When I first moved to the high mountains (8400') of Colorado, I used a wick-type humidifier constantly. I also had a nasty little cough that stayed with me for 18 months. Finally, I took my doctor's advice and junked the humidifier. End of cough, due to things growing in the unit. I have been shopping for humidifiers again for a while, and found them all to be lacking severely. Either they were the same type of filter construction that had caused my illness, or they were cheaply made, or low-capacity. This unit may have a tippy storage tank when turned upside-down to fill, but it is well made. The screw-on cap for the reservoir is sturdy and has a rubber gasket. There are carrying handles on the top and bottom of the water container to make it easy to manage, and it puts out a LOT of humidity. At 2/3 setting, it ran the humidity in my bedroom from 22 to 35% the first night, all while being completely silent. The (silent) piezo-electric ultrasonic element is the same as is used in the tweeters of my big PA speakers, and these are practically indestructible if kept clean. The huge water reservoir does mean that it is big, and the styling is retro, which is OK, I guess. More expensive units from the same manufacturer have useless and noisy digital features with the same overall construction. Overall, a solid five.
Update on 22Mar2012: This thing is great. The silver (yes, they impregnate the plastic with silver) added to the water chamber means that there is virtually no scum build-up inside. I did clean it once in the time I have had it. The little metal diaphragm of the ultrasonic element is brass not silver, so I do wipe that off every now and then, but this thing is fantastic. I always run filtered water in it. If you don't, you are either leaving the unfiltered residue in the tank, or blowing it out into your room! Give your sinuses, musical instruments and wood furniture a nice gift.
I bought this humidifier because it seemed perfect:
1, Large capacity 2 gallons or so lasts about 24 hours and isn't too heavy to re-fill
2, Cool mist OR warm mist capability I prefer warm mist, but the heating elements usually take too much cleaning
3, Virtually silent operation no loud fans, just the occasional bubble from the reservoir
4, Nice design
5, Great reviews durability and performance were both praised
6, Germ prevention not sure this is strictly necessary with a warm mist humidifier (boiling water, etc), but apparently a nice to have for cold mist humidifiers.
Believing this justified the cost, which is 2.5 times more than any other humidifier I've ever bought, I bought one. It worked pretty well for just less than 2 weeks. Then there was a loud popping noise and now it doesn't work anymore.
I will bother to exchange it for a new one, but I won't be buying any others from this maker. At the price, I would expect much greater durability (even the forty dollar humidifiers last a couple of years or so) and there should be an electronic humidistat so that you can regulate the humidity. This model only has a dial that seems to govern output. The model with a humidistat is twice the price (daylight robbery, instead of this one, which is merely standard burglary).
I'm upset with this product, but I'm even more upset with humidifier manufacturers in general. I know water and electronics don't mix, but what I'm discovering is that the only genuinely bulletproof humidifiers on the market are the buckets of water with fans ("evaporative"). Really?? That's state of the art for you guys? Can you at least hook up with Dyson and make the fans quieter?
--UPDATE--
I've now got a replacement and I've noticed a couple of differences: Firstly, the dial on the new machine does much more to regulate the amount of visible mist than the dial on my original machine. Second, the tank now lasts for at least three days instead of one or less. I already knew the original machine was faulty (it broke within 2 weeks), but based on this new information it looks like it was running at maximum, regardless of what the dial was set to. This leaves me with two important takeaways:
1, If you just bought the machine and want to know whether it's working properly, you should see a substantial change when you turn the dial, from almost no mist to lots.
2, Can the machine handle being left on maximum output continuously? I don't know, and after last time, I dare not risk it.
--UPDATE II: The sequel--
Well, the second unit that I received lasted the season and is now in storage, clean and dry. Cleaning is simpler than some of the humidifiers I've had in the past. There are no exposed tea-kettle elements, so it's just a case of washing in a weak vinegar solution. If it doesn't successfully start up again next season, I'll update this again. I will re-iterate that this humidifier is expensive. I expected it to work first time and it didn't. However, if it had I would have been as happy with this device as everyone else seems to be, so feel free to take my star rating with a grain of salt.
By the way, to partially address the comment I've had so far, this review only represents an n of 2 (not 1, smartypants). I think it's useful to tot up the star scores from all the reviews to get a reasonable proxy for the failure rate. For instance, if you do this for Samsung LCD televisions you get a 10% failure rate for a sample size that's approaching 1000. That compares pretty unfavorably with the other major marques like Sony and Sharp... but is borne out by what I've heard from sales people at electronic retail stores (ie, quasi-independent experts). Anyway, for this humidifier it's unclear because of the small sample size. At the time of writing, the failure rate looked like it was hovering around 20%, which doesn't sound great until you compare that to the failure rates of other humidifiers!
Bottom line: if I need another humidifier, this is my benchmark and I'd definitely consider buying it again ... from a store with a great return policy.
