Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier review

In this review, we’ll describe all the features of the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier, including its range, how quietly it runs, and how well the built-in humidity sensor and aromatherapy pad work. 

Because it has a smaller water tank, the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier is less expensive than other models by the brand. However, extra features like the built-in humidity sensor, settings like sleep mode and a child lock, and the ability to diffuse essential oils make it more pricey than basic humidifiers. If you’re interested in those extra bells and whistles, this humidifier is a great option. 

Despite having a smaller water tank than other Elechomes models, this humidifier still has a large capacity. With a 1.2 gallon (4.5 liters) tank and three mist level settings, it can last up to 35 hours without a refill. Thanks to the built-in humidity sensor, the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier lets you set a preferred humidity level. When the sensor registers a five percent difference either above or below the humidity you set, it will turn on and off as needed.

Other features include a child lock that lets you lock settings in place, a sleep mode that turns off all the lights on the display, the ability to set the humidifier on a timer, and a dual nozzle that swivels 360 degrees.

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 cool mist humidifier has a sleek, black design with white display lights. With a small brush included in the box, this humidifier is easy to clean, which the user guide suggests doing every week, with a water tank clean every 2-3 weeks.

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: How big is it?

• Height: 11.5 (in) 
• Depth: 6 (in) 
• Width: 9 (in) 

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier can easily fit onto a counter, dresser, or even a wide windowsill. Taller than it is deep, you’ll need about a foot of height wherever you put this humidifier. Because the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier has a filter, the user guide doesn’t recommend using purified or distilled water, as other humidifiers do. 

The tank is small enough to easily fit under a shallow bathroom sink. Our tester tried the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier in her bedroom and was able to fill the tank in the bathroom closest to her room instead of carrying it to and from the kitchen. 

When choosing a humidifier, it’s important to pay attention to the range of room sizes it can humidify. The Elechomes HTJ-2119 cool mist humidifier has a range of 322 to 528 square feet, which makes it great for a master bedroom or small apartment. 

• Related: Do humidifiers help with allergies?

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: How easy is it to use?

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier requires virtually no setup. After opening the box, you simply need to fill the tank, plug in the base, and place the water tank and the nozzle on top. 

After setting the humidifier up, it’s easy to start using. You can control the humidifier either from the buttons on the display or with the remote control, which lets you control the humidifier up to 16 feet away. Each of the buttons on the display are intuitive and easy to use. A max/min button lets you cycle through three mist levels, a timer button lets you set the humidifier to turn off after a certain amount of time (between 1-12 hours), a humidity button lets you set a preferred humidity level between 30 and 90 percent, a child lock button to lock your settings in place, and a sleep button to silence the button tones and turn off the display lights. Each of these buttons has a control on the remote as well. 

• Related: Air purifiers vs humidifiers

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: Performance

We tested the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier on all three of its mist settings — low, medium, and high. On the highest mist setting, the humidifier raised the humidity in a 234 square foot room from 64 percent to 66 percent in the first hour. By the second hour, the humidity increased another three percent, to 69 percent. On the highest mist setting, the humidifier lasted 12 hours before running out of water. 

The humidity in the room also increased quickly on the lower two levels. On medium, the humidity increased from 66 percent to 72 percent in the first hour and another three percent to 75 percent by hour two. Even on the lowest mist level, the humidity rose roughly two percent per hour. Note that we tested all three settings on already quite humid days. Ideally, humidity should be between 30 and 60 percent for health and comfort. 

Throughout every test, the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier was incredibly quiet. A decibel monitor registered 33 decibels, which is just slightly louder than normal talking. However, the decibel monitor registered 24 decibels in the room even when the humidifier was turned off, which means the humidifier effectively added only 9 decibels to the apartment’s atmosphere. Our tester did notice louder gurgling sounds from the humidifier every now and then, but even those sounds were not distractingly loud. 

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: What’s good about it?

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier is an excellent option if you want a humidifier with extra features but don’t have the budget or space for larger, more expensive models. We like that this humidifier has a big water tank for its size, even though it's smaller than other models. Running continuously on the highest setting, the water tank didn’t run out of water for 12 hours. 

The ability to set a humidity target and set a timer so the humidifier will turn off after a certain amount of time are nice features that let you keep the humidity of your room at a comfortable level without wasting extra water. The timer, for instance, would let you run the humidifier in a bedroom for a few hours before bedtime and through the night, making it automatically turn off during the day when no one uses the room. 

We also like that this humidifier has an aroma pad. Our tester added six drops of strongly-scented tea tree oil to the aroma pad and noticed a nice, light smell in the room’s air an hour later. How effective the aroma pad is may depend on how strongly-scented your essential oil is as well as how many drops you use. The user guide’s recommendation to add "several" drops of oil leaves exactly how many to use up to your discretion.  

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: What's not so good about it

Our tester noticed one big drawback of this humidifier. After running the humidifier on its highest setting for several hours, she noticed a pool of water on the floor around the humidifier. She had to lay a towel down for the rest of the humidifier’s run. Pooling water makes this humidifier hard to use continuously on the highest setting, as you’ll have to put it in a place where water won’t damage what’s around it. However, our tester didn’t notice the same problem on the lower two settings.

Cleaning can be a drawback of humidifiers in general. Any humidifier you buy will need to be cleaned frequently to avoid bacteria and mineral buildup. Because this humidifier has a filter, you can use tap water without worrying too much about minerals ending up in your air. But you’ll still need to clean the base weekly with the brush that comes in the box to get rid of a buildup called scale. 

Finally, as with other humidifiers that have built-in sensors, the humidity monitor can be too sensitive. Although the user guide on this device doesn’t mention it, our tester previously found with other humidifiers that placing them too close to a wall can make the humidity monitor register a higher humidity than is actually present in the room. Ideally, you’d place the humidifier at least 12 feet away from any walls to get an accurate read of the humidity and therefore accurately use features like setting a humidity level. Our tester noted that the humidity monitor on this device was consistently a few percentage points higher than two other humidity monitors placed elsewhere in the room. 

Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier: User reviews

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Reviewers who like the humidifier call out how convenient the remote control is, how sleek the design looks, and how quiet it is. People also like that you can set a specific humidity level and that it was so quick and easy to set up. 

Many reviewers mentioned that they got the humidifier specifically to keep their plants happy and specifically like the dual nozzle, both of which can swivel 360 degrees. 

Reviewers who were less impressed with this humidifier noticed water pooling around the humidifier, as our tester did. "The humidifier releases it's mist from the top of the device and the water will pool around the nozzle and drip down the side of the humidifier and leak everywhere", said one reviewer. Other complaints were that the handle is too small to lift and carry the water tank comfortably, and that the display lights are too bright at night. 

Should you buy the Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier?

The Elechomes HTJ-2119 Ultrasonic Humidifier is a great option if you want a humidifier with extra features like a built-in humidity sensor and the ability to set a humidity level or put the humidifier on a timer. This model is smaller than other models with the same features, but it’s also a little less expensive and still has a large enough water tank to run for at least 12 hours without needing to be refilled.