The cold is really here which means drier air for many as the air source heat pump runs a large part of the time. I solved the problem myself last year with two Vocolinc Mistflow VH1s and am really happy with them. Since I wanted a smart humidifier with Homekit support there weren't many options and still doesn't seem to be. So this year when it was time for another humidifier it was the same one again. So I am simply taking the opportunity to write a short review about it so others can make a good purchase.
Vocolinc?
Vocolinc is not exactly a well-known brand so I understand if you are skeptical. I was too but I have actually tested two different "smart home" products from them before so I was a bit calmer thanks to that.
Mistflow VH1
Mistflow has a 2.5-liter water tank which lasts a long time. Exactly how long depends entirely on what humidity level you want to achieve (should be between 40-60%) and what size you want the droplets in the vapor to be. For us, it lasts about 3-4 nights (since we mainly run it then), which matches the product information well, stating up to 30 hours. If you don't just want to use plain water vapor, you can add any amount of fragrance oil and use it as an “aroma diffuser”.
In addition to a good humidifier, you also get a built-in night light that illuminates the water tank. You can choose the color and brightness yourself. At our place, however, it is turned off 99% of the time.
Furthermore, it is not only Homekit that is supported but also Google Home/Google Assistant and Alexa. If you just want to control it normally, there are also two buttons on the front. One for the lamp and one for the humidifier.
Rating
The majority of those who bought and tested Mistflow give it really good ratings and on Amazon it has received 4.1 out of 5 stars from over 250 ratings. I agree with the rating and from me it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars. The two things to point out are that the design could perhaps have been nicer and the same goes for their app. You don't have to use the app if you don't want to since everything (the lamp, color, and desired humidity) can be controlled via Apple's Home app. The only exception is the size of the steam droplets, but that is not a setting you change all that often.
The price level is totally OK as it costs around 750-800 SEK at Proshop , Amazon and via Vocolinc themselves. If you don't need all the smart features, you can save a couple of hundred SEK by buying a non-smart humidifier. But you can also pay almost double for one from Philips with a similar capacity.
Summary
I can definitely recommend the Vocolinc Mistflow VH1 if you like connected gadgets and run Homekit, Google or Alexa at home. As I said, I've had 2 of them for over a year and recently ordered a third to have one in every bedroom.
If you are reading this in 2023, however, I can recommend taking a look at Airversa's upcoming humidifier, which is being released in the first quarter of 2023. In my opinion, the design is really stunning. Especially for a humidifier. The tank is significantly larger at 5.5 liters, which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage depending on how you look at it. The price tag is not finalized, but I suspect it will land around 1500-2000 SEK. The big advantage besides the design is that it will be the first humidifier to support the new Thread standard.
