NewAir AU-400 NewAir Ultrasonic Humidifier

This unit is pretty decent. It works well, it's virtually silent, and as soon as you turn it on you'll see a big plume of vapor rising from it. It really does noticeably help during dry periods.

There are some downsides:

* The blue light is not UV, there is nothing to kill bacteria so you should change the water often

* The fountain of vapor, although blown upwards by an internal fan, will fall around the base of the unit. I've never really had any problem with water collecting, but still, don't stand the unit on a material that might harbor mold or be sensitive to moisture.

* There is no timer or automatic shut-off if the humidity gets too high, so unfortunately you can't really feel comfortable going to sleep with it on.

All in all it does its job well for the price. Unfortunately my unit after only light periodical use has started having some problems. Particularly, the materials around the "energy exchanger", which is essentially the part that produces the ultrasonics, seem to be warping and deteriorating. Nevertheless, it's still working for now. I don't rate it down too harshly for this because after reading most of the other reviews for humidifiers of any kind on Amazon it does seem that no matter what kind you buy they all need regular maintenance and they'll all degrade over time in one way or another. At this price point I figure I can afford to buy a new one each year if I have to without hurting my wallet too harshly.

My biggest gripe is with Air & Water, who at the time I purchased charged an extortionate amount (about half the price of the unit!) for what turned out to be 2 day shipping. That left a very sour taste in my mouth. Moral of the story: if you need the unit fast check what kind of shipping you're actually paying for "expedited" might not be as fast as the cost leads you to believe.

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Update:

I'd actually like to warn everyone out there about ultrasonic humidifiers. I've recently discovered that they kick out *huge* amounts of fine particle pollution into the air. I discovered this after my air purifier went nuts every time this humidifier was running. Sure enough, when I whipped out my green laser pen I could see zillions of fine particles flying through the beam every time this humidifier was running. I switched to a warm mist humidifier (which boils/evaporates water) and have no such problem.

Upon further research I found science articles stating that ultrasonics can inject so much particle matter into the air that they can bring the air quality below EPA standards for breathable air.

I've seen others on Amazon comment on "white powder" being dispersed by these things, and I always thought they were crazy. I guess not! I didn't actually notice dust around my room (maybe the water quality is good where I live), but I did notice quite a volume of it collected during vacuuming after running the humidifier for a week or so.

I now strongly recommend against ultrasonic humidifiers altogether, especially for anyone with asthma or other respiratory issues.

Most ultrasonic humidifiers are shaped so that you cannot place them upside down to fill them at the faucet. They need to have a flat top in order to do this, and this one does have that. On the downside, the fill hole is small, which makes it harder to fill, and the tank is opaque, so that you can't see how much water is left in it. The clear area you can see in the photo is not part of the tank's interior. There is a blue light there that you can turn off or on, but it's very bright which makes it unsuitable as a nightlight, so in our house it's useless. To vary the amount of humidity it puts out, you simply turn the outlet spout for the mist, which allows you to block part of the outlet hole. It can put out plenty of mist. In my opinion, ultrasonic humidifiers are the best because they are quiet (except for a random dripping sound which I find soothing, like a rainy night) and they DON'T HEAT UP THE BEDROOM! But they sure don't last very longa winter or twobut others kinds of humidifiers don't last any longer.

Buy NewAir AU-400 NewAir Ultrasonic Humidifier Now

During the cold winter months turning on the heater leaves my skin feeling dry and itchy. I decided to buy this humidifier to run in my bedroom and it has made a dramatic improvement. The dry itchy skin problem is gone and the increased humidity in the air makes the room feel warmer when I have the heater too.

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Cigar Oasis Ultra

I have two of these units. If your Humidor is right out the box, dry, it will take at least a week of this unit running non stop. Also depending on the size of your humidor. One trick I used was to shut off the display and just let it keep on running. Many people say the readout is wrong by ten degrees. I have three readouts and it is off by one or two degrees.

