Looking for a Humidifier

I purchased for $30. the vicks cool mist vaporizer from Rite Aid along with three filters for $6. My now 15 month old has used it on and off since he was about 3 months old. It's still working very well and seems to do the job. I just rinse it out every other night and make sure to keep changing the filter every 4-5 weeks.
I initially was unsure about cool vs. warm mist too. Especially since I felt that warm would make sense in the winter. Apparently cool mist is the better way to go, I forget why though.
Hope this helps.

We have a Vicks warm mist (~$35), and it works well and helps with conjestion/coughs. It also holds enough water for all night in a small to mid-sized room. It requires weekly cleaning, but has no filter or anything - just soaking to remove scale and disinfect.

We had a Duracraft that did not work well, and we returned.

We just purchased a more expensive ionic (~$90) that requires less cleaning (baby #2 is on the way). I can't comment on how well it works yet!

I went through about 5 humidifiers before I found one that I loved. I had 2 different kinds of Holmes cool mists and three kinds of Vicks cool mist. The Holmes barely worked - it took them almost a week to empty the water tank. And the Vicks ones did not work at all - even after working with customer service and adding salt - nothing!

Then I got a Crane ULTRASONIC Humidifier (the froggy one:) from Target (they sell them other stores too). It worked perfectly right out of the box - you can see the mist right away. We've been using it for a month now and I love it.
***By the way - the ultrasonic humidifier mist is cool to the touch.

I highly recommend the VICKS brand cool mist, as did a few others I see. They come in a few price ranges, all depending on how big of water resevoir. Our last one lasted about 3 years, being run 24/7 in our bedroom from November-April. I just refilled it once a day and bought additive stuff [ KAZ- which is specially formulated for VICKS humidifers] to keep mold/mildew out of water tank, ya add a capful each time ya refill, or in my case I did this once a week. [ bottle cost approx $6.00]. Filters can be bought anywhere they sell the humidifer. The motor runs quiet enough to provide white noise. I bought a Huntington brand from Walmart and HATED IT about 2 weeks ago as a 2nd humidfer for another bedroom and that did not even make it 3 days. It was noisy [ had water dripping sound constantly]. I highly recommend VICKS and only vICKS!!!!! Just my 2 cents.

An awesome one is by Venta. It's expensive, about $130, but doesn't need cleaning, is cool mist and works great.