Crane Ee-8065 Crane Germ Defense Humidifier - Manual, White

Please note that I recently joined the Vine program but this review is based on my own private purchase (i.e., I paid for it!)

With winter approaching I wanted to get additional humidifiers to help with making household air less dry. I have an old Holmes (an older version of the current Holmes HM1865-U model) that puts out a lot of moisture and has a humidistat. I recently bought a much more expensive humidifier from Brookstone but I found it did not put out nearly as much water compared to the Holmes and the expensive model was not much quieter.

After way too much research online and checking out models at local stores I decided on the Crane Ee-8065. I considered the digital version but for the price difference I did not see the additional value.

The manual version has a small footprint and sleek form-factor. It is incredibly quiet and the mist output can be adjusted. The warm mist does not seem too warm (compared to steam misters) and I mostly run it in the cool mist setting. I am not sure the warm mist would be that great at helping with a cold or illness compared to a true steam mister. That said, my main purpose was to find a quiet humidifier I could run at night. The Crane Ee-8065 has proven itself to be exactly what I need. In fact, I am going to buy a couple more to put in other parts of our house.

The only negative thus far is it is a bit awkward to hold while refilling the reservoir but this might have more to do with me becoming more used to it. The reservoir could be larger too, but then again that would mean the unit itself would have to be larger and I kind of like the smaller size of the unit itself; I can accept the trade-off between size of unit and how often I have to refill the reservoir.

I love the Crane Ee-8065 Crane Germ Defense Humidifier. We recently upgraded from the Crane Drop Shape Cool Mist Humidifier, White as it was damaged due to a flood in our now older apartment. The advantages the Ee-8065 provides from other Crane humidifiers are that of the larger water tank and the ability to set the humidifier to that of a cool or warm mist. For the extra thirty dollars in price, it's a jump that's worth it. Especially when other humidifiers (that actually work) cost double the price if not more. However, there's one problem I have with the Ee-8065 that other reviewers have mentioned.

The lights on the unit. The blue light if the humidifier is turned on or the red light if the humidifier has ran out of water. Either way, the lights on the Ee-8065 could steer ships at night if placed in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. For a device that's usually on when we're asleep, the lights are way too powerful and overbearing. Anywhere we've placed the humidifier in our bedroom, it's almost as if we have an extra light on. Even when we cover the front of the unit with a blanket or jacket to hide the lights, the lights still power through it. It's not only annoying, but also a major inconvenience.

Other than the fact the light is more powerful than the light on top of the Luxor Hotel and Casino, the Ee-8065 is a great humidifier at its price point. Not only does it make it a lot easier to sleep at night, but the ability to clean it is way easier than it was on my past Crane Drop Shape Cool Mist Humidifier, White. If you're in the market for a humidifier, this is one of the best ones to get. I would just be ready with a solution on how to cover up the lighting before you finalize your purchase.

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I find this unit hard to clean. I get pink mold weekly in the tube which the fog comes out. You can't reach in there to clean it. Also, the base gets pink and has many nooks to clean. The brush provide does not fit into all of the nooks. Also the bristles are cheap and permanently bend after a couple cleanings.

The simple design of airflow onto the fog stream is nice. I wish more care went into the wells and spacings of the mating parts to make it easier to clean.

The level indicator turns the blue light on and off repeatedly when the water is about to run out. It makes a decent clicking noise (relay of somesort). That is annoying as it clicks on/off 1-2 times a minute for say 30minutes.

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I bought the electronic push button model. The one I have has 6 different buttons that you must reset everytime you use it as it has no memory. The only diffence I can see is that with this model there is no timer setting. Unless you need to set the timer setting (it turns off by itself when out of water) I would get this model. I wish I had thought about all the programing you would have to do each time you turn it on. You have to press several buttons up to 12 times to get it on the setting you want. This is alot of time wasted when you are getting ready for bed. Overall it is so quiet I don't even know it is on. I've only had it a week so I don' know about it's reliability.

