Showing posts with label large room humidifier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label large room humidifier. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Holmes HM1230 Cool Mist Humidifier for 600 Square Foot Room

Holmes HM1230 Cool Mist Humidifier for 600 Square Foot RoomI spent a lot of time in the store looking over humidifiers, and finally decided on the Holmes. I like the design and features. The good point is it works very well at humidifying a small room. The bad is that it is VERY noisy. There's no way you could have it on high it sounds like a jet engine. On low it is still quite loud. I have it in my son's room, and the white noise actually helps him sleep, but I would never be able to have it in my own room. If the noise isn't an issue, then this is a great humidifier, but I believe most people would prefer a quieter unit.

I should have listened to other reviewers, this humidifier is so loud...and I live in Manhattan, and I thought it would never disturb me. But it disturbed the cat, the entire Upper East Side and me.

I didn't incur any less dry heat induced nosebleeds and wasn't always sure when the thing was working.

It was returned today.

Buy Holmes HM1230 Cool Mist Humidifier for 600 Square Foot Room Now

I bought this humidifier for my 5 month old's room to help not only with adding moisture to our dry home, but to help drown out the noises of the busy street we live on as well as the sounds from within our house. It has made a world of difference! He has slept so well since I bought this. It works great. The high setting does have a louder hum, but I sleep in his room sometimes and have no problem getting to sleep. The only down side is having to buy filters. The cheapest I've found are $8.20 + shipping each and we need to probably buy a new one every 1-2 months. Great purchase otherwise!

Read Best Reviews of Holmes HM1230 Cool Mist Humidifier for 600 Square Foot Room Here

I bought this humidifier because I was having trouble with my asthma this winter in the hot dry air of my home. I was desperate to try and add a little moisture to the air. I chose a "cool-air" product because the assumption was that I did not want to add any more "hot-air" than I already had, however, i have only used this product 2 or 3 times. It is way too noisy. The fan component of the humidifier makes it very difficult to sleep with it on, and my husband absolutely refuses to have it on when he is in the room. So whether or not the product can relieve the dryness in my bedroom is moot, since I can't use it!

Want Holmes HM1230 Cool Mist Humidifier for 600 Square Foot Room Discount?

This little bugger does the job very well but two things I must add, if you are in heated room; it will make the temperature go down fast since it is a cool mist humidifier...... 2nd on full speed it is too noisy to keep in bedroom.

It does look nice and I am using it without any powers because of above listed issues hence it is keeping my 14x13 room at 50% humidity, how? I just filled it up with tap water and I can see water level dropping day by day without turning it on, also I have a digital humidity monitor in my room and I can watch the humidity level with or without HM1230 in the room.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Bryant / Carrier Humidifier Water Panel 318518-762 (with Distributor Tray)

Bryant / Carrier Humidifier Water Panel 318518-762I was able to get a pair of filters for less than the repair shop wanted for just one. Great deal. They fit perfectly, and are the exact same thing that the shop wanted a lot more for.

Great deal.

These things are just tooooooo darned expensive. I don't understand why this item costs so much. If I didn't absolutely need them I'd never order them. Needed is probably why. Can't run the humidifier without them.

Buy Bryant / Carrier Humidifier Water Panel 318518-762 (with Distributor Tray) Now

They fit and do the job. Quality of materials seems good. Price is better than from my dealer. What more can I say.

Read Best Reviews of Bryant / Carrier Humidifier Water Panel 318518-762 (with Distributor Tray) Here

Other than the Carrier part number difference, so I had to verify the dimensions, works like a charm. Piece price is better though you have to buy two. Got them on time...no complaints.

Want Bryant / Carrier Humidifier Water Panel 318518-762 (with Distributor Tray) Discount?

After moving in to our home, I noticed that the humidifier that is connected to our furnace required this water panel. This item is identical to the old water panel that I removed from the humidifier. I couldn't believe that I found it at Amazon. Wow.

Save 36% Off

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Air-O-Swiss 7142 Digital Ultrasonic Humidifier

Air-O-Swiss 7142 Digital Ultrasonic HumidifierI own several Air-O-Swiss humidifiers...this is their largest one of the ultrasonic type. They also make the evaporative type humidifiers as well.

