I have this unit and love it. No offense, but, I would not operate it with that gunk in it , as is shown here. I use tap water, clean and disinfect it weekly, don't see that built up gunk. With each daily water fill, I always empty whats sitting in it, as well as in tank, if water is left, I invert the filter, after rinsing it under water, before putting it back in the unit. Its a nice, quite humidifier, using the low setting overnight. In my opinion, It comes down to cleaning it regularly, worth it, for some, maybe not so. I use it 24/7 in Winter only. Beats seeing the white mist you get from other type humidifiers...had them in the past, never again. Worth buying the filters...I am looking into 3rd party filters, less expensive...will try, good reviews on them; if not, back to HCM filters, not a deal breaker for me. One downside, wish tank was just a little larger, but I still love it!!! Easy to run and handle. You have to clean and disinfect them regularly, saves life of filter too. Thanks for the review, thought I would share my own thoughts on it.
I've owned one of these for a couple of years now and IMHO it's not that great. I'm an asthma suffer and have allergies to weeds. First off, If I have this in storage for a little while when I go to take it down off the shelf one or more the feet of the unit will stick the the shelf and pull of the humidifier. Second, the fan blades and the grate over the fan collects dust and it takes so much effort to remove the grate to clean, and people say it's removable, that I've ended up breaking a couple of the ribs and still haven't gotten it to come off. Forth, even though I've tried softened water and water that came from my under sink 5 stage reverse osmosis water filter, the gunk that builds up on the replaceable filters within days makes it hard as a rock and looks horrible, like a breeding ground for who knows what. Last, it doesn't do squat for my asthma or allergies. What works? Go to your local drugstore, Walmart, etc and buy the Vicks Warm Steam Vaporizer with Nightlight. I've picked them up for anywhere from $12 to $18. Walmart has a good price. I fill it with whatever water, from hard LA water, even harder St. George, UT water, softened water, and water from my under sink purifier, doesn't matter other than the minerals in the harder water will coat the two heating rods inside faster. I've taken apart the heating unit (only 2 screws) and with a hammer, knife or simply putting some pressure with my fingers on the rods, broken off the mineral coating leaving the rods looking nearly as good as new. I don't know what it is about the steam humidifiers but they work better for colds, allergies, etc (at least for me) than any other type of humidifier, and I've tried over a dozen over the decades. Try one for yourself, take it back to the store if it somehow doesn't work as well for you. If you're a fan of these little vaporizers post in a reply. I'd like to know how many other's love these as much as I do.
I did a review on the new Honeywell one and oh man I'm so glad I did I want everybody to know what they're buying before they invest one dime in these things!
I have the same humidifier. Do you only wet the filter for the first use, and then use it dry everytime after? Or do you soak the filter everytime you use the humidifier? B.c. my filter just falls over now instead of standing up and I've only had it for 2 weeks.
+cello pettiford Keep it wet, flip it over daily and clean it in warn very diluted distilled white vinegar solution every once in while - when dirt and mineral deposits make it crusty.
Does this also filter the air like an air purifier? Would it be over kill to have both? We have 2 cats in Az and I wake up very congested and hard to breath
Good review, but i would never buy one of these agin they are loud, and if you sleep in a room with this it can be annoying, my recommendation is an ultra sonic humidifier. I have an airoswiis one about 8 years old now still working and energy efficient. I never use distilled water I use municipal hardness i think is a 6-7
The other thing is you have to buy a shut-off timer because this will over saturate a room if you don't. I recommend looking for any style humidifier or vaporizer with a humidistat (measures the humidity and some of them you can set a humidity level and it will turn the unit on and off automatically), you don't want the humidity to go over 50%, otherwise it promotes things like flea eggs to hatch, dust mites to breed faster, grow mold, and other wonderful things. Since it doesn't have a humidistat I use a shut off timer with my Vicks vaporizer aka warm mist humidifier. You want to make sure the timer can handle the voltage drain of the vaporizer. The problem with ultrasonic humidifiers is if you don't use distilled water, or a filter that cuts way down on the minerals in the water, you end up with white dust all over, especially on things that have a charge like your TV or computer monitor, and that white dust can have sharp edges and it's easy to put micro scratches on your screens.
I will not use distilled water : The World Health Organization investigated the health effects of demineralized water in 1980, and its experiments in humans found that demineralized water increased diuresis and the elimination of electrolytes, with decreased serum potassium concentration..
That is true if you consume or drink the water, however, for humidifier use you want distilled water so that there is minimal residue remaining after evaporation. So the use of distilled or DI (de-ionized) water for any evaporative humidification is the preferred option.
i would rather drink distilled water you can get your minerals from like one egg yolk or veggies. City water flouride.which is a by product of aluminum processing they use to have to get rid of it because it is hazmat...but the corporation talked congress into putting it in our drinking water and now the cities pay for this toxic waste and put it in our drinking water???
Great review. Helped me visualize much better how these things work. Thanks!
thanks for the video, was very helpful. was trying to clean my filter and didnt know where to begin. Your video helped me. thankyou
thanks for the reviews!
Thank You that was a great review, I'm getting this Humidifier because my skin is dry and I'm stuffed up at night with dry nose.
Thank you very much for the great review!
Great review ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I just got this a week before black Friday. The uv light thing on top has never shown red or green or lights up at all.
Good job with the review
How do you change the bulb is there a tutorial on that?