--UPDATE III: Comparison with SPT SU-4010--
I recently purchased the SPT SU-4010 from Amazon, which is another highly rated cold/warm mist humidifier. I like it for many of the same reasons that I now love the Germ Guardian. The chief difference is the SPT model is quieter (virtually silent) but puts out less mist over the same time period and has a smaller tank. If your [bedroom] is under 500 square feet and you need a silent humidifier, I'd recommend the SPT SU-4010. The ion exchange filter in that model even minimizes the "glugging" that is often the loudest noise from these type of humidifiers. If you have a larger room, or are aiming to maximize the volume of water you can get into the air over a given time, I still recommend the Germ Guardian. Note that I cannot yet speak to the reliability of the SPT SU-4010, but Consumer Reports rated it very highly. Please refer to my review of that model on this website if you'd like to progress updates for that model.
--UPDATE IV: Just bought another--
Saw a refurbished version of this Germ Guardian on an Amazon-affiliated website for half the price of a big warehouse store and bought it. Everything seems fine, although I've noticed a slightly disturbing difference in output from this one, which is now the third one of these I've owned. This one has to be cranked much higher to achieve the same mist in identical conditions. That could be because it's refurbished or it could be because there is a great deal of variability... Either way, something to bear in mind. I'm putting both away for the summer now so there won't be any more updates until next winter. I did a quick clean with a dilute solution of standard household vinegar and that should leave these ready to go then.
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This is our second humidifier we've purchased from this manufacturer. We originally bought the one with the alarm clock, which is a great product and now we decided to buy this one. It is much more powerful & keeps our house very comfortable. (the original one we bought is in our bedroom). It's definitely a benefit that you don't have to constantly buy new filters.
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As reported in other reviews, this humidifier will leave a while film if the water used is not filtered or distilled. This film is not as benign as described in some other reviews (explanation below). If I had easy and/or inexpensive access to filtered water I would give this product 5 stars it works great, virtully noiseless as advertized, and virtually maintenance free with there being no filters to replace.
I've got one at home and one at the office. The tap water I have access to at work is treated (clorine), but not softened, and it's likley rather hard considering all of the minerals in the water here. After a few days running in the office the white film appeared on nearly every dark surface in the room (especially computer keyboard, printer, phone). Then my printer in my office started malfunctioning, then our copier. The copier repairman discovered the white film inside the copier, fouling up sensors and causing malfunction. He told us we'd have to stop using the humidifier or it would continue to cause problems. I now know why I had to just spend $400 on a new office printer as well. This dust that is emitted from the humidifier can float through the tiniest of cracks and holes and can deposit on nooks and crannies everywhere plenty of places you can't reach with a dust rag, much less a Q-tip. Pressurized air dusting spray does not seem to remove the dust effectively either.
I've got another at my home, 35 miles away, where our tap water is well water, which is untreated hard water. Here I've only noticed a small bit of the white film, on only a few of the darkest, shiniest surfaces. What appears on this humidifier that does not appear in the humidifier in the office, however, is a pinkish amber colored slime mold / mildew on the bottom side of the reservior (visible only when you refill the reservoir). This is probably becasue this water is not treated with clorine, and this part of the humidifier is creating a perfect breeding ground for bacterias, mold, mildew, etc. I'm not sure exactly what this slimy substance is, or if it's presence in the humidifier raises any health concerns. So I'm going to deduce that my water at home has less minerals in it that can turn into this white dust. I'm not sure if clorine in city water could also cause this white dust as well.
The bottom line is, if your water is perfect, this humidifier is close to perfect. If your water is not perfect, you may have some serious problems with this unit, and I would not reccomend it. I would strongly warn anybody against using this in a room with electronic devices if they are not totally sure their water is filtered properly.
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We wondered a bit about this product after reading a lot of reviews, but decided to buy it because we needed a humidifier and the price was right. We've had it running for several days now, and we are very pleased with it. The mist output is variable in quantity, and it can be either cool or warm. Some of the reviews we read said the warm didn't work, but I think they must have been expecting steam (which it doesn't do). The temperature of the warm is not a whole lot different from the cool, and you have to allow it 10-15 minutes in a closed room to take effect. The other comment that people had made was that the vents were at 180° from each other. Fact is, that you can turn the small one as well as the large one, so they can be adjusted to any direction you want. The tank has to be filled at the kitchen sink, but that's not bad because it sits upside down nicely supported by the walls of a double sink. The tank is heavy when filled, because it holds 2-½ gallons. With fairly high volume of mist, one tank lasted us about 48 hours. The mist from this is good enough that I have been able to sleep very comfortably without my nasal passages clogging up due to extreme dryness. I would highly recommend this product. It does what it is supposed to do. Don't forget to read the instruction manual!
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It heats water which is exactly what it is meant to do. A couple items I would change on it if I could. It would be handy if the handle would stay upright as it is shown in the photo but it's no big deal-breaker for me. The lid is bit tricky to open when adding more water to it (we leave it on the stove, on the trivet) if you're wearing hot gloves or a oven mit again not a serious problem. A little potpouri and a couple quarts of water and your off an runnig. Be carefull not to put too much water in it as it tends to boil out the snout if you do.