First, Air O Swiss makes the best Ultrasonic mist humidifiers on the market... the mist is very fine, never forms to droplets in the air, and are very durable, I have never had a unit fail over the past 5 yrs. I have not tested the filter system, which removes hard minerals to prevent white dust on furniture and can leave deposits in the humidifier base. I use purified water instead. The system uses an ionic silver stick to prevent microbial growths from occurring in the pond that forms in the base unit...its very effective... they suggest replacing the silver stick every year. ($25) However, I have used them for several season with no growths. Silver is a very potent anti microbial agent. However, using hard tap water, its possible these silver sticks can be coated with hard minerals, preventing the silver ions from releasing into the water. So your mileage may vary based on the hardness of the water hitting the silver stick. My water has less than 3 ppm dissolved solids, so its nearly 100% pure water. It is risky having microbial growths being injected into the air / lungs. Air O Swiss did a great job engineering this solution to the microbial problem. But like most products that use water, without regular maintenance, problems can arise.

As for this humidifier vs. their smaller ones.... well, its a mixed bag...it has slightly greater output, a larger tank and its much more stylish than the other units. Assuming its in a nice home, this might be important. The downside is the design of the tank.... having more water, its much heavier ptob. 15 lbs when full...and therefore, harder to handle. The design of the handle and the insertion area of the base is the weak link IMO on this products (as well as their other units, but they are not as bad)...its hard to sit the tank on the base, as it must align near perfectly for it to seat securely. A funnel type design would have been ideal, as the heavy tank would would NOT need such precision to drop in place. The higher the humidifier is placed above the floor, the harder this task becomes, as it's harder to support the weight of the tank up high while jiggling it till it aligns / seats. So if your not very strong, be prepared to place the unit about 3-4 ft from the ground, based on your height, or use a few smaller units whereas the tanks are easier to handle. The extra flow is nice, tank re fills still required 2x a day...but the output is greater, so the work load of always changing tanks has not changed, but it will service a bigger room, they mention 650 sqft... which would be hard to hold 45% RH in a room this large with one unit unless it runs 24/7, at least in the dead of winter, when the RH inside can drop down to 10% or less.

As others have mentioned,and I fully agree....the design of the tank is also,less than optimal when it comes to re filling the tank. The tank must be turned upside down to refill in the sink. A FLAT top would be very useful to allow the tank to sit without rocking in the sink, so it could fill unattended. However, this is not the case, with the rounded top, often you must hold the tank to keep the water flow entering the tank. sometimes I wonder who designs these products...do they ever use them?

Overall, a very well made unit... with improved tank design and seating system I would have ranked it 5 stars....but refilling can be quite cumbersome.

If you are deciding between some of the Air O Swiss Ultrasonic models, don't be fooled by the fancy electronics... IMO, they serve little purpose. As in most cases, the humidifiers are almost always undersized vs. the room...therefore, they never reach the humidity set points you are shooting for. The rare exception would be when the humidifier is over sized and the RH in the space is not that low to start with, in which case, you can control the humidity by not changing the tank as often. The base unit with no electronics is very reasonably priced and is the same unit, minus the electronics...

the other nice benefit of these units is the HEAT setting....heating the water before its atomizes assists the mist to be quickly absorbed in the air. So no water droplets form on counter tops or furniture it sits on. It also can potentially kill any microbial growths, as the heated water can get quite hot, maybe 125 deg.

IF you have very hard water, these ultrasonic humidifiers can leave a significant amount of mineral mist on furniture, it appears like fine white powder. If the Air O Swiss filters are effective, which I doubt they are 100% effective, as its very hard to remove hard minerals from water.... u will need to replace them quite often as the small cartridges have limited mineral removal capacity. The harder your water is, the more often you will need to replace these cartridges. So consider this cost of operating the unit... OTOH, if you have very hard water, the more simplified evaporator type humidifier might be a better option, as the minerals are not atomized into the air like these ultra sonic units do. The minerals collect in the evaporator pads, which have a lot of surface area, and is less costly to replace.

