Showing posts with label vaporizer vs humidifier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vaporizer vs humidifier. Show all posts

Friday, October 3, 2014

Kenmore Humidifier Wick Filter 14909, 14912, E2R

Kenmore Humidifier Wick Filter 14909, 14912, E2RI purchased this replacement filter/wick for our humidifier this year and all I can say is, it doesn't work. First, the construction of the media is very open -which I thought meant that it would function better than our older wicks. Not so. These filters aren't strong enough to support the weight of the air funnel in the humidifier or their own weight -when wet. They also don't wick enough water up into themselves to humidify the air. I ran our humidifier on high for eight hours last night. The humidity level in the house was 20% and the humidifier consumed about two quarts of water. Using our old wicks, the humidifier reservoir would have been almost empty. I'm looking online now trying to find our old wicks.

My advise is although these are initially cheaper they are more expensive in the long run. When I first looked at them I thought they would be a much better design due to the very open material weave. They look like a big honey comb. However, they worked very poorly. The original Kenmore filters would last 1/2 of the winter season before changing. These only functioned for about a week and poorly at that. They do not wick the water well and seem to get clogged very fast. The performance at the end of a week was about the same as the Kenmore filters after a couple of months. After getting wet these are almost impossible to replace without having them fall apart. Poor design & poor performance. Stick with the original or at least something similar.

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I will agree with previous comments that the filter has less capacity to wick water up. Our humidifier is not faced with the problem of the "air cone" depressing the filter as it sits on supports that allow the area of the filter itself to remain in it's original shape. The problem is it just doesn't wick up enough water. Don't know what I had before for filters but they were a less 'open'....not so 'holey'...I think they were a folded pleat that was denser, not so openly honeycomb appearing, and they would remain wet enough to allow the humidity to remain at a comfortable level. These filters, even tho they are sitting in an inch of water, are dry to the touch on the upper two thirds of its exposed area. We have a 2 1/2 gallon tank on our Emerson two filter humidifier. With the old filters on dry cold winter days it would need to be filled every 12 hours but it kept the humidity at 50%. With this 'new' type of filter it takes over 24 hours to empty the tank.... meanwhile the humidity drops into the uncomfortable 30's. What to do? I bought six sets (a case) of these filters and find them not up to the task. What can you do to the water to make it more 'wickable' to these filters? I tried a few drops of liquid soap (to decrease the surface tension) but that was not satisfactory.

Read Best Reviews of Kenmore Humidifier Wick Filter 14909, 14912, E2R Here

OK these aren't as thick as the old models, but they work and fit fine, and I received my order the next day. I wasn't able to find the older, thicker filters anywhere, and I've been looking for two years!

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I received these wicking filters very quickly. They have been in use now a couple of weeks and seem to be holding up. I was hesitent to get them after reading provious reviews. Let's hope these hold up!!!

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Monday, October 21, 2013

Cigar Caddy® 3400

Cigar Caddy® 3400Water tight, shock resistant and keeps the sticks humidified?! This is seriously one of my most favorite parts in my cigar smoking kit. Right next to my XTend lighter. The quantity is perfect. Five cigars will last me about two days of smoking and occasionally gifting a stick to people I meet and friends.

Pick on up and give it a try. The price can't be beat.

I was given this travel humidor by my brother in law for a holiday gift. I'm a corporate pilot so I'm on the road two weeks out of every three. I have used it for quite a while and can honestly say it is awesome. It works perfectly keeps the cigars at the right moistness for a couple of weeks. It's a rugged design and is truly water tight ... I drop mine in a deep puddle about a month ago and when I open it up the smokes where in perfect shape. I tend to smoke a Robusto sized which is about 5-6" long and 50-54 ring (the diameter of the cigar) cigar and it fits five stick with out any problem with room at the bottom for my cutter. I would recommend it to anyone who travels and likes to bring some of their own sticks with. The price is a steal other comparable 5 cigar travel humidors run from $20 to $40. Buy it you'll love it. I do!!!!!!!!

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I bought this case for my Dad who is retired and does a lot of traveling. He travels by car, plane and cruise ship. The 5-cigar caddy is perfect for these trips as 4-5 cigars is usually how many he'll smoke on a typical vacation. The case is extremely tough and durable, but also quite compact and light. He loves it and uses it often.

