Pure Guardian H4500 144 Hour Ultrasonic Humidifier

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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Royal Sovereign BDH-550 Dehumidifier 55 Pint

The Good: The product performs as mentioned in other reviews. It is effective. I plugged it in last night and dropped the output hose into a bucket to measure the collection out of curiosity. By morning, the unit had collected nearly a gallon of water. That is the good part. The bad side is that this thing is NOISY. I read reviews on-line that said the unit is quite. I even read one that said it was as quite as an "average" fan. Lemme tell you, if your fans are that loud, it is time to change them out. This thing sounds like on older style window unit AC...seriously every bit as loud. Other reviews stated that when the pump kicked on the unit was unbearably noisy. I hate to inform anyone who doesn't know this. When you run a sump pump without any water in it to pump...it is going to be noisy. However, if you allow some water to get into the unit and allow it to work as it is supposed to, the pump is not even noticeable compared to the 747 like noise made by the fan unit. So, basically, the unit works well. Just don't plan on having any quite conversations in the same room as the dehumidifier.

Royal Sovereign bdh-550 worked great for a few months. It no longer dehumidifies and is now just an expensive fan. Repair costs are too high to merit not just buying another dehumidifier (of another brand). Think twice before purchase.

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I've been looking to get a dehumidifier for a while and finally settled on this dehumidifier. I really like the bucketless feature because I never empty buckets of water now. Nice for my back. Also the design is nice and compact so it won't take up a lot of space.

I haven't had any trouble with the pump or anything like that. I always double check that the hose doesn't have anything blocking it because it will stop the dehumidifier. I would recommend calling their customer service if anyone has a problem. I called them because I thought something was wrong with the pump/hose and they just walked me through any possible reasons it wouldn't work. They were really nice and on top of everything.

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Don't quite know how long we've had it, lost the invoice, but know it's past the warranty. The pump seems to have stopped working. Great difficulty getting customer service. Several requests from both the web page, and phone messages led to no response over several months. Finally my wife impersonated a retailer to get someone on the phone. Was told it was probably the pump, but since we did not have the receipt, warranty service could not be provided. We called the suggested local repair shop, only to learn that they were suspending warranty service because Royal Sovereign had not reimbursed them for a long time. Also learned that the expense of fixing and replacing the pump would nearly meet the cost of replacing the unit. He also said that the pumps failing was not so unusual. So what we have here is faulty design, and a troubled company. Buy at your own risk.

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It worked well for 13 months, then the pump died. The warrenty was for 12 months.

Aprilaire 700 Automatic Power Humidifier

I purchased the Aprilaire 700 to replace the model 110 that quit working after 15 years. Several reviews said this was a good choice so I thought I'd give it a try.

Everything arrived in one box and the instructions were very clear. Since I was replacing an older power model, the wiring was already done for me but it looked easy enough. I did replace the water supply line which came with the new humidifier and had to cut a larger hole in the plenum and smaller hole in the return air supply for the humidistat.

In all, it took me about 2 hours to cut and fit the new one in. I did't use the outdoor temp. sensor because I prefer to use a manual setting. The unit has been operating flawlessly for a couple of months and the humidity in my house has risen to where it's much more comfortable. I'd recommend this unit.

We had an Aprilaire 700 system installed professionally, but the solenoid broke after two years. (the solenoid controls the water flow from your plumbing into the unit). This is the most powerful system Aprilaire makes, and was recommended for our house by the ARS professionals that installed it. The system never got our humidity over 30%, but in fact we have hardwood floors in about 1/6 of our house and lots of wood furniture, and about 3500 sq ft of floor space. The unit seems better suited for houses without much wood (floors and/or furniture) and certainly less than 3500 sq ft. Suitability aside, I'm not happy the solenoid, which is over $200 to replace/install, broke after less than two years. Unfortunately, we got only 1 year parts/labor on the unit.

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We purchased the 700 in 2004 and it has been nothing but a headache for us. The first two years the water panel wouldn't stay wet. The installer blamed it on the saddle attachement to the water pipe. He came out and cleaned the saddle and claimed it worked but we never had anything but dry air. About 2007 we had someone come out and tell us the panel holder doesn't distribute the water well and they came out with a new version that has fabric in it. Bought that and it helped for a year and the fabric came loose and had to buy another. (in addition to replacing the panel each season). Finally last year we had someone install a real valve to replace the saddle. Then this unit started pouring water all over the floor. Apparently the low-flowing saddle was masking other problems. Some low-flow, inlined device was broken. (read $.01 piece of plastic) I ordered a new hose for it and put it in. The new hose was so stiff that part of it broke on trying to install it. Duct tape helped hold it in place. Turn on the water and NOTHING... back to no water again and a dry panel = dry house. Generally this unit has me running to the furnace room every day since we owned it. It has never worked right despite having 3 different companies come out to service it. The general features of this thing that I don't like are:

water panel: I just don't believe that this puts as much water in the air as one could

fan: The fan is outside of the duct work blowing unconditioned air into the duct which is supposed to deliver humid air to the system. But I feel more air coming out than going in and isn't it reducing the heat in the duct by inserting cold basement air?

vent: The vent on this thing is a giant hole in the summer. The unit is off in the summer and the cold air just blows out. One may suggest that I leave this thing on all year and just turn off the water... that would help but the way these are wired is to turn on only when heat is asked for. We keep our house fan on all the time to balance the system and the 700 only comes on when heat is generated. So even in the winter, conditioned air is escaping through this unit.

water delivery: The pipe it goes through is entirely proned for error and anyone with harder water than us will suffer tremendously.

This is probably the worst house purchase we have made since 1998.

