Best Humidifier: portable humidifiers

I tried the 'generic' filter last year, thinking it would be the same and I would save money, but found they were just not as good as the Hamiiton Beach. They started out all right, but dried up very soon and need to be replaced more quickly.

05920 Hamilton Beach Humidifier Wick Filter

I have ordered these filters from Filters-Now.com before without any problems, but this is the first time I've ordered them through Amazon with Filters Now as the seller. Unlike the previous filters I've ordered, these have a very strong odor and don't have the same microbe coating as the ones from filters-now.com. The moment I inserted them in the water, they became soaked from top to bottom. Anyone who has had a good filter knows that the microbe coating keeps them from being drenched right away. This coating is essential to protect them from mold and to allow them to last a couple months. These are completely unusable and I wouldn't recommend them.

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The filters that came are about 2" taller than the original #05920. Not wanting to go thru the hassle I managed to squeeze the filter in place and it is working satsfactorily.

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Seems to work just fine. I was worried because it didn't have the metal outer shell like my other filters, but seems to work just as well.

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I had bought a humidifier by Hamilton Beach from a Thrift store, the only thing it needed was a filter, I searched thru Amazon.com and I found the seller "Filters-Now", they had the model listed, which it seems to be about 10 years old but I was able to buy a new filter at a very low price and it works fine.It actually arrived a few days earlier than expected which was a nice surprise.The only bad thing, it is summer and I have to wait to use my humidifier, but it was well worth the price. Thank you "Filters-Now" I will continue to recommend and use you products. You have made me a lifetime customer. And thank you Amazon for having Filters-Now on your website.

Frigidaire FAD704DUD 70 Pt. Dehumidifier

I bought mine at the local big-box home improvement store. It is used in my heated basement, which I want extra-dry as my firearms and other sensitive items are stored there.

After six months it started making a lot of noise. I checked it and found that the cooling coils were completely iced up, totally blocking the air flow. I let it defrost completely and tried again, with the same icing resulting after a few hours. I checked the manual. which gave "room temperature is too low" as the cause. Doubtful, I thought, but it is winter and only about 60 degrees in here. So I waited to spring and tried again. Now there is no cooling effect at all, and no water output. Obviously the icing was from the cooling fluid leaking, and finally it all leaked out resulting in the total lack of operation.

This is my second Frigidaire dehumidifier. The first had a fan motor failure after six months.

Obviously Frigidaire is no longer synonymous with quality.

By the way, it is not possible to contact Frigidaire customer service by their 800 number. The option for "speak to a representative" results in the computer giving a long-distance number to call. On previous occasions, I have had no luck with trying to contact them via their web site, either. However I tried again, this time requesting return contact by telephone.

This time they actually responded, but by email despite my request for contact by phone. The response was "I would like to offer you a 60% rebate towards a new unit." My response to that was, quoting the manual, "The unit has a FIVE YEAR WARRANTY period during which 'Frigidaire will repair or replace any part in the Sealed Refrigeration System....,' so why should I have to pay 40 percent?"

Their reply: "We apologize we will not be able to arrange service for your dehumidifier. Regrettably, escalating service costs have rendered repairing dehumidifiers a thing of the past as these units are no longer serviced.

Please let us know if you wish to accept the rebate offer so we may assist with issuing a rebate letter outlining details of the rebate as soon as possible. Please also note that not only will you receive the 60% rebate but as an added bonus when you receive the new dehumidifier the warranty will start over again from day one."

I wrote them again, requesting that they honor their written warranty. They replied "Thank you for contacting Frigidaire. We apologize that we are not able to assist."

In other words, they are refusing to honor the written warranty in the owner's manual. I have filed a complaint with the FTC, but expect little assistance since I am just a single citizen.

It is not only Frigidaire's product quality that is suffering....

Update, 06/24/2011: At N. Ha's suggestion (see comments on this review), I complained to the BBB in Georgia, where the Frigidaire humidifier service center is located per the manual. Today I received a phone call from Electrolux about my complaint. The woman said they wanted to "buy my unit back" for the full amount I had paid for it. She refused to call this a refund. However, she said I do not have to ship this unit they are buying to them, only the label with the model and serial number plus my original receipt. I guess calling it a refund might set a precedent. I, of course, accepted the offer and am awaiting the paperwork.