It gets the job done... with a couple of caveats.

First off: the unit is small. It fits under the lid of a personal humidor as advertised. This means the water reservoir is small, as well. If you live in a dry climate like I do (Southern California), you will need to refill the unit often. It will be running frequently. If you want a small unit this is a fact you need to live with.

Second: don't use the battery pack. When the unit runs frequently it drains the batteries quickly. As the voltage drops the unit gets quirky and doesn't read the humidity accurately. Just run the unit off of the wall plug and everything works great.

Third: don't use distilled water to refill the unit, use a Glycol Solution. With the frequent refills required in a dry climate, the small sponge in the reservoir will not maintain its mold prevention properties for any length of time. And nobody wants fuzzy cigars. Either that, or be prepared to buy refill cartridges regularly.

If these three items are things you can accept, the unit will live up to expectations.

I only rated 4 stars because I really wanted the Ultra to run off of the battery pack and was forced to use the wall plug. Other than that, I really like the unit.

It is currently running in a desk-top, 75 cigar humidor half filled with Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signatures.

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AWESOME could't be more happy with the product I've had it for 4 months now and it still is working great.

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As a cigar enthusiast, I'll pay a pretty penny to make sure my puros are kept in top form with a good humidor and proper humidification. I was excited about this product when I read about it. Initially, it seems to work as advertised. I used the batteries instead of the A/C adapter just because of the configuration of the space where my humidor is located. After a week or two, an audible alarm was sounding. Hmmm. Nothing in the instruction booklet says anything about an audible alarm. All it says is that you will get one of two messages in the LED display if the unit is either low on batteries or low on water. So, I added water and replaced batteries, and as I was rebooting the unit, I got a display that said "C1.5". Hmmm. Nothing about that in the instruction booklet, either. So, I found the supplier's website in which they prominently display their phone number. No one home, so I left a voice mail and my return call number. 3-4 weeks it's been, and no return call. In the meantime, whenever I would check my humidor, the display unit kept reading 58% humidity. No way. My analog humidity dial didn't register that low, so I checked my unit with a psychrometer (that's a device that will register relative humidity available at any hardware store). Indeed, the unit was falsely registering low humidity. So, I added new batteries and re-booted again, and now, the unit seems to be registering the humidity correctly. For this kind of gadget price: (1) it needs to work flawlessly as advertised; (2) instructions need to include all information about the unit, including the mysterious "C1.5" readout, and (3) the supplier ought to have the good manners to at least return a phone call. My advice is look elsewhere and don't spend your money on this one.

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Bought this about 9 months ago and have never once regretted it. As a periodic cigar smoker, I don't have the time to keep checking the humidor and making sure everything is perfect. With this system in my 25 cigar humidor, I litterally put the cartridge in, plug it in and forget about it. Cigars are always perfect. Some complain that it may be off in its readings and I can't validate it, but I have never had a problem and my cigar smoking friends marvel at the consistency of my humidor. Best part is that when the water is out it beeps to let you know. In a well-seasoned humidor the water lasts a couple of months.

This has allowed me to confidently buy cigars in greater bulk (at a discount) and keep an inventory of various cigars so that I can have whatever I want whenever I want.

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Ultrasonic Vortex Humidifier

I purchased this humidifier 4 weeks ago. I run it 24 hours a day. I go through a gallon of water in 1.5 2 days. Sometimes I run it on high and sometimes on low, thus the water consumption varies. I keep it on the floor right next to my bed. The sound does not bother me although I will write that when I set it on high I have to raise the volume on my TV. I use only distilled water for the humidifier. I have nothing but good things to write about this humidifier. It is the best humidifier I have ever owned. It does not deposit any water at all on the floor or the surrounding area. It is supposed to cover an area of 600 square feet. My condo is 1000 square feet and every single window reflects humidity, so I know it humidifies the entire 1000 square feet. I run it day and night to assist with a respiratory issue and it has helped me tremendously. It has filters that are affordable.