Also, don't underestimate the amazing difference of 45% RH indoors during the winter, vs. the typical 10% in most colder areas, which of course are not near the ocean or some large body of water. Of course, the 10% humidity is the humidity at room temp...so while you might see 30 deg at 30% rh on the weather report in your area.... when you heat that air up to room temp, say, 75 deg F, the RH will drop to approx 8%. This is because at higher temperatures, air is capable of holding more water vapor. The term Relative Humidity (RH) is a "relative" expression, meaning, it's the amount of water vapor in the air, relative to the max. amount of water vapor air can hold at at that temp. Warmer air, can hold a significantly greater amount of water vapor, hence the term "relative" is used, when expressing humidity values. (IMO, this is a very poor expression of water vapor in the air, its deceiving to the avg. person, but its been the standard for so long, don't expect it to change) This is why we feel such extreme dryness in the winter months, indoors.... your skin, throat and eyes, etc. As we age, our skin is not as oily, and very dry air sucks what little moisture we have in our skin, into the air.

Interestingly enough, most people complain about how hot and DRY the desert southwest summers are in the USA... in the summer, the opposite happens... at 110 deg. and 10% RH outdoors....when you cool this air down to 70 deg F indoors, the RH jumps to approx 40% which is very acceptable, hence why even in the dry desert, there is plenty of moisture in the arid summers to feel perfectly comfortable indoors. (of course, air conditioners with evap coils running too cold can condense some of this water vapor from the air and reduce the RH slightly)

For most people, specially with naturally dry skin, you will notice a huge difference in how your skin feels in higher humidity....as well as your eyes not feeling dry...throat, etc. It is a PITA changing the tanks morning and night, but IMO, the work is worth the luxury if you have dry skin...., at least for those DRY 3-4 winter months...

Of course these units are for small living spaces.... water vapor disperses in the total volume of the space (cubic feet), so tall ceilings, multi story homes, etc changes the sq. ft. capacity the makers suggest. So you may need at least a few of these humidifiers even in a relatively small space, such as 2bdrm home. Buy a decent humidity sensor to monitor how effective the result is... at least $40 for a reliable humidity sensor, such as Extech. Loss of humidity often occurs due to leaks in HVAC systems, door cracks, exhaust fans, etc. So, without a humidity meter, u won't know how effective your humidifiers are... I run 4 of the Air S Swiss units, and just barely hold 40 45% RH. I re fill the tanks 2x per day..any less, and humidify falls well below 30%.

Hope this helps with your buying decision...

I love these units, but one of my three just died. The ultrasonic emitter is no longer working so I called AIR-O-SWISS to have it repaired and was told that they would replace it if it were still under the three year warranty, but since my units are over three years old, they will not repair or replace. Why? Because according to their customer service, they have no repair facilities in the USA. Buyer beware. These are expensive, well-built units, but if they go bad after three years, throw away and buy new.

AIR-O-SWISS, if you are listening, you should offer a customer exchange program where you mail them a replacement unit for a factory direct discount. You'd keep a loyal customer that way. Now, I am looking elsewhere.

Buy Air-O-Swiss 7142 Digital Ultrasonic Humidifier Now

I bought this humidifier for two reasons: it was extremely attractive and wasn't the eye sore in the room it was in, and it was supposed to automatically regulate the humidity in the room by itself. Well, mine never did. I called the company and they told me how to check the hygrometer and I did and it seemed to have worked just fine. However, I have always had it in my bedroom (which is about 200 sq ft.) and the windows in my bedroom would be dripping with condensation in the morning, but this humidifier would still say the humidity was only 25%. It was frustrating because I have eczema and I wanted to be comfortable in my home and not have it feeling muggy. I just took mine out for the fall/winter this year and it doesn't seem to be working. I have had this machine for about 3 years. My recommendation would be to go with a different company.

Read Best Reviews of Air-O-Swiss 7142 Digital Ultrasonic Humidifier Here

While I buy quite a bit on Amazon, I rarely take the time to write reviews and then, I don't often give 5 stars... but this machine deserves it.

After going through several less expensive units that lasted a winter or two, we decided to splurge for an Air-O-Swiss 7142. Our unit is now on its 6th year. It's a bit more expensive than most of the comparable units on the market and a bit more expensive to run if you follow the manufacturer's recommendation of changing the granules every three months and replacing the silver rod annually. We only run our unit during the winter (Mid December through Mid March), so we've replaced the granules annually and we've replaced the silver rod once. When not in use, at the end of the season, we drain it, clean it with vinegar and hot water, dry it and put it away replacing the granules (you can refill the cartridge) at the beginning of each season.