So, it looks like the only way to get satisfaction for the written warranty they have unilaterally decided to cancel for all current and future customers is to complain to the BBB. I hope many will do so.

This unit sucks water from the air by the gallons. I set it up in my finished basement and right out of the box it worked great. So well, in fact, I needed to empty the large capacity tank too often. So I opened up the back hose valve, connected a short garden hose and pointed it to the floor drain. The unit kept filling up the tank and did not drain out the hose :-(. It appears that the hose drain in the back just works on gravity--there's no pump. So if the floor is not level and/or if the hose is a little narrower than the male connector on the back of the unit (as most are) the water will not drain through the hose the valve. The fault is poor product design. To remedy, I bought a right-angle PVC adapter, barb adapter and clear tubing (to visually see whether it was working) from Flex PVC.com. Parts: "508-007 FGH by .75 FPT (female NPT) 90degree", "PPN46 3/4 mpt x 1/2 barb adapter", and "1/2 x 5/8 Clear Tubing BTF". The right angle adapter is large and maintains the 3/4" garden hose opening from end to end. Once assembled and attached I experimented and found the correct position for the dehumidifier which is on a slightly uneven floor. Now the water drains through the hose (which I can watch through the clear hose) and it works as it should. Frigidaire should provide this setup to all users that need to use the hose valve in the back until they fix the design issue. I keep the unit running continuously and it gives off more heat than I would like, heating up the basement which is usually cool in the summer. But it's somewhat unavoidable with this technology so I will take heat over humidity. I've added an image of my setup to the product images for visual reference.

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I owned the previous version of this dehumidifier (Frigidaire Dehumidifier, 70-Pint Capacity, FAD704TDP) and the compressor failed in just over 1.5 years. I was disappointed by this, but it was not unexpected. My previous research of customer comments on both amazon.com and Consumer Reports indicated that failure in 1.5 years is now the norm for dehumidifiers! (I wonder whether the new government regulations have anything to do with this FYI, they now prohibit the use of FREON and the failures in a couple of years started after that; previously dehumidifiers lasted 10 or more years). Note that everyone who wrote reviews in 6 month or less after purchase was very pleased with the dehumidifiers in general (as was I), but reviews written 6 or 12 months after purchase started to complain about failures (compressor mostly). Very disppointing since all my previous dehumidifiers lasted well over 10 years; and one of them is still working fine. But I needed a dehumidifiier and this one semed to be the best of a not very good set of choices, so I ordered it. I was very pleased with it when it arrived and it worked great until if failed. I rated it 5 stars and updated my review several times until it failed whereupon I downgraded it to 4 stars. You can see my full review of that model on amazon.com.

But now I needed another one. I redid much of my research of customer comments and came up with the same conclusion that failure in 1.5 years was the norm and that this model was the best of the lot. So, I decided to get the same one again. When I looked at the model on amazon.com, there was a note that said "Would you like to see a newer version of this model?". I clicked on it and THIS model came up. Everything in the name and model number was the same (it even looked the same), except the "TDP" is replaced by "DUD" (I got a chuckle out of this given my previous experience with it's failure). So I odered it ... and I've now had it for about a month.

And here is my review to date: In summary, I give it 5 stars again, and I'll try to update this review in about 6 12 month intervals regarding the compressor and/or other failures.

Most noticeable are differences from the previous model which indicates some very significant improvements:

FIRST, it is amazingly quiet! In fact it was so quiet that I wondered whether the compressor was even working. I disconnected the drain hose (I use a gravity drain) to see whether the bucket would fill up. It did so in just a few hours! I would support the claim for 70 pts in 24 hours. The old model was quite noisy and, although in a different part of the basement, interfered with listening to the TV in the basement rec room. Not the case for this model.