Read Best Reviews of Cigar Caddy® 3400 Here

Now I received mine in a sampler from Cigars International, it came with 8 cigars & this Herf-A-Dor for $20, shipping included, so my suggestion would be to look around & try to find that deal. This thing was made to hold up, SOLID by all definition, when I first opened it, it actually gasped. If that doesn't tell you this thing closes tight, not sure what will. It'll carry 5 Churchills or 10 Nubs, all depends on what you're smoking really. The little humi disc is small but I don't think it's really meant to hold cigars for months at a time. I noticed that mine stayed good for about a week or two which is fine for me. I'd definitely recommend this & have. I had 2 friends buy that same sampler combo that I did & we all love it. The cigars were good & this humidor just can't be beat.

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This thing is great. It has a little sponge humidor and will hold 4-5 cigars. I am a fan of 60+ ring gauge cigars and really will only hold 3+ a one or two small ones. It is as tough as a tank.

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Sunday, August 11, 2013

Visol "Timber" Ebony Wood Travel Cigar Humidor with Humidifier

Visol 'Timber' Ebony Wood Travel Cigar Humidor with HumidifierI bought this for my father as a gift for Christmas. The humidor looks exactly like it does in the display picture and has a high quality feel to it. It also came with a nice humidifier and fits 10 cigars, perfect for the occasional smoker.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Essick Air 697-500 Variable Speed Humidifier

Essick Air 697-500 Variable Speed HumidifierI received this item just before Christmas 2009. Our house was so dry I was slowly pruning. At 1500 sq.ft. on the main floor with 9 foot ceilings it keeps us quite comfortable and does the job. Have been running it straight since early December and no mechanical problems. Be aware of the following:

LOOKS: This cabinet model looks better on the website than in person. It is a darker brown than shown (not as orange) but still a pleasing colour. It is made of plastic and has a woodgrain pattern, but doesn't quite live up to getting away with it, mostly because of the slightly warped top vent (yes, vents from top, cannot put stuff on top of here without blocking the ventilation). Ours comes out of the plastic hinge at the back and does not seat well in all grooves, but probably not noticeable to guests. It needs to sit with it's back against a wall, as the back of the unit is not covered by a nice woodgrain cover, although it is brown plastic. You also notice the black filter hooked on the outside back sucking "filtered" air into the unit. My favourite part is it's on four wheels, so it is very easy to move and vacuum around on my wood floors. Unless you have shag rug, it should also be fairly easy to move on a short pile rug.

CONTROLS: It has two dials "humidity control" and "variable airflow". The humidity control does not go by numbers (i.e. 50% 75%) so you don't really know the current level of your home; however it does allow you to set low / comfort zone / high arond the dial, and will toggle off when it reaches the desired humidity level set. We set ours 1/4 turn above the comfort zone and that works well. Note that setting it on high still doesn't peel your wallpaper, you can't even see the humidity coming out like you can on an ultrasonic BUT it does do the trick, as confirmed by the empty bottles I'm constantly refilling. The variable airflow dial goes from OFF/COMFORT ZONE (which starts immediately from off) to HIGH. This unit is LOUD!! When they say comfort zone they mean for your EARS. I only put it up to 12o'clock position (medium, I guess) when I'm out of the room, and any higher is just noisy with HIGH being like a battering ram. The comfort zone is best and since we situate it right by our kitchen/nook and living room we keep it low. (I know what you're thinking we have taken it apart and rechecked our setup, it is correct with nothing unusual accidentally left inside, no real reason it should be this loud. Only thing I can think of is plastic rumbling on four wheels with the echo of our hardwood floors maybe it won't be as much of an issue for you).

BOTTLES: There are two large 2.5 gallon bottles that rest on the left and right of inside cabinet. They are easy to fill and the unit comes with a tube to help you fill from your tap. Also comes with one small bottle of bacteriostatic additive to get you going. We use distilled water so we don't have the hard water build up in the bottom reservoir, you may want to use soft/distilled if you can get it or put an additive in to dissolve minerals. The bottles have handles on both top and bottom so when you turn them over to place them in it is easy to handle the weight. We don't spill any water when doing this and it's a great design. Also good are two "refill" lights that light up orange when each bottle is empty. They are easy to see through the grill on top as you're walking by, but not obtrusive. Very easy to refill while the other still is going, no need to turn unit off.

NOISE and PRICE: It's the only big drawback, and the price at $200 USD is steep for what it is. Would love to see real wood for that price, as there really isn't much to the unit but a small fan, filter, and plastic.

All in all, there aren't alot of different makes on the market to choose from, especially ones that don't look utilitarian. This will do what you're looking for but be aware if you have unusual dryness in your area and need to pump humidity with the control on HIGH, the noise from this baby will stop you from hearing your baby monitor and could keep you and baby up at night; otherwise, sleep soundly in the "Comfort Zone". Good luck with your purchase!