The unit has always stayed clean in fact ours looks like new inside and out. Perhaps it's the silver rod or the granule cartridge, the pre-heat or all of the above I couldn't tell you but I can say that It continues to do its job and It owes us nothing.

Others have complained that it's difficult to fill. I fill ours in the tubtakes about 30 seconds. It balances fine under the spout upside down with the handle against the drain.. Once filled I close the cap, flip it over and give it a shake or two to get rid of any excess water that accumulates in the bottom ridges.... the whole thing takes 30 seconds. Also, I saw some complaints about it being too heavy to liftif it's too heavy, don't fill it up all the way!

My only wish is that we could set the timer a bit longer. I'd like to see 10 or 12 hours as opposed to 8 hours so we could set it to go on an hour or two before coming home and have it run through the night. If they ever update the programmability (hasn't changed since the original) I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

Want Air-O-Swiss 7142 Digital Ultrasonic Humidifier Discount?

This humidifier has many advantages, including high output, large tank, and quiet operation. Unlike others, I find the tank convenient to fill. It sits securely upside down under my bathtub spout and fills in seconds. Then it's easy to place back in the unit. Of course it's heavy; it's a two gallon tank.

It needs to be well off the floor, like the manual says. I had it on the floor, where it hardly wet the carpet at all. But the humidity reading quickly rose above 60%, making the automatic settings useless.

Two feet off the floor it reads 33%. (Two nearby meters show 45% and 44%.) So the automatic settings are still useless.

The Automatic and Sleep modes are too rigid. They vary the output quantity as needed, which would be useful if the humidity reading were accurate, or if the humidity target in the automatic modes could be changed. As it is, it might just as well be set on manual and high.

And the Sleep mode is limited to 60% humidity and 6 hours. If you sleep 8 hours, or want a little more or less moisture, tough luck. Change the target humidity in either mode and it switches to full manual settings.

Every time the machine is turned on, it comes up in Automatic. If you want the heater turned off (and it doesn't do much for me except eat electricity; YMMV), or have it set up just the way you want in manual mode, you'll have to reenter those settings every time.

So if you want a humidifier that holds a lot of water, and are willing to let it run, this is your baby. If you want it to operate automatically, not so much.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Honeywell QuietCare PermaFilter Humidifier, HCM-800

Honeywell QuietCare PermaFilter Humidifier, HCM-800After years of replacing cool-mist filters, I wanted to try a humidifier with a so-called permanent filter. The noise is not really any more bothersome than other cool-mist humidifiers on the market. The problem with this product is the filter system. For the first month or so, I was able to keep the filter clean per the product instructions. But then, as with all cool mist humidifiers, the filter accumulates dust from the air intake and other mineral deposits. Unfortunately, it is absoultely impossible to clean the deposits and debris out of the interior wicking of the filter. The manufacturer's instructions say (in fact warn) only to clean the unit using vinegar...well, that method only works for some of the mineral deposits for the first 4 weeks or so. Plus, even with the vinegar method, you can't get the particles washed out of the interior of the filter! So after 3 months, the perma-filter doesn't retain sufficient moisture to effectively humidify the air. You are better off buying a regular cool-mist humidifier with a filter that can be replaced every few months. It will save you time, money and frustration. I have never written a review of any product before but this product is so poor that I felt compelled to do so at this time and warn others not to make the same mistake I made. This is truly one of the worst products I have ever purchased.

We bought 3 of these humidifiers last year for all our bedrooms. Even though it was a big chunk of money, I was tired of continually having to buy replacement disposable filters for our previous humidifiers (Holmes). Three at a time got expensive!

We were so excited to use our Honeywell humidifiers, and they worked like a dream. During the winter our kids had serious coughs, and we could adjust the humidity output to make the room extremely humid for them, and keep it at a medium level for ourselves. They worked wonderfully, and I was 100% satisfied.

As time went on, I realized cleanning them was quite a chore, and using vinegar (to remove hardwater buildup) did nothing for the moldy smell. Rather than use the 1tsp of bleach (recommended), I found I had to use at least 1 cup to get rid of the mildew smell. After cleanning the filters like this about 6 times, they became quite degenerated, and no longer held enough water to get moisture adequately into the air.