SECOND: The exhaust for this model is out the TOP! Not out the back as in most older models, or the side as in the previous version of this one. How novel ... very unlikely to have an obstruction out the top and that also significantly aids in the air circulation. I wonder why no one ever though of this before. The squirrel cage fan now exhausts directly up and that may have something to do with it's quiet operation.

THIRD: The hose attachment for the gravity drain is now outside of the case and very easy to get to. It was very difficult to attach the hose in the previous version.

FOURTH: It was less expensive than the older model, which is also still available on amazon.com.

Overall, I am very pleased with this model ... I just hope it lasts.

I'll update this revew periodically, indicating whether the compressor is still working or when it finally fails.

UPDATE (4/23/2012): It is still working! Actually, it was OFF most of the winter. There seems to be an "unadvertised feature" that turns the unit completely off when the humidity is well below the desired setting. I did not see this descibed anywhere in the manual (maybe I just missed it). If the humidity is only a little below the desired setting, the compressor is off, but the fan that circulates the air is still on; when the humidity drops further, that fan also turns off (I have not been able to determine how much lower). This is a nice feature and probably makes the entire unit last longer. On the previous version of this model, the compressor cycled off and on all winter long and the fan ran contantly.

Some people have commented to me that the gravity drain does not work and the bucket fills with water. You have to make sure that the unit is LEVEL since there is a very small lip at the back that allows the water to go over it into the gravity drain. When the water cannot go over the lip, it goes into the bucket a very nice feature to keep it from flooding your floor. But if the unit leans even slightly forward, the the water cannot go over the lip and into the gravity drain. So level it carefully or put some shims under the front until it drains correctly.

It has gotten a little noisier now; but not objectionable.

And I checked the label: it is made in China.

UPDATE (4/30/2013): Another year has gone by and it is still working great! All the above comment still apply. I did not touch the humidity setting and the unit turned itself off last fall and was not running all winter (not the compressor nor the fan). About mid April it turned itself back on. I really do like this feature!

UPDATE (6/20/2013) WELL, IT FAILED!! Purchased 6/15/2011, put into service 6/21/2011 almost exactly TWO YEARS; I was really hoping that my analysis of the life expectancy of dehumidifiers was wrong. Here are some details about the failure. As I stated on the 4/30/2013 update, the unit turned on just fine as the humidity rose earlier this spring. I had set the humidity to 55% and it kept it there for a number of weeks. In early June, I noticed that the humidity reading was 70% even though it was still set to 55%; but the unit seemed to be running OK. I detached the gravity drain to catch the condensate in the bucket to determine if it was still working. It filled 1/2 of the bucket but no more. I emptied it and it never again collected any condensate. I determined that the fan was running and the compressor turned on when the humidity setting was below the humidity level in the basement. This seems to imply the refrigerant was not working, maybe there is a leak. If so, this would be hard to diagnose and fix.

UPDATE (6/25/2013: FALSE ALARM IT STILL WORKS! [I left the above comment in case anyone runs into this].

This morning I intended to get the serial number of the unit to call customer service. I while doing this I heard a water drip how can that be if it is not working? I examined it carefully and found that the evaporator coils were completely frozen over when I looked into the front of the unit thru the grate, all I could see was white. I turned the humidity setting up so that only the fan ran and quickly melted all the ice. I then lowered the humidity setting and it now works fine; filled the bucket in less than a day. Will reconnect the gravity drain.

I'm not sure how to prevent this from happening again without checking the unit regularly and shutting off the compressor until the ice melts. I will try setting the humidistat to just lower than the ambient humidity in the hope that it does not ice up. Once it gets to THAT humidity level without icing up, I'll turn it down one notch (ie, 5%) and repeat. Hopefully that works.

I also found a note I had written on the manual which I had completely forgotten about. Here it is, written on about 6/26/2011), since it is may still be relevant: "When it arrived via FEDEX (they left it by the garage and left before I came out to see it). The package was SEVERELY DAMAGED, so bad that I did not open it, but took several pictures and called FEDEX to complain. They suggested that I open it and see if anything was damaged. I did, examined it all carefully and nothing was amiss." So I forgot to even mention this in the original version of this review.

