At low speed you won't even know it's on and it's still quiet at med. and high speed too. We normally run it on medium or high speed when the weather is 35 or colder here in New England and turn it down to low if the temperature outside goes up or it's raining out. Doing this keeps the humidity in the house a pretty constant 40-45 per cent. We have a Colonial house and keep the upstairs bedrooms closed so the unit is just taking care of aboout 1100 ft. downstairs. I fill it in the morning and just before bedtime. They only hold a few gallons of water, but what a difference they make. We have had hardly any colds since we bought ours a couple of years ago, and we're not constantly having to put on lip balm or hand lotions like we used to. Your skin will thank you for it. But wait...there's more...hehe...Wait til you empty and clean it like I do every 2 weeks. The water you dump in the sink...unbelieveable what this unit takes out of the air. Remember, it's an air purifier too. It's amazing to see the junk that's in the dirty water. Stuff you would normally be breathing in.
It's light weight and small enough to be unobtrusive. I had a problem with mine the second year...called the company and within 3 days had a replacement part that was a snap to install, free of charge of course. Fantastic 10 year warranty.
Proof of how much we love this unit...the day it broke was a Sunday and dry as a bone...temp in the teens. Within an hour I was home from Bed and Bath with a new unit. Didn't even want to go 3 days without one running. Now we run them both on low speed most of the winter.
Check out their website...commercial buildings all over Europe use them as well as musicians with expensive wooden instruments to protect. Little known product just introduced to the US a couple of years ago. Highly recommended.
My family owns two Venta Airwashers: this one and the Venta #5014436 LW14 Grey Airwasher. I am writing this after having used them for about two years. We live in a dry apartment, and we are also musicians with wood instruments, so it is important for us to keep our apartment well humidified. We are also sensitive to sound, so we need to make sure that whatever machines we purchase work quietly.
Before we purchased these, we measured our apartment to make sure we were purchasing the appropriate models for the space we live in. I think this is crucial, as you cannot expect a model that is too small to properly humidify a space that is too large, and vice-versa. This seems obvious, but I think a lot of people overlook this and purchase the wrong model.
I think people are missing the point when they complain about the level of humidity and whether it reaches an optimum level or not. Ventas humidify and purify at the same time, and once a room has a certain level of moisture, it will essentially stay that way if you leave it set to a certain level. It's not like it ill keep ramping up the moisture until you are living in a rainforest. It can only humidify so much, unless you use the largest model in a closet-sized space.
Regarding the noise issue with the fan, I found that when it starts making that subtle clicking noise that some reviewers mention, it is because the fan mechanism has lost lubrication. A few drops of light oil (such as lemon oil) clears up the noise immediately.
As long as you follow their directions--and we all know how much Germans love accuracy and directions--these will last a long time and provide and work excellently.
The reason I am giving this four stars is because I am convinced that they could have designed these with less hard-to-clean crevices. There are many hard-to-clean spots, and a few spaces that are almost impossible to clean. Granted, you won't see them as they are deep inside, but I like to know that I can clean every bit of gunk that I see. You really need to thoroughly clean the Venta every month or so, which should only take a few minutes, but there are an awful lot of crevices.
Another tip: the way to clean the rotating disc assembly inside the Venta is to use a soft brush, and scrub in-between the discs, and it can also be washed in the top rack of a dishwasher. They offer a special substance that also cleans gunk from inside and off the bottom half of the Venta, but vinegar works just as well.
Also, as mentioned by others, you need to use their additive in order to allow the water to sheet off the rotating plastic disc assembly. Some folks mention using a few drops of dish washing soap instead, but I haven't tried that yet. When you consider that other models by other companies require you to purchase filters and the like, I think buying a few bottles of this additive is not so bad. Each bottle lasts ca. 3-4 months.
Now the crucial information: does it really clean the air and humidify well? Although we have not tested our air with any gauges to see if there is a marked difference, I can assuredly say that the air in our apartment is cleaner and definitely moister. The air even seems to smell cleaner. Our wooden floors creak when we don't run the Ventas, and after a day of running them, they are silent. The truth is in the water: when we clean the Ventas and replace the additive every two weeks, the water is definitely filthy. The Ventas must be doing something right.
All in all, we have no regrets. These are simple, yet well-built humidifiers, albeit a little pricey. They are a little difficult to clean, but if you are even somewhat attentive and can follow directions, they should serve you well.
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We have two of these units. They work well and humidify efficiently and quietly. I find them easier to clean than other humidifiers and like the fact that I don't have to buy filters that cost $20-$40 depending on the brand. I gave it three stars, because the fan mechanism seems to be poorly made. In both units the fan was defective and had to be replaced. The first did not engage the discs, while the second made a rattling noise. Venta sent me replacement parts without questions, however that should not happen at that price level.
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It's of course bogus to point out the German social system as reason for the price. A free market is characterized by supply and demand setting the price. I asssume there is a free market in the U.S.?. What you effectively pay for in this humdifier is the idea and patent, not the material. It's the same why an Armani suite costs 2000$ and why Microsoft Office costs more than the CD it is burned on.
I have this humidifier now for a year. I am an allergy sufferer and dry air makes it worse. I live in CA. Thye humidifier extends on the principle of what my Mom always recommended: Put a bowl with water in your room. Since it does not heat the air you don't have problems with overheated air that then condenses on windows etc. The dryer the air the more it will pick up the humidity. It's kind of self regulating.
It does the job for me. I measure it and I get usually a jump from 45% to 55% of humidity in my room. I personally think cleaning is very easy. You have to use their cleaner, I do it every 8 weeks or so. It's true there will be mineral deposits on the air cleaner. I wipe them away every 2.5 months. It's not a problem as you can dissassemble this thing completely.
I think this is the best humdifier out there. It avoids all the problems of heated humdifiers and it's self regulation is ingenious. I don't believe it does a good job of cleaning the air however. That's why I have Friedrich B as well. BTW speaking of which it costs 500$ and is a set of metal plates with a fan made in the U.S.
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True to form, the European reviewer praises the Venta's holistic simplicity, while an American criticizes the cost!
I have some criticisms of my own. First, the simplicity of design means no control over humidity level. If the water feels like evaporating, it does! The manufacturer claims a typical range of 40%-55% humidity, but for me it never even reached 40%. Like the American that I am, I returned it to the store for a less "elegant" model that just boils the water, and keeps doing so until you get to the level you want.
I also don't understand why a simple window to indicate water level is not included, and agree that -however sturdy the case is -it really, truly is just two pieces of plastic. This thing should cost fifty bucks, tops.
But I also agree with the German commentator about the effectiveness of the unit in cleaning the air. The room just smelled clean -much more so than with the Ionic Breeze ripoffs, or even some smaller filter-based units I have used. It generates only a very soft hum, it definitely is well-constructed, and the "natural" approach of simple, cold evaporation has appeal. I just wish it worked as well as the alternatives at doing its primary job, or had a price advantage.
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I purchased this evaporative cooler to take the edge off of my child's play room. We have a couple other evaporative coolers in the house that work well for larger areas, but wanted something smaller and that used less electrical power for that application. I bought based on price, the 65 watt usage and the louvers. It arrived in good condition and completely assembled. Entirely plastic, but seems well made. Smaller than expected. Likes: the controls work well, nice to have the water level window, does what it should (cools a small room as can be expected from an evaporative cooler). Dislikes: feeding water is time consuming due to small intake hole, louvers dont really do much it rotates and could be a nice feature, but I think the pitch is too low or non existant, so the air mostly goes straight.