I have this unit and love it. No offense, but, I would not operate it with that gunk in it , as is shown here. I use tap water, clean and disinfect it weekly, don't see that built up gunk. With each daily water fill, I always empty whats sitting in it, as well as in tank, if water is left, I invert the filter, after rinsing it under water, before putting it back in the unit. Its a nice, quite humidifier, using the low setting overnight. In my opinion, It comes down to cleaning it regularly, worth it, for some, maybe not so. I use it 24/7 in Winter only. Beats seeing the white mist you get from other type humidifiers...had them in the past, never again. Worth buying the filters...I am looking into 3rd party filters, less expensive...will try, good reviews on them; if not, back to HCM filters, not a deal breaker for me. One downside, wish tank was just a little larger, but I still love it!!! Easy to run and handle. You have to clean and disinfect them regularly, saves life of filter too. Thanks for the review, thought I would share my own thoughts on it.
Thank you!
What's the problem with getting near the UV light?
I've owned one of these for a couple of years now and IMHO it's not that great. I'm an asthma suffer and have allergies to weeds. First off, If I have this in storage for a little while when I go to take it down off the shelf one or more the feet of the unit will stick the the shelf and pull of the humidifier. Second, the fan blades and the grate over the fan collects dust and it takes so much effort to remove the grate to clean, and people say it's removable, that I've ended up breaking a couple of the ribs and still haven't gotten it to come off. Forth, even though I've tried softened water and water that came from my under sink 5 stage reverse osmosis water filter, the gunk that builds up on the replaceable filters within days makes it hard as a rock and looks horrible, like a breeding ground for who knows what. Last, it doesn't do squat for my asthma or allergies.
What works? Go to your local drugstore, Walmart, etc and buy the Vicks Warm Steam Vaporizer with Nightlight. I've picked them up for anywhere from $12 to $18. Walmart has a good price. I fill it with whatever water, from hard LA water, even harder St. George, UT water, softened water, and water from my under sink purifier, doesn't matter other than the minerals in the harder water will coat the two heating rods inside faster. I've taken apart the heating unit (only 2 screws) and with a hammer, knife or simply putting some pressure with my fingers on the rods, broken off the mineral coating leaving the rods looking nearly as good as new.
I don't know what it is about the steam humidifiers but they work better for colds, allergies, etc (at least for me) than any other type of humidifier, and I've tried over a dozen over the decades.
Try one for yourself, take it back to the store if it somehow doesn't work as well for you.
If you're a fan of these little vaporizers post in a reply. I'd like to know how many other's love these as much as I do.
That isn't a filter. It is a wick.
Good information, but HOW DO you CLEAN it? Please post something on UTube on how to clean it. Thanks!
and wheres the info on the light breh?
thx for the video. But do you know how to clean the fan? There are so much dust on the fan and I don't know how to clean it :)
Same here. I'm NOT a fan of this humidifier.
I did a review on the new Honeywell one and oh man I'm so glad I did I want everybody to know what they're buying before they invest one dime in these things!
I have the same humidifier. Do you only wet the filter for the first use, and then use it dry everytime after? Or do you soak the filter everytime you use the humidifier? B.c. my filter just falls over now instead of standing up and I've only had it for 2 weeks.
+cello pettiford Keep it wet, flip it over daily and clean it in warn very diluted distilled white vinegar solution every once in while - when dirt and mineral deposits make it crusty.
Does this also filter the air like an air purifier? Would it be over kill to have both? We have 2 cats in Az and I wake up very congested and hard to breath
It does not filter air. I use this in addition to my HEPA filter
You can boil water and store it!
The manual says tray and tank are dishwasher safe. It then says don't use detergents. Does than mean don't use dishwasher detergent? Thanks
Don’t use any detergent or cleaner, only use organics like vinegar. Using chemicals will leave residue which will then get into the humidity
how long does the UV light last, and can you run it without the UV light?
A few months of constant use. There is no off switch for the light
Good review, but i would never buy one of these agin they are loud, and if you sleep in a room with this it can be annoying, my recommendation is an ultra sonic humidifier. I have an airoswiis one about 8 years old now still working and energy efficient. I never use distilled water I use municipal hardness i think is a 6-7
use compressed air
The other thing is you have to buy a shut-off timer because this will over saturate a room if you don't. I recommend looking for any style humidifier or vaporizer with a humidistat (measures the humidity and some of them you can set a humidity level and it will turn the unit on and off automatically), you don't want the humidity to go over 50%, otherwise it promotes things like flea eggs to hatch, dust mites to breed faster, grow mold, and other wonderful things. Since it doesn't have a humidistat I use a shut off timer with my Vicks vaporizer aka warm mist humidifier. You want to make sure the timer can handle the voltage drain of the vaporizer.
The problem with ultrasonic humidifiers is if you don't use distilled water, or a filter that cuts way down on the minerals in the water, you end up with white dust all over, especially on things that have a charge like your TV or computer monitor, and that white dust can have sharp edges and it's easy to put micro scratches on your screens.
Why do you need a UV light if you clean it every other day? Thank you
Its to clean the WATER from most germs. The cleaning he describes is for the machine itself.
thank you!
A humidifier is useless without a humidstat.I need 30% humidity in my bedroom
I will not use distilled water : The World Health Organization investigated the health effects of demineralized water in 1980, and its experiments in humans found that demineralized water increased diuresis and the elimination of electrolytes, with decreased serum potassium concentration..
fareez kamal Yeah, if your drinking it. If it's just the moisture in the air its not harmful at all.
That is true if you consume or drink the water, however, for humidifier use you want distilled water so that there is minimal residue remaining after evaporation. So the use of distilled or DI (de-ionized) water for any evaporative humidification is the preferred option.
i would rather drink distilled water you can get your minerals from like one egg yolk or veggies. City water flouride.which is a by product of aluminum
processing they use to have to get rid of it because it is hazmat...but the corporation talked congress into putting it in our drinking water and now the cities pay for this toxic waste and put it in our drinking water???