I got a good chuckle out of reading some of the negative reviews on this unit. I own an industrial water treatment contracting company and it always strikes me as funny how uneducated people are with water, something they use every day. I figured I would take a minute and clarify a couple of things for people that use or are planning on purchasing one of these humidifiers, (Oh and yes I actually own one)
Humidifiers have been a part of our family for around fifteen years after I read a study on how they can reduce the usual winter ailments, colds and flu's.
First how these units work.
If you take the humidifying unit apart, you will find two probes. I believe they make them out of Carbon and other materials. They are round and about ½" thick, and approximately four inches long. These probes are then connected the electrical cord. When you plug it in and the probes are immersed in water, they create an electrical current between the two probes. This creates water that boils, and thus creates steam.
Some key facts about water. Pure water will not conduct an electrical current. This is why the instructions recommend adding a pinch of salt if your unit does not produce steam. The salt when disolved increases the TDS, (more on that in a minute) thus creating a conductive in the water.
Water is considered the Universal Solvent. In other word's water pretty much will absorb and dissolve anything that we submerge or add to it. Sometimes instantly. Sometimes over time. Two key things are in water that effect these humidifiers. One is the hardness of the water. Hardness is measured by checking how much Calcium and Magnesium is in the water. The other effect is Totally Dissolved Solids, or TDS. (all the other minerals that actually dissolve into water)
When you boil water, (essentially what these units do), the vapor that they produce is considered pure water or close too pure. So in essence as the water vapor escapes the unit what is left behind are the residual minerals, (tds) and the hardness, (magnesium and Calcium). Generally the Hardness cakes on the probes and creates a cement like residual. TDS usually fall out of suspension as clumps. Gray/black sand/rock formations.
So when you read comments in these reviews about residual inside the tank, or that the unit stopped producing steam, what these people are referring to is the residual left over after the water is boiled off. Depending on the water quality of their tap, the residual can be a lot or very little.
Ok, before you purchase one of these units, just remember. It's $15.00. (Wal Mart has them for a few bucks less) Your not buying an ultra fancy $200.00 BrookStone humidifier/vaporizier. These are generally one season, low maintenance, throw them away when you're done. (depending how many days out of the year you fire them up) So keep that in mind.
If you want to make one last, you can get some plain white vinegar. Find a jar or container that the Humidifying unit will fit into. That means something that the bottom portion that sets in the water not the top part where the cord goes in. (Edited this to better explain it) and fill it with 3/4 vinegar and the rest water, creating a mild acid solution. Set the probe portion in it and let it soak for a day. Repeat as necessary until the unit operates to your liking. Note the probes inside the unit do wear out, and hard water deposits do cake up pretty thick on the probes which increase that Wear and Tear effect. (I've taken enough of them apart to know)
Bottom line If you want a cheap way of creating warm humidified air these are the unit for you. Don't expect anything more then what they price them at, and if you don't plan on maintaining them, ie using vinegar to keep the probes semi-clean of hardness deposits, then expect no more then one to two years of use.
Very simple and easy to use. About the black particles that develop in the water after use, I found the following explanation to be helpful:
"A Vaporizer produces moisture by heating small amounts of the minerals in the water using tiny electrodes in the shaft of the unit. The minerals then heat the water to a boil and release steam into the air. The minerals will then settle to the bottom of the tank, possibly becoming small black flakes. These flakes are normal and should be rinsed out when you refill the tank. Any bacteria or mold in the water will be killed by the temperature of the water."
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This is the best value for money can buy. It just requires a bit of patience when cleaning it. The more often you clean it, the faster the deposits dissolve.
Cleaning TIP: I took a bottle of water ( evian, aberfoyle ) and cut off the top part of the bottle leaving just enough so that the heating part can be fully immerged sort of making a container to hold the vinegar and salt. Pour the vinegar and a little bit of salt just enough so that the entire heating element is soaked. Leave it there for a few minutes and voila.
The steam is hot when in use, so be careful if you have kids around that would be the only drawback, but then again, that's why it is called a vapourizer vapours is supposd to be hot.
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After my daughter was born, we purchased this for her room. I'm surprised to read all the complaints about this humidifier, because it's a cheap, low maintanance item! I must admit, that after 5 years of use (used anytime the furnace is on) and with little or no cleaning, it's doing just fine! We have hard water and we do have a softener, so no salt is needed. As soon as we fill it up and plug it in, the thing starts boiling away, QUIETLY. The directions say it lasts 18-24 hours, but in reality, it doesn't with our water. The more minerals and salt in the water, the faster it boils out of the tank. No smells, no white residue, just easy to use and no parts to replace. In the morning, we take it to the sink, dump out the black specks of minerals (THIS IS NORMAL) and refill it for the next night.
I like the idea of the boiling water killing germs. We don't have any slime or gunk filling up the tank like our other evaporative humidifier. I love the cup on the top for medicine placement. I buy a huge bottle of essential oil of eucalyptus, and pour some in the cup when someone in the family is sick. Works like a charm!
When it's time to replace this one, I would not hesitate to buy another. It's a very basic humidifier that raises the humidity quickly. I would buy the largest model of this type. Considering the horrible reviews on the other models, it doesn't seem to be worth buying anything else. Even if something goes wrong with it, it really isn't that much of a problem considering the cost of the unit.
UPDATE: Shortly after I wrote the review, my unit stoppped working. It had a great run! Of course we replaced it with the same unit. It is currently sitting on my kitchen counter and we keep it running all night, every night and all day on the weekends. My favorite design was the old one. The new larger models have large, flat bases which are harder to drain, clean and fill. Even though it says it has larger capacity, the steamer does not use all the water up. It stops steaming after using one gallon of water, leaving extra in the base which is fine with me. Each day I pour in another gallon, and plug it in.
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I bought a Vicks V150 1.5 gallon vaporizer not too long ago and it has performed very well for me. The model has apparently been slightly redesigned to include a larger night light and different look to the removable head as compared to the picture shown here. I like this vaporizer because it was very inexpensive and it has been reliable. I usually don't run it more than about 12 hours at a time, but according to the box it is supposed to be good for 18-24 hour runs (also different from the product description above which says 15 hours). The box also claims it will shut off automatically when water gets too low, but my style of pulling the plug after 10-12 hours hasn't allowed me to test out that feature yet. Cleaning is fairly easy, and there are no filters to buy and replace. The steam is hot, which may be a concern if you have young children, but for me this is not an issue. It does a nice job of humidifying a pretty large-sized living room, and I don't have any need for the features found on more expensive models.
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