a humidistat and an eighty-five-hour low-setting claim - one of the longest numbers in this catalog, and the one that best illustrates why the number is nearly meaningless. Eighty-five hours from 1.38 gallons is 0.39 gallons a day, about a fifth of what the 521 sq ft printed alongside it would require. HoMedics also prints 21-23 dBA for it, which with the cartridge puts it among the quiet, dust-free units here, and adds an eight-hour auto-off timer.
The room-size claim, reconciled
96 sq ft supported · box says 521 sq ft
The box says 521 sq ft. By the winter load calculation this output supports about 96 sq ft — the claim is 5.4× the room the machine can hold.
Holding 521 sq ft takes about 2.11 gal/day, which drains this 1.38-gallon tank in roughly 16 hr — against the 85 hours HoMedics advertises, which is measured at the lowest setting.
What a year costs
demineralisation cartridges at roughly $15 a pair, changed every month or two in season. Electricity assumes the rated 260 W for 12 hours a day across a 150-day heating season at 16¢ per kilowatt-hour.
Specifications
A claim the maker makes
HoMedics says the tank uses an antimicrobial treatment to inhibit growth on tank surfaces. We quote it rather than repeat it: this site has not tested it and neither has anyone independent.
Maintenance profile
- Top fill
- Yes
- Replaceable media
- Demineralisation cartridge
Facts, not a score. Which of these matter depends entirely on whether the unit ends up somewhere you will actually clean it.
Features
- 1.38-gallon top-fill tank
- Warm and cool mist
- Demineralisation cartridge included
- Digital humidistat with auto mode
- 8-hour auto-off timer
- Aroma tray and a night-light
- 21-23 dBA published
Pros
- Warm mist, demineralisation and a humidistat together at $160
- The humidistat and timer together will hold a set humidity through a night without attention
- HoMedics publishes 21-23 dBA, which with the cartridge makes it one of the quiet, dust-free units here
Cons
- The 85-hour runtime and the 521 sq ft coverage differ by a factor of about five in the output they imply - the widest gap in this catalog
- 260W on the warm side, which is nearly the whole of its running cost; cool mist is pennies
- Cartridge replacement every month or two
The pros and cons above are drawn from the maker’s documentation and published specifications. There is not yet a body of owner reports for this model that we have read.
What owners say
No owner discussion collected for the HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe Warm & Cool yet. The pros and cons above come from the maker's documentation and published reviews, and this section will fill in when there is enough first-hand material to summarise honestly. We would rather leave it empty than invent it — how we compare explains why.
HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe Warm & Cool, head to head
Looked at alongside it
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HoMedics
HoMedics TotalComfort Deluxe
A tower with a 1.47-gallon tank, a demineralisation cartridge in the box, and a 426 sq ft claim - an oddly specific number that at least suggests somebody calculated rather than rounded up to 500. HoMedics now lists it as the Decor Series Large Humidifier, and its box gives the CMTF91 a 17-18 dBA noise figure, which with the cartridge makes it one of the quiet, dust-free units here. Seventy hours on the lowest setting is among the longest here, which as usual means the lowest setting moves very little water: about half a gallon a day. Where it earns its place is the combination of a demineralisation cartridge and a real humidistat at $100, which most rivals at this price do not offer.
123 sq ft supported · box says 426 sq ft
Levoit
Levoit OasisMist 450S
Adding a heater to an ultrasonic buys two things: mist that does not feel cold on the skin, and a water path that runs hot enough to discourage what grows in a tank. It costs a 280W draw against the Classic 300S's 26, which is the difference between a rounding error on the power bill and a space heater you left on. The 450S is the counter-top size in Levoit's line - a 4.5-litre tank on a footprint small enough for a nightstand, quieter on its lowest setting than almost anything else here at 26 dB. It claims 430 square feet; the arithmetic says holding that room takes about 1.75 gallons a day, so the tank would last around 16 hours rather than the advertised 45.
155 sq ft supported · box says 430 sq ft
Dreo
Dreo HM717S
Eight litres, warm and cool mist and a published 550 mL/hr - on paper the most complete portable in Dreo's line, though the demineralisation cartridge that would stop white dust is a separate purchase: $25.99 for three, or a $145.98 listing that bundles one against $119.99 without. The extra two litres over the HM713S buy about two and a half more hours at full output rather than the twenty the runtime figures suggest, because the 80-hour number is again the lowest setting. Where it genuinely earns the money is the middle: run it on auto in a 400 sq ft bedroom and it will go two or three nights between fills without a chilly mist.
860 sq ft supported · box says 600 sq ft