Frustrated, I (then) read reviews and heard you could not buy replacement filters. However, I decided to call Honeywell myself, since I couldn't bring myself to throw away 3 expensive humidifiers. I called Honeywell's Customer Care (1-800-554-4558) and found out you CAN buy replacement filters, at $24.99 each, with 6.95 shipping (for any size order).

Despite the filter issue, my overall opinion is that these are still terrific humidifiers, and I'm glad to continue using ours. However, beware that the filter will not last the life of the machine even though it's considered to be a "permanent" filter. Going forward, I'm going to be sure to stay on top of cleanning mine out (at least every 2-3 weeks), in order to be able to use less bleach and extend the filter life.

Even if I do have to replace the filters every year or 2, in the long run it's still alot cheaper than buying disposable ones monthly. And you'll enjoy a very nice humidifier (with multiple humidity settings) in the process.

Buy Honeywell QuietCare PermaFilter Humidifier, HCM-800 Now

I purchased this product at a retail store recently and overall I think it's great. I was concerned about a line in the manual that said to discard the filter at the end of the season, but when I contacted Kaz / honeywell about it, they said it was a misprint and with proper care the filter will last for the life of the product. Makes sense since that's what is advertised on the box! They got back to me quickly, too.

The machine is not silent, it's got a fan on it which to me provides some nice white noise to block out odd noises that might bother my sleep. It obviously puts out a lot of moisture because I have to refill the tank once a day, and that does as well as the crappy old vicks vaporizers that I used to use...those things were terrible. They made boiling bubbly noises and started to spit when they got old. 65 bucks for the Honeywell isn't cheap (not to me anyway) but the cost was worth it so far. I haven't had it very long yet so we'll have to wait and see how it does in the long term.

Almost forgotthere is a dial control for humidity level; the window is green when the humidity is right, and blue when the humidity doesn't match the setting on the machine. It amounts to a nice night light since I don't know or care how it functions; I just leave it on high all the time.

Read Best Reviews of Honeywell QuietCare PermaFilter Humidifier, HCM-800 Here

Ok, so here is the straight dope on the filters.

Basically, this unit operates under the same principle as a whole-house humidifier you would find in a forced-air heating system. So the "filter" is the same thing as a humidifier pad. The HCM 800, since it is self-contained, just uses its own blower, and the unevaporated water coming off the pad (filter) is recycled, rather than sent down the drain. So it is a given that you will get some amount of scaling throughout the system, and mold, etc., on the humidifier pad, just like in a whole-house unit.

I wouldn't try cleaning and then reusing the pad in a whole-house humidifier, and I wouldn't try do the same with the pad in these, either.

The good news, though, is that replacement humidifier pads are readily available, and cheap. For this unit, just get (for example) a HC22P humidifier pad, cut it down to size (about 6x9) and stick it in the plastic housing where the old pad came out. The pads are flexible when they are wet and are easily taken out and installed without damaging the rest of the unit. The HC22P is about $9 at Home Depot. You could get a bigger replacement pad and cut it into several replacements for the HCM 800 if you wanted to get it even cheaper. They cut adequately with a scissors, if you don't have a band saw handy.

Overall, the buildup on the HCM 800 isn't appreciably nastier than what you find in a lot of whole-house units, when they get serviced. Ok, those are pretty nasty, sure, but that is the price you pay if you want to avoid the fine mineral dust of a piezoelectric mist unit. Nobody gets humidified air without paying some sort of a price.

Want Honeywell QuietCare PermaFilter Humidifier, HCM-800 Discount?

To copy another reviewers text:

"I called Honeywell's Customer Care (1-800-554-4558) and found out you CAN buy replacement filters, at $24.99 each, with $6.95 shipping (for any size order)."

I bought two (2x) filers, Price Total $56.93, 7-10 days by UPS Ground.

Save 7% Off

Thursday, August 15, 2013

HERA Ultrasonic Humidifer

HERA Ultrasonic HumidiferTo combat the dry air commonly found in winter, I have used humidifiers for as long as I can remember. I have used various types and I tend to prefer the ultrasonic humidifiers due to their low noise and the lack of required filters and other parts that other types of humidifiers commonly use.

