I purchased the Honywell HCM-645 as a replacemnt for the Honeywell HCM-360.
I bought the #360 in Oct. 2005, and after about 4 weeks of operation the motor started to make a really bad rattling sound, Oh crap where is the receipt????? Can't find it!!!! Well, knowing that most stores won't return anything without a receipt if it's been used, I figured I would have to take advantage of the 5 year warrenty and contact the mfg. for a replacement. In the meantime I can't be without a humidifier so I went out and bought another one, same Mfg. (Honeywell)but a differant model to be on the safe side thinking if I go differant I shouldn't have any trouble......THINK AGAIN!!!!
I bought the HCM-645 on 11-15-05 and on this day 11-29-05, yes thats right 13 days later.....This motor has started to rattle, not quite as loud as the other but that won't last long.
I called the Mfg. about the one I had no receipt for and they wanted to charge me $10.00 for warrenty processing and I was to pay shipping cost both ways, estimated shipping cost would be $20.00 so for $30.00 they would send me a new humidifer. I paid $32.99 orginally does this make sense????. Well, I took the information on returning only to hang up the phone and call Wal-Mart just to see if they would take it back. Guess what? They had no problem in returning it for store credit and also took back the extra filters I purhased.
So my thought on Honeywell Humidifers, BUYER BEWARE, something is definatly wrong with the components in the motor operation in 2004 and 2005 models
We bought this humidifier about 3 months ago because our bedroom was becoming so dry that we were waking with dry throats, bloody noses, and so on. This machine has solved that problem and we have encountered no significant difficulties with it. It is not too difficult to maintain, and the only problem in that area is locating filters in local stores, although Amazon and other online retailers carry them. (I do wonder why the tank always leaks water at exactly the moment I move it over the machine, but not before; I can't figure it out but there must be a reason why this happens). Re: Mold. Apparently the person who complained of mold didn't realize the filters should be changed regularly, frequency depending upon the quality of your water supply.
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We purchased two of these for our home and have since wished that we had not. The unit, while new, worked almost flawlessly, reasonably quietly, and, we thought, did a good job. The problems came about while we lived with it over the next couple of weeks. It started, simply enough, with the need to occasionally take the top portion apart to realign all of the plastic bits. We found this out after one refill when the machine wouldn't come back on. It seems that if the top white portion (not the tank) is nudged out of place, sensors will not allow it to come back on until everything is properly lined up. Unfortunately, this happened quiet often as you place the 4 gallon tank directly against that part of the machine. This problem we learned to live with.
The second, and deal breaker problem, is overly apparent when refilling the tanks. The tanks are made of a clear, very fragile plastic that, if touched on the side while full, crack. The first crack on one unit appeared from some unknown bump and was found hours later with a pool of water around it. Now we do not have children, and our dog is about as mellow as dogs come, so we aren't sure how it appeared. So, ok, on crack -we superglued the crack to reinforce it, it held, and we were generally pleased. Then another, on another machine, on a different floor, appeared. Hmmm, more superglue. From there we know what happened. When we attempted to refill the original tank (first superglue job) about a week later, after it had held through a number of refillings, the bottom was bumped against the sink when full. This caused the superglued crack to spread very quickly and a chunk of the sidewall broke loose. The second tank saw the same fate, although it happened as we were placing it, the same way we had always done, back into machine.
Moral of the story: This is a nice machine with a poor tank that cannot be replaced from the manufacture and that, once cracked, renders the whole humidifier soon-to-be useless. In retrospect, we should have noticed the flaw and immediately returned both of the humidifiers after the first tank cracked. I hope that my warning helps someone else steer clear of this model.
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I read the reviews about how noisy these were, but went ahead and bought two of them because I also read that they work well. I plugged them in and they both aren't that noisy. Of course there is a little noise, but that's to be expected. It's a humidifier with a fan blowing. Out of all the humidifiers I've used this is the most quiet. The 4 gallon tank is great, and the digital controls make it super easy to set. We put one in the nursery and one in our master bedroom. The two have no problem keeping the entire upstairs comfy. They run when needed and shut off when the desired humidity is reached. It really is a great product. I have had the two of them for about a month, so I can't speak on dependability, but the design and function is great, and it's NOT too loud!
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It really is quieter than all other units I've had, eg., Hunter, Holmes, other Honeywells, and it puts out moisture faster than the others as well. It has a different design from cheaper models and seams to be made of a better grade of plastic. Most importantly, it does a reasonable job of keeping a 1200 SF apartment comfortable. After Super Saver shipping (2 days for me), I'm plenty satisfied with this guy.
I have a nice quiet Everflo Oxygen Concentrator, but it was hard to tell since all I could hear was the water bubbling in the humidifier bottle. I got this bubble humidifier after my 3rd generic bubble humidifier replacement in a short time, they kept cracking; the water would drain all over the floor and I didn't know right away that I wasn't getting enough oxygen until I felt sick. I decided to investigate other products.