Apparently it must be these days even though I found one in a funky Lower East Side plumbing store for ninety bucks back in 1978 that served me well in my Broadway loft for 20 years. It was just a big wheel surrounded by a porous plastic wick belt that turned slowly in a five gallon reservoir much like a water wheel. The belt was easy to remove, wash and replace. No expensive paper intake filters, no bottles (just dump a bucket of water through the top once a day), relatively low noise. The rabbit just ran and ran with an occasional pulley belt replacement, which were generic and available at a local hardware store.

When it finally expired for good I searched in vain for the same machine. So I bought a Bemis which looked sort of like my old workhorse but was internally very different. It didn't work nearly as well as the old one and was noisier to boot. After three years the motor died. I installed a replacement motor. Then a replacement water bottle. And of course new filters twice a season. And I bypassed the broken humidity control.

That brings me to the Essick, which I believe (although I could be wrong) is just a rebranded Bemis. I bought it as a Christmas present for my girlfriend who was suffering nose bleeds from the dryness in her place. But the Essick was too noisy for her so it wound up back at my house as a replacement for my aggravating Bemis. The motor expired during my first season with it so I replaced it. Then one of the plastic bottles sprang a leak in one of the corners. I fixed that with plastic epoxy. Then one of the low water sensors stopped working last year so the blower wouldn't turn off. I just let that one go.

I cleaned the unit and filled the bottles for this winter season and guess what? Another dead motor. It's on the curb now waiting for Sanitation or an enterprising DIYer to suffer the same heartbreak I've been through with it.

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The vendor was great I received the humidifier within days and it works great. I wish the water tanks were a little larger. However the ability to remove the two tanks is a great feature. I live in an apartment of approximately 700 square feet so this unit is actually a little over kill but I am very happy with it.

Read Best Reviews of Essick Air 697-500 Variable Speed Humidifier Here

I am pleased with how it looks. I find the two water bottles on the size simple to fill. We have found it helpful with the dry air of the winter season. It is rather noisy when the fan is running on high, but I have not used a humidifier that isn't loud at that speed. We turn it to high during the nighttime hours when the family is sleeping and turn it down low to avoid the noise during the evening.

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I bought two of these units in 2009 for my house (3500sq.ft.). With forced air my house gets very very dry. The units worked great, but they can be noisy and they still need to be filled so in 2010 we added a built-in humidifier unit to the house. I was going to give the Essick units away when we did this, but I am glad we didn't. The built in, running constantly, only brings my house up to about 20-25% humidity. With the heat running, this is not enough. Low humidity makes my sinuses hurt, gives my kids bloody noses, makes everything shock upon contact and makes your skin feel tight.

This morning my humidity was at 16%!! I went to the basement and brought up a unit, and within 15 minutes it is already reading 24%. It is a good idea to buy a digital meter (10-20$ on Amazon), so you can find what is comfortable. The units are noisy when at full speed, but I run them slow in the am and high when we are sleeping and this seems to work just fine. They are easy to refill and I am putting about 20 gallons of water into the house per day! This brings the humidity up to 35% which is comfortable for us. Bottom line, they look ok, but they do exactly what they are supposed to. After 3+ years both units still work just like the day we took them out of the box!!!

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

SPT 12'' Misting Fan with Humidifier SF-1515W

SPT 12'' Misting Fan with Humidifier SF-1515WNote: I've only tested this product for 36 hours so far.

Reason for purchase: I'm currently without air conditioning at the beginning of July in Arizona and looking for something to survive the heat. I've spent a good deal of time researching products to suit my current situation as a normal fan is not cutting it. I looked at many evaporative products but most require a nearby window to attach a hose to vent the hot exhaust. Unfortunately the room I'm in has none and the nearest window is simply to far away.

Opening the box: The front of the main body is white with black at the top. For some reason to me it looked silver in the pictures. Any how it is attractive but I have to agree with the other posts that the display with the moving LED lights reminds me of 1980's. Like it's just there to look cool but no longer does. It features 8 buttons, 4 on each side of the LED display, 7 of which have a function and one is for aesthetics. They are clearly labeled On, Off, Speed, Mist, Swing, Wind & Timer. The product is lightweight for it's size and inexpensively built but to be expected for the price and seems solid enough.