Let us start with the basics. The HERA ultrasonic humidifier is basically another ultrasonic humidifier. The basic functionality of the product is not much different than any other ultrasonic humidifier that I have ever seen. The unit creates a spout of water mist, which in theory will evaporate before hitting the ground and humidify the air. The product does this and does this well.

However, the HERA Ultrasonic Humidifier has a pretty hefty price tag compared to many other models. What sets the HERA brand apart from the rest?

The HERA Ultrasonic Humidifier has touchpad controls that allow the user to customize the humidifier settings to their own preferences. The humidifier has a warm mist feature that helps take the cold, wet feeling out of the room. There is the option of three different output levels. The humidifier can be set up to shut off when it reaches a predetermined humidity level and there is a digital hygrometer to show you the humidity level of the room. The night mode will dim the LCD display if the light bothers you at night. The unit is equipped with a filter cartridge meant to reduce the hardness level of your water and an ionic silver cube meant to help keep the water bacteria free.

I personally found most of the functions on the humidifier pretty intuitive. I did have to refer to the manual a few times to figure out exactly what certain buttons did. I felt that the manual was very poorly designed. I thought the content of the manual was fine, but the layout of the manual was not very user friendly in my opinion. While I did not have problems figuring out how to fill the tank, my wife did have to take some time to figure out where the water went.

There were some things I really liked about the unit. I thought the output level of the unit was powerful. On the highest setting with the unit 2 feet off the ground, the water did not evaporate before it hit the ground. I thought the unit was very aesthetically pleasing. It is an attractive box form that can fit in a number of areas easily. I thought the warm mist was a nice option that I felt made a difference in the feel of the air in the room. One of the things I liked best was that the tank is square, which makes for easy filling. I have had other shaped tanks that were a pain to try and hold while filling with several gallons of water.

The hygrometer seemed to be fairly accurate for the most part. I put another hygrometer in the same room and the readings were pretty close. The only exception to this is when I filled the tank. The hygrometer on the humidifier would read too high for a few minutes after filling the tank. If the auto mode is being utilized, it will usually shut off until the reading corrects itself.

What I did not like about the unit is the concept of the filter cartridge. I live in an area with pretty hard water. There is a water softener in my house, but I know many people do not have one. I have used ultrasonic humidifiers for years before I put my water softener in and I will admit after about 3 or 4 winters, I will usually have to clean the humidifier out with vinegar and a soft brush. While the idea of the filter cartridge did intrigue me, it is a disposable part and one that might need to be changed frequently.

The humidifier comes with a test strip. The test strip appears to be German and measures in units of Degrees of Hardness (dH) and the instructions measures water hardness in "pink boxes." I took a sample of untreated water in my house and using test strips, I measured it to be about 250 ppm (parts per million) or about 15 gpg (grains per gallon). Using the provided test strip, it measured about 17 dH or about 3.5 pink boxes. In my later research, I found that the gpg and dH measurements are not identical, but for this purpose, they are close enough to use interchangeably.

So why am I spending so much time talking about water hardness? The filter cartridge life is dependant on water hardness. With 15gpg/17dH water hardness level at my house without the water softener, I can expect the filter cartridge to last for 20 to 40 gallons of water or 10 to 20 fills of the tank. At the time of this writing, a Stadler Form A-112 replacement cartridge runs $15 to $20. The Stadler Form Replacement Ionic Silver Cube is supposed to be replaced annually and currently that runs another $25.

My treated water is about 1 gpg. According to the manual, at this hardness level, the filter should last about 115 gallons of water or about 58 fills.

While I liked the humidifier, the price of replacement cartridges and silver cubes can be quite expensive. Both of these items are optional to use, but if you take those aspects away, then this is just another ultrasonic humidifier and then there are many more cost effective alternatives available. Those alternatives might not be as stylish and the controls might not be as user friendly, but when it comes down to it, without the filter cartridge, my $50 Sunbeam has most of the same functions as this one.

Overall, I thought it was an excellent product worthy of 5 stars. However, keep in mind that there is potentially quite an expense to utilize the product to its full potential. For that, I am deducting 2 stars.

I'm giving it 5 stars when I should really give it 4 only because the other reviews are really addressing the instructions rather than the product. You really have to read them carefully. This thing is engineered actually quite well. Admittedly it is not very intuitive.

