Air purifiers · Humidifiers · Dehumidifiers · Monitors
Start with the symptom, not the spec sheet
Sneezing indoors, cracking skin, or a smell you cannot place. We match the problem to the device that actually fixes it - and say plainly when none of them will.
Which of these is you?
Find your symptom
Five problems, in the words people actually use when they search for them.
Air purifier
“My eyes itch and I'm sneezing indoors”
The symptoms most people blame on pollen usually start inside the house. Here is how to tell what you are actually reacting to, and what changes it.
Allergies & Dust
Humidifier
“My skin is cracking and I keep getting shocks”
Cold air holds very little moisture. Heat it up and the relative humidity collapses. That one fact explains almost every winter symptom on this page.
Dry Air
Dehumidifier
“Something smells musty and I can't find it”
Almost every musty smell traces back to water that should not be there. A device can help with the last step, but it can never be the first one.
Damp & Mold
Air purifier with carbon
“The house smells of smoke, cooking or the cat”
Smoke is two problems in one: particles you can filter and gases you can only adsorb. Most purifiers are much better at the first than the second.
Smoke & Odors
Hygrometer or air quality monitor
“I want to know what's actually going on before I buy”
The Meter half of the name. Almost every wrong purchase on this site starts with somebody guessing a number they could have read for the price of lunch.
Measure Your AirNot sure?
Four devices, one decision
The spine of the site. Match a symptom to a device, including when the honest answer is that no device helps.
Which device do I need?
The premise
Measure before you buy
The EPA says indoor relative humidity should sit below 60 percent, and ideally between 30 and 50. Which side of that band you are on decides whether you need a humidifier, a dehumidifier, or neither - and a digital hygrometer that answers it costs less than one replacement filter.
Almost every wrong purchase we describe on this site begins with somebody guessing that number.
Category winners
What we would buy
The top pick from each of our roundups. Where we do not currently hold a live price, we say so rather than showing an old one.
Best for Basements
Best Dehumidifiers for Basements
Midea Cube 35-PintBasements without a floor drainCheck price on Amazon#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
Why it wins
Best for Bedrooms
Best Humidifiers for a Bedroom
Honeywell HCM350 Germ Free Cool MistBedrooms, and anyone who has had white dust from an ultrasonicCheck price on Amazon#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
Why it winsBest for Allergies
Best Air Purifiers for Allergies
Coway Airmega AP-1512HH MightyRunning continuously in a medium roomCheck price on Amazon#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
Why it wins
Best Air Quality Monitors
Best Air Quality Monitors
Temtop M10 Air Quality MonitorWatching PM2.5 during smoke eventsCheck price on Amazon#ad We do not hold a current price for this product, so we do not show one. How we make money.
Why it wins
What we do not do
We have not tested these units
Every site in this category will tell you they tested twenty air purifiers. We have not tested any, and we say so.
What we do instead: compile each manufacturer’s published specifications, read the manuals, check the coverage claims against AHAM’s room-sizing rule, and work out what each unit actually costs to run for a year at the current US average electricity price - then show the arithmetic so you can check it. Where a figure is not published, we write that we could not find it rather than filling the gap.
We also publish the negative case. Every roundup names who should skip each pick and when to buy nothing at all, and several of our most-linked pages exist to argue somebody out of a purchase.
- 0Units we claim to have tested
- 0Sponsored placements
- 0Free products accepted
Recently published
Latest from Mist & Meter
Every new page is one click from here the day it goes up.
How this is funded
We earn a commission when you buy through our links
Mist & Meter is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. It does not change the order of our picks, what we say about them, or the price you pay - and several of our pages exist specifically to tell people not to buy anything.