Water Tank: Make sure you have a Phillips screwdriver on hand to remove a single screw that secures the access panel to the water tank in the back of unit. Not sure why they don't mention the screw in the instructions or why they even use one as the back panel is already secured by two plastic clips you press down on to open it. Anyhow once removed I left the screw off for easier future access. Removing and filling the small water tank (under a half gallon) is simple and of course the colder the water used the better. A full tank of water seems to last about 10 hours or so if you have the Mist setting turned on the entire time and again refilling with cold water from the fridge only takes a minute.

Operation of the Unit and Features:

Fan operates well and shifts smoothly through it's 3 speeds... Low, Med & High. Fan is also pretty quiet compared to many I've used over the years so you can sleep peacefully undisturbed with misting on and fan speed set on med or low. In the past I've found it difficult sleeping with a fan directly on me as you wake up with an extremely dry mouth but set on low and with the misting feature turned on this seems to help.

Mist (ultrasonic humidifier) flows out in front of the fan at a constant rate when turned on and works independently of the fan's Speed setting. So turning the fan off doesn't turn the mist off if it's on. To do that you would simply press the Mist button again. And of course you can run the fan without the mist on. When you run out of water the Mist light stays on and nothing changes at all except no mist comes out of course. Mist is definitely cooler then the air in my room moving through the fan so this is an advantage over a standard fan. Also the air evaporates the mist reducing overall heat.

The Swing option is interesting and when turned on rotates the front plastic grill as a way of spreading the air flow around by deflecting it in different directions giving you a slight oscillating effect. This is a unique way of making up for the fact that this product doesn't have a swiveling head like a standard fan.

Wind has 3 modes... Normal, Natural and Sleeping (which has nothing to do with the Timer). Normal mode is controlled by whatever Speed you have set. Natural is suppose to mimic actual wind and cycles through the 3 different Speeds including Off and never stays on any Speed for more than a few seconds. The directions say Sleeping mode will run on High for 30 mins, Med for 30 mins and finally Low until mode is exited, unit is turned off, or timer expires if set. This would be a usable feature if this were the case but it is simply not true. Sleeping mode as far as my testing goes is exactly the same as Natural mode and simply cycles thru each speed. The fact that this feature is advertised in the directions but doesn't work is my biggest gripe.

Timer can be set in one hour increments upto 9 hours.

Tidbits: The Mist and Swing buttons simply toggle on and off, while Speed, Wind and Timer buttons cycle through their choices and On & Off are separate buttons that do not toggle. Bottom front of unit has a see thru water tank viewer that glows blue when Mist is turned on. Unit beeps when any button is pressed. Remote control requires 2 AAA batteries not included. It is simple to use and buttons are labeled.

In Closing: I do like it even though I was hoping this product would reduce the temperature of my Entire room down to a more comfortable level. But in the middle of summer, with my computer running all day, which produces considerable heat in my small room, this product doesn't really pull that off. However it does pretty well over time when not competing with the added heat from my computer and definitely provides a cool comfortable space around you even with the computer on.

As a unique Misting Fan this product works well as a personal cooling device so for the price and that purpose I give it 4 stars. As a way to evacuate all the heat out of your room on a hot summer day it is simply not that product. I hope this was helpful enough to help you decide either way whether or not this product is right for you. Thanks for reading.

When I purchased this product my expectations where much greater than those advertised by the manufacturer. In some ways this misting fan is really more than a room humidifier. Having worked with misting systems it was my HOPE that this unit would cool a room by several degrees. While I was disappointed that it did not cool a whole room, it did function very well

as an individual cooler. I ran a few tests on this unit and here is what I found:

a) This unit will reduce ambient temperature by an average of 4 to 5 degrees

when measured 6 inches from the exhaust side of the fan. The humidity in

the room at the time of the measurement was 42%.

b) A subject placed 6' from the unit with the fan set a #2 and the water vaporizer working

felt cooler and very comfortable in a room whose ambient temperature was 80 degrees. The same

subject placed 9 feet from the unit in an open room 10' x 12' did not notice any significant

change in temperature. The room temperature did not drop at all.

c) Humidity readings in a 10'x12' room steadily increased over time. After 9 hours of

operation the humidity rose from 42% to 63%.

d) The fan is very quiet at the lowest speed setting. The rotating grill also provided adequate directional

changes for the air flow.

e) The instrument panel at the top of unit provides reasonable control of the unit but without adequate

documentation it was troublesome to learn how to change the setting or what each setting provided.

f) There is only one MAJOR complaint. In the middle of the instrument panel is a graphic which cycles

continuously from left to right changing the lines from green to red. According to the manufacturer's

representative this meter illustrates "...how much humidity the unit is putting out." Since the

unit is always delivering water vapor unless there is no water in the tank or the vaporizer is not

working it is useless and very annoying.

