Vicks Warm Mist Humidifier (V745) Review: The Safer Vicks

Both heat the water. The V150 boils it and releases steam; the V745 cools the mist before it leaves the machine, so nothing hot exits. The V150 holds 1.5 gallons with a published run time of about 24 hours per fill and costs $19.79; the V745 holds 1 gallon, has no published run time, and costs $39.49, both prices verified via the Amazon Creators API on September 5, 2026. The V745 adds two speeds and an automatic shut-off. Both keep the medicine cup, so both take VapoSteam. Neither is our recommendation for a nursery, because both hold hot water internally.

Yes. The V745 has a medicine cup, which is exactly what VapoSteam is designed for, and at $9.98 verified on September 5, 2026 a bottle is the cheapest part of the setup. The liquid goes into the cup, never into the tank water, and the vapor is carried into the room as the unit runs. What you must not do is put VapoSteam into an ultrasonic or cool-mist humidifier that lacks a medicine cup, including most Levoit, Dreo and Crane cool-mist units. Medicated liquids can damage those plastics and will not vaporize as intended.

Vicks does not publish a run time for the V745, so we do not print one. What we can say is that the tank holds 1 gallon against the V150's 1.5, and that the V745 has a low speed the V150 lacks, which stretches a tank further than a single-speed unit at full output. If run time is the number that decides your purchase, the V150 is the unit with a published figure at about 24 hours per fill, and the six-liter alternatives from Levoit are the ones built specifically to reduce refills.

No. Like the V150, the V745 heats the water rather than drawing air through a wick, so there is no filter to buy and no annual consumable cost beyond VapoSteam if you choose to use it. That is a genuine long-term saving against evaporative units such as Honeywell's cool moisture line, where replacement wicks run $29.21 for a three-pack at our September 5, 2026 check. What a heated unit does demand instead is cleaning discipline: empty and rinse daily, and descale with white vinegar on the schedule in the manual, because heating concentrates minerals in the base.

We would use cool mist. The AAP recommends cool-mist humidifiers in children's rooms specifically because warm-mist and steam units hold hot water that can scald a child who tips or reaches the unit, and the V745 heats water even though it cools the mist on the way out. If you already own a V745 and the child's room is the only room, place it on the floor well out of reach, route the cord where it cannot be pulled, and treat it like any other hot appliance. But if you are buying now for a nursery, buy cool mist.

No, not in any way you would notice. The amount of heat a one-gallon humidifier adds to a bedroom over a night is trivial next to the room's own heating and insulation. What warm mist changes is the sensation at the unit and, for some people, comfort: warm moist air can feel gentler on an irritated throat than cold mist blowing across a room. The relevant number for your comfort is not temperature, it is relative humidity, and the commonly cited indoor target is 30 to 50 percent. Above about 60 percent you start encouraging mold and dust mites, which is the opposite of what you bought the machine for.

It comes down to one question: do you want medicated vapor? If yes, buy the V745 at $39.49, because Levoit units are ultrasonic and cannot take VapoSteam. If no, the Levoit LV600HH at $99.99 is the better appliance in almost every other respect, with a 6 liter tank against 1 gallon and both warm and cool output, and the smart LV600S at $109.00 adds a humidistat that lets the machine hold a target humidity rather than running until it is empty. Prices verified via the Amazon Creators API on September 5, 2026.

Empty it, rinse it and dry it every day you use it, and descale it with white vinegar on the schedule in the manual, typically weekly. This is not optional maintenance advice, it is the difference between a humidifier that helps and one that puts mold and bacteria into a bedroom, which is the single most common way these machines go wrong. Heating the water helps with what is in the tank on the way out; it does nothing about the biofilm that forms in a reservoir left standing for days. Our full routine is the how to clean a vaporizer guide.