TO FILL THE UNIT:

Lift the reservoir off of the unit using the built in handle on top

Carry it to your sink. It is a sealed unit. No water will drip from it.

Flip the reservoir upside down in your sink.

Remove the fill cover. The fill cover is about 3" in diameter. The filter is attached to the inside of it so when you remove the cover you are also removing the filter. It opens and closes with a 1/4 turn.

Fill the reservoir and replace the cover/filter

Walk the reservoir back over to the unit and put it in place. It simply sets on top of the base.

The most difficult part of this entire process is turning the reservoir right side up in your sink when it is full of water. It now has a couple gallons of water in it, so it's a bit heavy. It might be a bit difficult for someone very old or with weak hands.

For the person who said that the floor was wet, the instructions do clearly state NOT to put it on the floor. We have ours on our kitchen countertop which works quite well except when we have the gas range on. There is something about the charged ions this thing puts into the air that must mess with the oxygen and hence the flame on our stovetop.

For the person who has a problem with his hard water and this unit. I would suggest that it is not the fault of this product. You will face the same issue with ANY high-end unit that uses this technology.

The specifications are much better on the manufactures website.

Buy HERA Ultrasonic Humidifer Now

The function of the device is perfect. The warm mist setting is great in winter and cool mist in summer is great for providing evaporative cooling to your home.

I run this unit constantly at the highest output level and refill every morning (and night) and it is just about shutting off for low-water when I go to bed (about 15 hours for full tank cycle using max loads).

Just a couple complaints:

Refilling the unit is ridiculous. I recommend placing unit near a kitchen sink that has a hose attachment that you can spray into the tank as the tank needs to be held upside down. This causes you to set the tank on its "head" while you fill it. Thus this smashes the directional vents for the unit and creates a very fragile process. I have learned to set the tank on the edge of something while refilling so the vents are not bearing the weight of the entire tank.

Secondly I would say the tank needs to be larger. Yes I understand that this unit is made for easy carrying by most people etc, but a larger tank option would be nice.

Read Best Reviews of HERA Ultrasonic Humidifer Here

Humidifiers is one of frustrating product categories. Almost everything out there seems to get mediocre reviews or have some fatal flaw. My own requirements were as follows: (1) Something with a hot and cold mist. (2) Something with a very pleasing form. (3) Something that had the hope of not becoming a bacterial breeding ground. (4) Something with a precise hygrometer built in. (5) Something with the capacity to run at least one night. The Stadler form devices promise many of these. We chose the Hera over the the other model with a hygrometer (the William) for one main reason. There had been complaints on the William that the lights are too bright at night, and this was a very big concern with a baby in the room.

On to the Hera. It looks good, like a tapered black slab. It's just the right size (not a hulk). The control panel is very intuitive (with mist levels, a hot/ cold choice), and a humidity setting (in increments of 10%). There is a night mode that really dims the light to almost invisible. Really, what's not to like?

Two (and half) things. First, in night mode it automatically seems to go to a low mist level. Not sure why. Second, and the reason we returned this, is that that hygrometer didn't work. After running it two days in a small room it still showed 30% humidity. As I mentioned this was a key feature from our point of view. I didn't feel like trying again with a replacement because I had seen this complaint in other reviews (I should have listened!) The smaller complaint was that for the first few minutes there was water leaking from the bottom seam or joint on the water tank. Obviously this would be really bad, but the leak stopped after the first few minutes and did not return.

In fairness, I think this is an excellent machine, but don't get it for the built-in hygrometer. I suppose I should dock more stars for the fact that a promised feature seems to regularly not work on these machines, but I liked it enough otherwise.

Want HERA Ultrasonic Humidifer Discount?

I apologize for being late in submitting this review but a stroke has put me further behind than originally planned.

This is a really neat package that contains just about all of the basic requirments in less than one-half of the space. Unlike other reviewers my unit came with an entry level type of review and it works as promised. The unit comes with a list of options including "Humidity", "Output", "Warm Mist", "Night Mode", and "Auto Mode" and they all work as directed. Unless I have missed something everything works as promised and really without any difficulty. I find the filling of the Transparent water tank a bit of a problem but overall it works as planned.

For me the unit works as directed. It shows once again that form and function can be combined into a really neat package. I like other humidifiers but this one is now the leader in both design and functiom.