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I freely admit that this review is inspired as much by the opportunity to experiment with posting a video as by a desire to provide something useful. Still, you may find some help here.

Two things will be obvious: first, I'm clearly no videographer; second, this is a pretty good product.

In the space of about 3-1/2 min. this video will

1. walk you through a typical use case in a basement,

2. show you how to use the dehumidifier, and

3. offer a simple (and in many cases, cost-free) way of connecting the dehumidifier to a floor drain.

I hope you find this useful.

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Many people use a dehumidifier in a basement, but I use it to prevent mildew in a Florida home. The humidity is nearly always high here, and mildew can form indoors in the winter when the A/C is not on. A dehumidifier this size does a pretty good job for the whole house if the central A/C fan is turned on to circulate air.

NOISE: I have read various opinions about the noise level. It is quite a bit louder with high fan speed than with low. The capacity and efficiency (see below) are about the same with either speed, so low speed is a good choice for occupied rooms.

My impression is that I definitely notice the noise, even on low fan speed, but it is not loud enough to disrupt conversation. The noise is mostly just from the flow of air, which is less annoying that the buzzing or rattling noises some dehumidifiers make.

CONTINUOUS DRAIN: Some people have reported problems with using a garden hose for continuous draining. I think the problem is that the narrow fittings in some hoses create a "dam" that makes the water back up and spill over into the bucket. I put a garden hose "Y" adapter on the back of the dehumidifier and connected the hose to the side pointing downward. It drains perfectly into the hose with this arrangement. I did not need the manufacturer's drain modification kit.

The drain hose should have a continuous downward or horizontal slope. Otherwise bubbles can form in the hose and block the flow.

AUTO-RESTART: This model will restart automatically after a power failure, so it is suitable for use in an unoccupied home.

EFFICIENCY: Dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity. This model uses about 700 watts while it is running. In the continuous run mode, it will use 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month, which typically costs around $55.00. Electricity use will be less in the normal mode with the unit cycling on and off as needed.

The Energy Star "Energy factor" rating for this model (from energystar.gov) is 1.8 liters per kWh. That means it will remove 1.8 liters of water from the air for each kilowatt-hour of electricity used. Higher numbers mean lower electricity costs. 1.8 is the lowest energy factor that will qualify for Energy Star approval and is fairly typical.

As an engineer, I have the necessary equipment to test the energy factor myself. I was able to confirm the published Energy factor. At 80 degrees F and 60% relative humidity, I measured these energy factors:

Low fan speed: Energy factor = 1.81

High fan speed: Energy factor = 1.88

CAPACITY: Capacity is a measure of how much moisture the dehumidifier can remove from the air per day. My measurements came close to the manufacturer's rating. This model has about the same capacity on either low or high speed. At 80 degrees F and 60% relative humidity, I measured:

Low fan speed: Capacity = 65 pints per day

High fan speed: Capacity = 68 pints per day

HUMIDITY CONTROL: I think this is the weakest feature and the reason I did not give this model 5 stars. You can set the unit to maintain a relative humidity anywhere between 35% and 85%. 60% is usually adequate to prevent mildew. Setting it lower will just use more electricity.

Unfortunately, this model's humidity sensor is apparently inside the case where it is affected by the wet cooling coils. This causes it to cycle on and off about every 10 minutes, even when the humidity in the room is lower than the point you set. After the fan shuts off, the dampness inside the case causes the unit to start again after 1 or 2 minutes. It then runs a few minutes, shuts off, and the cycle repeats. The constant on-off cycling wastes electricity and probably shortens the life of the dehumidifier, although these effects are hard to quantify.

My solution is to set the dehumidifier in the continuous run mode and use an external dehumidistat (Honeywell H46C from Home Depot) to turn its AC power on or off as required. This prevents the constant on-off cycling and allows the dehumidifier to run only when it is actually needed.

HEAT: Dehumidifiers put out a lot of heat. I definitely notice that it warms up the room.

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Frigidaire FAD704DUD 70 Pt. Dehumidifier