Holmes HWF100-UC3 Humidifier Replacement Filter, Set of 3

{NOTE: the Holmes HWF100 and Bionaire BWF100 are interchangeable}

I bought a bionaire humidifier that uses 2 of these wicks. They're a necessary evil, because the humidifer wont work without them.

My humidifier (a Bionaire BCM645) is basically a glorified self-refilling water bowl, with a pair of wicks dangling down into the water in the lower backside of the unit ... the wicks absorb water upwards, and the humidifier (basically a vertical tube with an exhause fan up up equipped with a humidistat) draws airflow in crosswise through the body of the wicks down below in order to blow humidified air out the top ... it's a simple design that sorta works.

The problem is that mineral deposits build up in these glorified (and overpriced) sponges, and they lose their ability to wick water upwards fast enough to keep up with the rate of evaporation ... the result is that they become dried out and crusty (and slowly stained with mildew), and only stay wet on the part that's dipped in the water.

Now, here's the annoying part, and why I only gave this product 3 of 5 stars ... they're needlessly fragile by design. The manufacturer WANTS you to keep reguloarly buying replacement sponges, just like inkjet printer manufacturers want to keep selling you overpriced ink cartridges. Even though I have fairly soft water, and use a carbon block filter, these wicks only seem to last me about 2 weeks per pair, by default, before they lose their ability to absorb/wick moisture and/or fall apart. Perhaps someday someone will make longer-lasting reuseable cloth replacement filters, but as of this writing, there dont appear to be any available ... because it's against the manufacturer's fiscal interests to make and sell such.

You can save money 2 ways:

1) SHOP AROUND: you can save as much as 50% by shopping around for the cheapest supplier, and scoffing at any implied manufacturer product loyalty. How ? The replacement filters for Holmes (HWF100) and Bionaire (BWF100) are functionally identical and interchangeable. They come 6 to a package (3 pairs).

2) RINSING: These wicks are rather fragile resist the urge to wring them out when rinsing them, or you'll damage them. Instead, fill a sink with body-temperature water, let them soak for 5-10 mins (to let the deposits soften & par-dissolve), then gently press them flat (while submerged) a few times. Then drain them (dont wring them) and reinstall. That should extend their performance by another week or so. Each subsequent rinse will yeild only half the benefit though. At best, you'll be able to double their lifespan.

Bottom line: I dont really recommend these wicks ... but if your humidifier requires them, there isnt much choice. However, if you use the tips I listed above, you can save up to half the cost, and make them last as much as twice as long.

This was delivered 2 weeks later than promised and it is not the same filter as shown in the photo. It is a cheaper version and did not have the round button attached to the filter like the original has. It had a plastic square that could be attached anywhere but really won't stay put when attached so I just left it off.

Fortunately, just by stuffing the new filter into my machine, it worked Ok. I really hate returning stuff. It is just frustrating when they show a picture and you receive something else.

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I have a hard time finding filters for my Sunbeam cool mist humidifier. These are a little long, but when trimmed they work fine. They come 3 to a pack and the unit needs 2 filters at a time, so I buy 2 packages at a time.

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Walmart in my area, St. Louis carries the same filter but has Sunbeam package Filter # hwf100 / sf235 for $8.00 for the 3 pack. The package says different Humidifiers that it will fit. Holmes & Sunbeam are 2 of them.

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I have had a Holmes tower humidifier for several years and it requires two of the HWF100 filters. This particular model forces air through the bottom at the back and through the filters out the top. I guess like most filters, the top of the filter dries out quicker than the bottom where water is absorbed. To get a longer life from the filters I reverse the filters top to bottom about 2 times per week. This extends the life of the filter about 2 times. Other brand filters don't live up to the quality of the Holmes HWF100. Prices vary so shop around.

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