[Techtalk] finding a warm-mist humidifier that isn't garbage

[Meryll Larkin]

Once upon a time, a low tech solution was common:
People would have a wood or coal-burning stove in their home for heat.
There would be a metal (cast-iron?) covered vessel that would look like a
teapot or very large incense burner - in other words, it had either a spout
or a neticular (perforated) lid.  It would hold water which would vaporize
when the top of the stove became hot.  It would keep the air from getting
too dry.  Of course they would sometimes rust a little, but that didn't seem
to happen very fast or be too much of a problem.

So the hotplate is a problem because you don't trust it for long periods of
time.  It would be safer if 
1.  The surface it sits on is okay for things that get hot  and
2.  The hotplate gets put on a timer.

Have you considered just running water through an inexpensive coffee maker
with a warmer that turns itself off in 2 hours?

That might be a better stop-gap solution until you find a commercial
humidifier that does what you want.

Meryll