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I bought this "fan" taken with its unique modern design and features. But it has a drawback in that it has omitted a constant low setting in sleep mode. It has this weird setting that cycles on slow, medium and high(burst?) when in sleep mode that cannot be changed. This is stupid. If I want a sleep mode, I want low and almost silent. The swing mode is unique (as the unit does not rotate), the misting feature works well and it cools OK with a quiet fan motor. It's digital "light graph" is overdone and can't be dimmed or turned off. I'm using it in the CA Bay area, so the humidity it produces could be an issue. Also, the remote will turn off my other electronics. Remote came with no batteries (annoying to have to go buy AAA's if you don't have some around). It's stand out white and black color will demand ones visual attention.Please take note of its size. A truly gadget ridden product that a geek will enjoy, and others might not.

Read Best Reviews of SPT 12'' Misting Fan with Humidifier SF-1515W Here

This fan is both quiet, and cooling. It's humidifier works great to send a cooling, but not too moist mist. The fan speeds are good. I never need to put it to the maximum. The louver on the front rotates, so it moves the breeze around without having to move the whole fan around. Overall, this is a really excellent product. Very well thought out.

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This fan is fabulous. The only thing that could be improved is that the water reservoir be bigger. It works exactly how it was advertised. It will lower the temperature in the room by 5 degrees or more.

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Sunday, July 14, 2013

Quality Importers Deauville 100 Cigar Humidor, High Gloss with Tobacco Leaf Inlay, Maple Finish

Quality Importers Deauville 100 Cigar Humidor, High Gloss with Tobacco Leaf Inlay, Maple FinishAfter weeks and weeks of searching for the right humidor, I landed on this one. I so badly wanted a glass top because they look SO nice but after all the online research and speaking with 2 store owners near my house, I chose to not go with it, and this thing is just as nice! Good quality build, holds moisture in and plenty of room for cigars! If you are looking to purchase a 25 count or so, ALWAYS GO BIGGER! You will start to think you won't have 100, but trust me, it will be more than 25! I started out looking at the small ones but took the advice of the other posts and went bigger, and I am glad I did! The other thing, I am sure it stated this somewhere but I didn't read, buy two of the 2oz gel packs. I have one in now and about 20 cigars, and it seems it will only hold around 70 for the humidity level. So, i picked up one more ("Ci-Gel Cigar Humidor Humidifier Gel, 2-Ounce") for 3 bucks, can't beat that! I opted to go the gel route rather than the distilled water in the top of the thing... I have had this humidor a little over a month now and it is still sitting pretty! As well, I just ordered a digital hygrometer so I am not screwing around with the salt test.... I am sure it is reading correctly but I just trust the digital more, or that is my excuse to get a little upgrade for my box.

So, to sum it up get this baby over a glass humidor, insert 2 of the humidor gels once around 30 or so cigars, and if you want, opt for the digital!

Product arrived intact and was well packed. The finish on the outside of the humidor is very well done. I suspect the "inlay" on top of the box is nothing more than a decal.

The hardware is made from plated castings that I would give a "B" quality grade.

The interior of the humidor is definitely Spanish cedar. The box seems to seal well with a slight rub when closing. This may change with seasoning. The joinery of the wood inside the box leaves much to be desired. Mitre joints are not perfect and there are spots of glue exposed on the surface from assembly. This is a B-" quality grade.

The Humidifier is of reasonable quality. It came with a magnetic mounting system which is a great idea. The adhesive used to attach the magnet to the humidifier would not hold the magnet a spot of glue fixed that issue.

The Hygrometer that came with the unit is total junk. Fell apart in my hand upon removal from the box. Very POOR quality. Grade "F-" I was planning on replacing it with a digital one anyway so this was not a big problem for me. I threw the original away and replaced it with one of these: Xikar Round Digital Hygrometer

On the upside, the humidor seasoned easily and seems to hold the humidity well enough.

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I got this for my husband on our 19 wed. anv. he loved it it is beautiful and i have seen this same humidor on other sites and none of them can compete with this price..

Read Best Reviews of Quality Importers Deauville 100 Cigar Humidor, High Gloss with Tobacco Leaf Inlay, Maple Finish Here

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I've never owned a humidor and can't compare it to anything else. For aesthetic purposes (which is mostly why I chose it) it is exactly what I wanted.

It seemed to season up well and the the hygrometer seems accurate based on the salt test. After 2 months of use it is holding humidity well and has been a great addition to the house!

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This a beautiful piece and it works perfectly. No problem seasoning it and no problem with it maintaining humidity. Perfect.

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