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I read all the reviews for the electronic version and decided to go with the manual version. One major thing to note when you read the owner's manual, it states to not sit this unit on carpet. Unfortunately, the intake fan is on the bottom of the unit. Brilliant. So, given that all the other flat surfaces in my bedroom are wood, I had to find something flat to sit it on. It absolutely is NOT quiet. That fan has a very annoying whine to it. We have 2 other older humidifiers and they are far quieter than this one (but are unfortunately not made anymore). The light on the front is very bright. We aimed it away from us and it still was too bright at night. Possibly good for a kids bedroom, though. I tried both warm and cool mist settings, and really couldn't tell a difference. You could feel the warm mist right at the unit, so it was heating the mist. I gave it 2 stars because it really does pump out a lot of mist and humidified my medium size room well. So, I'm back to searching for the right combo of quiet, functional, and easy to clean.

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Essick Air EP9 500 Whole House Evaporative Digital Pedestal Humidifier, Nutmeg

This is a very nice looking unit. It runs very quietly at it's lowest fan speed and can put out a lot of moisture at it's highest (10) speed. The only drawback we have had is that it is difficult to see the water level. At first we overfilled the unit and had about a quart of water overflow onto our carpeting. At that point we started taking the unit apart (it is 2 pieces) by lifting the outer shell off. We then learned to just use a flashlight to look into the tank with the front filler door open. It comes with an attachment that fits the filler door when open to extend the opening, but we do not use it. It is a lot more convenient to fill versus pulling the tanks out of our old unit. Would buy again.

My ex is a humidifier person, so I learned from the best. This is a sweet humidifier. Nice and seemingly accurate and well engineered controls, nice marble top and perfect for my purpose. Gets loud once you get into level 5-10. Level 1 is quiet and gets my 12 x 16 master bedroom about 55% (I'm in uber-dry Las Cruces, NM too...) Worth the $.

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Vicks 1.5 Gallon Vaporizer with Night-Light

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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Minuteman International T-39 Dragon Steamer 2.2-Quart

This is a fun item. And it really cute when it works. It just takes a pretty hot fire to get him steaming , otherwise he just has a drippy nose. In the two weeks I have had it on my wood stove I have only got it hot enough to produce steam a couple of time.

I was more than pleased when I received my hand painted ceramic/metal steamer. It is awesome. It has an excellent paint job.It works well and steam really does come out of the dragon's nostrils. What a hoot!

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This product was a gift for my parents who have a fun sense of humor and also enjoy "dragons". They were very pleased with the item. It arrived in good shape, works well and most importantly makes them laugh. Very pleased.

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This item is cute to look at but does not perform the "steaming nostrils" function at all.

We tried several locations on our very hot woodstove but no results.

We have been in touch with the seller (3rd party) and she was very nice about return/ refund/ exchange.

Also was urprised that the top piece is only made of China glass, not cast iron like the bottom.

Could break on the first fall if you weren't very careful.

JS.

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Cute piece to look at but the benefit was for the steam. Found this steamer does not emit enough steam with the cover on. With the cover off it produces plenty of steam.

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HOMEIMAGE Adorable Elephant Shape Ultra Cool Mist Humidifier

• Adorable Elephant shape 1.6L Cool Mist Humidifier
• Adjustable mist volume control
• Auto off when water tank is empty
• Ultra quiet and easy to operate
• Helps you sleep soundly and comfortably

I bought a Crane animal humidifier and this one at the same time. The elephant humidifier gets the job done, but doesn't give off nearly as much mist as the Crane humidifier.

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this product is cute and useful. It is easy to use and quiet while turn it on at night. I love it.

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This works good but never turns off like it says on the box. I bought two and neither shut-off. Mist comes out nicely.

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The humidifier is very cute but it uses the whole tank of water every night even when it is set at the lowest setting.

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Worked for one day then ceased to function. Even when it worked, the adjustment for vapor strength didn't work. Stick with Crane vaporizers.