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Good quality humidifer but requires a 120 VAC outlet so be prepared. Took a few minutes to understand exactly how the rear housing frame mates to the duct opening. Must install the humdifier controller in the return duct upstream from the fresh air intake which required rerouting my fresh air intake. Also installed the Aprilaire Model 8570 Thermostat using a separate 24 VAC transformer. My furnance could not supply enough current from it's 24 VAC humidifier accessory terminal to run the humidifier. Aprilaire recommends not using the accessory terminal when installing the Model 8570 Thermostat so I already purchased the 24 VAC transformer. Pleased with both the 8570 Thermostat and Model 700 Humidifer. Like the ability to monitor outdoor temperature and humidity from the thermostat, and automatically control humidifier operation based on outdoor temperature because I have wooden casement windows. You will need some skills to install this unit.

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This is worse then having no humidifier as it breaks down and can overflow n flood into the HVAC unit.

Worked for two months then pad flooded one year.

Relay went out another year.

Now solenoid valve is broken and quote is 350 to fix.

Would suggest going with another brand that offers at least a 10 year warranty period or go with stand alone units.

Starting Small Novelty Hamper

This is adorable. Can hold about three loads of laundry. Quality appears fine by my eyes. Be CAREFUL when opening the package. I almost lost an eyeball!!

Some of the hampers I looked at were actually rather small when you looked at the dimensions, but this is about the size of a standard pop-up hamper. It does have 4 plastic rods instead of being all wire (you'd have to take these out to fold it back up into that little circle) but since I have no intention of folding it up except for moving that's not an issue. I like that it's more of a rectangle shape and I can slide it sideways if I need it to take up a little less wall space.

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This hamper is definitely bigger than most baby hampers. It fits a lot of baby laundry. The top is completely open and the sides are made of mesh. I really liked this hamper, but unfortunately I had to throw it out because my dog could smell the dirty laundry through the mesh and tried to eat through the mesh every day. It is super cute and I would definitely recommend this hamper. Be careful when you first open it up out of the package, it opens up very fast! make sure you stand back.

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Got this home and the hubby was putting in the support rods and the hamper ripped. The material does seem thin and cheap. I really loved the look and the size ( I was actually going to use it for storing diapers). I reluctantly returned it.

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I love this hamper. The price is great and the hamper looks so cute in the nursery which I did in the Fisher Price Rainforest theme. Light weight and a good size!

Crystal Humidifier - 50 Cigars

Decent quality, only has a few small pebbles that swell up quite large and hold a good humidity. I bought 2 for a 125 cigar humidor and it keeps it between 70 and 72. Still trying to get it seasoned perfectly but have atleast 40 cigars in there too.

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X6670 Lennox 16x25x5 MERV 10 Filter Media

Purchased from Discount Furnace Filters. Product was actual OEM Lennox product and fit perfectly into our Lennox furnace filter box. OEM products may cost a little more, but ensure a perfect fit, something that is not always true with generics. If buying a generic filter, be sure to go by actual size, not official size, which is rounded to the nearest inch. These filters must fit tightly to ensure that air does not bypass the filter, and there appears to be no standardization among filter box makers, so the temptation to produce something "close", that will work across multiple brands, is strong for the generic filter replacement makers. Close may work in horse shoes, but not air filters.

I have a new Lennox 2.5 ton overhead AC as a 2nd zone for the 2nd floor of my home. My son has multiple allergies in addition to borderline asthma, and these filters are great. Much cheaper putting these in myself than having the HVAC guy do it. With use every night during the summer, and the fan running all day, I need to change these every spring.

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Item came quickly and for about half what the AC contractor was going to charge.

Fit perfectly and works well.

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Product is genuine Merv 10 and fits perfectly into my housing.

Have been using for past 3-4 months and very happy.

I normally use the MERV 16 but decided to downgrade this time

to save money with variable speed blower, etc. Air in home is

very nice and keeps my coils clean.

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Genuine product. Identical to the one offered my AC service tech (for more than 2x the cost... and the service company claimed I was getting a discount as I have a contract in place).

Arrived quickly

Easy to install, No issues

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Honeywell H14019 Replacement Filter for Eureka DCF-19 Filter

I have a eureka vacuum and needed a new filter (the DCF 19). since the picture wasn't the best and the measurements were not correct as stated (i hope they fix that) i was skeptical. i purchased it because i knew i could return it if necessary, but the filter fit fine. i searched on line for filters and these filters were running as much as $27.00 with s/h. crazy.... anyway thank-you honey (honeywell that is) now i have extra $$ to buy more shoes.

My Eureka vacuum uses the DCF-19 and this filter was exactly what it needed. It fits exactly like the original that came with the vacuum, and it was much cheaper here. I did noticed that it clogged very fast, the original filter that came with the vacuum lasted longer. The fit was great, but I'm rating it as 3 stars for the short lifespan.

As a side note, I ended up selling the vacuum at a yard sale as I could not afford to keep buying filters for a vacuum that was only around $50 in the first place.

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As an earlier reviewer stated, the item in the picture doesn't look exactly right when comparing to your filter at home.

Once it arrived though, it fit perfectly in my Eureka and saved me a good bit compared to buying in-store or other places online.

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These filters are less expensive than any I have found anywhere. Fit perfectly and do an excellent job......will continue to buy these.

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WF2010 Bionaire Humidifier Wick Filter

Have own the bionaire humidifier for a long time and then suddenly could not find the filter. Contacted the company and they suggested contacting amazon. They had the filter. The only complaint is the item is very costly considering what I paid for the humidifier. The company that originally had the humidifier suggested purchasing a new humidifier that they carry. Before, reordering new filters I think I will considering getting a new humidifier.