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What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

angelalashbrook.medium.com

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Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#141

Post by kevindong »

I have the same humidifier that the author does and I largely disagree with her points. It is rather ineffective at humidifying larger rooms (e.g. for the ~350 sq. ft. room I have it in, it humidifies the room +10% above what it otherwise would've been at aka 23% => 33% per my hygrometer), but it's certainly better than nothing. I usually have to refill the tank 3 times/day which is by definition a testament to how much it humidifies my apt's air.

However, I agree that the Wirecutter's recommendations are suspect sometimes; mostly for the more expensive items that cost several hundred dollars for a "quality" item [0]. However for the smaller/cheaper things where it's exceptionally hard to stand out in a crowded field of products (e.g. routers, bath towels, basic kitchen equipment, home tool kits, etc.), the Wirecutter is a good way to narrow down the choices.

[0]: e.g. they recommend a $370 (at the time of publication) 27", 1440p monitor; for that price the monitor should be 4K https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-27-inch-moni...

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#142

Post by kortilla »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #129
gnicholas wrote: post #80

A company accused Wirecutter of being pay-for-play, based on how how heavily affiliate revenue (allegedly) factors into Wirecutter reviews. [1] The Wirecutter responded here. [2] I wonder if this was part of the reason that the Honeywell unit was recommended. 1: https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... 2: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/our-response-to-nextdesk/

Friendly reminder: If this is not the internet you want, please try to support indie content producers whose work you think is decent and who take tips/Patreon/et al. And if you can afford it, subscribe to online newspapers and the like (because journalism is in a world of hurt and it is negatively impacting minor little things like freedom and democracy). I blog and I take tips and Patreon and I sometimes hit the fr…

> The world can decide it values good writing and that writers deserve a decent income

It has decided. The sad truth is just that “good writing” just isn’t that valuable (as can be seen in how much people pay) if you don’t have some killer content to back it up. Good writing is requisite but not sufficient.

Just because something is a sustaining profession for a few people doesn’t mean it should be for everyone who does that. Do you realize how many photographers and other artists are in the same category?

> aka slave labor.

Something that is voluntary is - by definition - not slave labor. Nobody is forcing you to write.

There are people who effectively tweet full time. Is that “slave labor”? There are people to play games full time. Is that “slave labor”?

> And then folks get upset if you frame it that way.

I hope you can see why.

Finally, people don’t get mad at writers because they want to make money. They get mad when the writers’ hide the fact that the money has tainted and shaped everything they are saying. A review site that is shilling products because of kickbacks corrupts the entire thing.

Can you imagine your friend recommending you a doctor and then you find out that the friend actually thinks the doctor is terrible but got $1k for the referral?

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#143

Post by gh02t »

analog31 wrote: post #85
superseeplus wrote: post #32

As someone living on the east coast and having a very sensitive nose, I have tried different humidifiers and sadly no humidifiers have been perfect. There are three main types of humidifiers: 1. Warm mist humidifiers boil water and generate steam which humidifies the air. But, they are a burn hazard and consume a lot of energy. 2. Cool mist (non ultrasonic) work like miniature swamp coolers. They are essentially fans…

About the energy, maybe you can throttle it with a timer and still get enough steam.

They basically do that internally already, there's not much point.

The power usage is offset if you're primarily using them during the winter in that the energy used is all converted to heat. It's not gonna be as efficient as a heat pump so there is some loss, but the heat added is heat your HVAC doesn't have to provide so it's not exactly wasted. I haven't actually run the numbers to calculate the effective power used (how much energy it uses to generate the same amount of heat versus if a more efficient heat pump did it), but my hunch is that it ends up being quite a bit more competitive than it might first appear.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#144

Post by flycaliguy »

eecc wrote: post #26

What about this comically expensive https://www.venta-air.com and it’s ripoff: https://www.xiaomitoday.com/2020/06/30/get-the-xiaomi-smartm... It blows ambient air directly onto the wetted disks; it will empty a full tank in a day and haven’t cursed anymore that usual while cleaning. I did use a disinfectant additive

Yeah, I run two Venta air washers in two small rooms. They are expensive but the only option for me that is easy to fill, easy to clean and has a nice noise profile.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#145

Post by andrewvc »

eecc wrote: post #26

What about this comically expensive https://www.venta-air.com and it’s ripoff: https://www.xiaomitoday.com/2020/06/30/get-the-xiaomi-smartm... It blows ambient air directly onto the wetted disks; it will empty a full tank in a day and haven’t cursed anymore that usual while cleaning. I did use a disinfectant additive

I have two ventas, both purchased off ebay used, and they really are the best. Simple, reliable, cleanable and no expensive wick refills.

That honeywell lasted about one season. The wick refills are ridiculously expensive. It was cheaper to trash it and use anything else. I'm also upset with the wirecutter for that trash recommendation.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#146

Post by mleonhard »

repiret wrote: post #140

Last winter I installed a whole house humidifier and I couldn’t be happier. Very little maintenance, marked reduction in dry nose and cracked skin. Easily handles the whole house. As a DIY project I would rate it’s difficulty as moderate.

Does this increase the risk of mold growing in external walls and around windows during winter?

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#147

Post by falcolas »

modeless wrote: post #108

I don't trust any humidifier that doesn't boil water. They all grow mold and efficiently disperse it into the air. I don't think reviewers are properly taking this into account.

A teaspoon of bleach in every reservoir of water (amount varies with reservoir size) solves the mold issue quite effectively. Source: Been using the same one for almost a decade. No mold.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#148

Post by falcolas »

amluto wrote: post #136
shadytrees wrote: post #72

> For me, today at least, it was a pot of boiling water on the stove. If you elect to do this (I also did this, at one point in my life), think twice if your stove is gas. There's increasing evidence that gas stoves lower the air quality in your home, especially in apartments with poor ventilation: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/nitrogen-dioxides... https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/documents/indoor-air-po…

I would never use an ultrasonic humidifier. Everything in the water becomes aerosolized: dissolved solids turn into particulate pollution, bacteria and fungus become aerosolized [0], etc. [0] I wouldn’t worry so much about viruses — viruses that infect humans probably don’t reproduce in water.

> bacteria and fungus

I'm seeing this all over - does nobody add just a bit of bleach to their water? It solves the mold/bacteria issue quite handily.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#150

Post by falcolas »

mleonhard wrote: post #146
repiret wrote: post #140

Last winter I installed a whole house humidifier and I couldn’t be happier. Very little maintenance, marked reduction in dry nose and cracked skin. Easily handles the whole house. As a DIY project I would rate it’s difficulty as moderate.

Does this increase the risk of mold growing in external walls and around windows during winter?

Not in my experience. You'd have to get to the point of condensation to risk mold growth, and that doesn't usually occur until above 60% humidity. We aim for 45%, and haven't had one issue (due to the humidifier - a pinhole leak in our faucet hose was another matter -_-)
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