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Further, by using it "way off-label" like this, you may well be shortening the unit's life. Smoke the unit, and suddenly the "big savings" from avoiding a proper humidifier go up in smoke.

It's this kind of stuff that gets you in trouble. It can also get your insurance voided or significantly reduce your claim, since you are doing something you should not.

Further, using it "way off-label" like this, will greatly shorten the unit's life. Smoke the unit, and suddenly the "big savings" from avoiding a proper humidifier go up in smoke.

There are many other issues when it's used outside of a kitchen, but you say not.

Further, it is a kitchen appliance designed to be used exclusively on kitchen countertops. It is not designed to be in bedrooms, set on furniture or floors where it has a chance of being knocked over. It has no anti-tip features like real humidifiers do. It is not designed to work on carpet or with magazines, papers or dust bunnies underneath.

God help you if you splash a pot of boiling water onto your feet! Seriously, you could find yourself in the hospital getting skin grafts. Scalding is serious business.

It is designed to be used in kitchens where GFCI protection is provided, which is not found in bedrooms generally. Get it? You have a water appliance with no GFCI protection in sight. What's wrong with this picture?

It comes with a 2 foot cord, which is appropriate for kitchen countertops where all points are within 2' of a socket. Anywhere else, it's at high risk for being used with an extension cord, which it is not listed for, and should not be done given its very high power draw. It has much more power draw than an air conditioner. So you'd get one of those burly 12 AWG extension cords for an air conditioner, right? I bet your Instant Pot is plugged into a run-of-the-mill 16/18 AWG cord right now. Whoops!

Further, by using it "way off-label" like this, you may well be shortening the unit's life. Smoke the unit, and suddenly the "big savings" from avoiding a proper humidifier go up in smoke.

Metering water like you want is a rather hard problem

The crux of the problem being to stop overflows/runaways with a high level of reliability. That is why you're not finding easy, off-the-shelf solutions to it. Finding one that works at boiling-water temperatures is even harder.