What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier • Hacker News Board

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#21

Post by lmilcin » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:05 PM UTC

dragontamer wrote: post #9

Cool Mist humidifiers are just hard IMO. 1. Warm Mist humidifiers work by boiling water. This has the downside of... well... boiling hot water hanging around the area. But otherwise, these are the simplest and are only ~$20 or $30. 2. Cool Mist humidifiers try to get around the boiling water issue. Since they humidify at room-temperatures, they're a lot more efficient... but now bacteria / mold is growing constantly.…

There is better way to humidify which is to just have cold temperature evaporation. It is slower and you need bigger machine for the same volume, but it requires very little energy and the only real electronics is a fan that moves air.

I got rid of all mist humidifiers because of residue, noise and some health concerns (no, I am not feeling safe inhaling those fine particles) and I am happy for it.

Most importantly, it doesn't get things wet and it is safe to just leave it 24h.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#22

Post by Ajedi32 » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:09 PM UTC

jedimastert wrote: post #5

Technology Connections just recently made a really good video about humidifiers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeehYYgl28

Actually just discovered that channel a couple weeks ago. Kind of amazing how interesting he can make such mundane topics. (Though I do prefer to watch at 1.75-2x speed.)

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#23

Post by birken » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:11 PM UTC

I don't use the my Honeywell humidifier regularly, but I use it from time to time and honestly I like it more than any other humidifier I've used. I've found it very easy to keep clean, works really well at increasing the humidity without turning the room into a swamp and I've never had any issues with the wick becoming gross. I exclusively use RO/DI water in the humidifier, never any tap water, so maybe that is helping with a lot of the issues.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#24

Post by ddoolin » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

stuckindider wrote: post #3

ddoolin wrote: post #2

Curious what Wirecutter would have to say about this. I use them for a lot of my purchases if I don't know where to start and it does seem like some rare times they just miss the mark, though not so egregiously as this. Why stand on something that seems so widely disliked?

Affiliate revenue. The same reason they recommend all the other products on their site. It's advertising disguised as product reviews. You are a sucker if you believe anything an Amazon affiliate is telling you.

I have found their reviews very extensive, more than any other free alternative that covers so many product categories, and typically they match what you get if you purchase one of the products. You'd think having NYT behind them would lend some legitimacy, at least as far as it concerns outright fabrications. Typically I don't mind if their recommendations are sourced from just a handful of retailers in that case.

All that is to say, that's quite alright with me.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#25

Post by colordrops » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:13 PM UTC

I used to live in China a decade ago and everyone used ultrasonic humidifiers there. When I moved back to the US, I searched for one of them and could only find steam and evaporative humidifiers like this Honeywell one. Having small children, I went for the Honneywell humidifier and hated it - I was stupefied that it had such good reviews. So I searched for "safe" steam humidifiers and couldn't find one, so I gave up.

Last year, I noticed that ultrasonic humidifiers were now very popular and cheap on Amazon, and got one. The review sites recommended against them, due to supposed calcium and bacteria build-up, but I haven't seen any problems, and the Honeywell was definitely worse on these fronts.

Get an ultrasonic humidifier - they are cheap and if they break, you can get another one. Just used filtered water in them.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#26

Post by eecc » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

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

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#27

Post by doublesocket » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:15 PM UTC

Sat in a damp London flat, with condensation permanently dripping down the windows (despite the dehumidifier running virtually 24/7), I struggle to relate to a world where you would deliberately want to put moisture into the air.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#28

Post by ta1234567890 » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:17 PM UTC

rexf wrote: post #7

I bought this (a few years ago) at Wirecutter's recommendation and had a bad experience with it as well. Like the medium post, the humidifier didn't work for me. Eventually, I got rid of it. Wirecutter simply isn't that reliable. I do check their recommendations as one input source, but their top recommendation is not reliable (and will change from time to time).

> Wirecutter simply isn't that reliable

Agreed. Recently bought a handheld vacuum cleaner. Wirecutter had some recommendations and said the Dyson one was “the strongest” (also most expensive), I got the Dyson and hated it (very cumbersome, heavy, short battery duration, not that easy to clean). Ended up returning it and got a random one at a local store instead. The random one was $50 (instead of $250-400 for the Dyson), has same or better suction, way easier to use and the battery lasts about 50-100% longer per charge (7-10 min instead of 4-5 min for the Dyson).

Similar thing happened with another appliance. Wirecutter is not very reliable.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#29

Post by philipkglass » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:20 PM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #25

I used to live in China a decade ago and everyone used ultrasonic humidifiers there. When I moved back to the US, I searched for one of them and could only find steam and evaporative humidifiers like this Honeywell one. Having small children, I went for the Honneywell humidifier and hated it - I was stupefied that it had such good reviews. So I searched for "safe" steam humidifiers and couldn't find one, so I gave up…

I wonder if there have been waves of "fashion" in humidifier design. My parents used an ultrasonic humidifier when I was growing up in the US in the 1980s.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#30

Post by tuna-piano » Mon, Feb 01, 2021, 10:21 PM UTC

The best humidity solution I've found is to set my shower up as a humidifier. Puts out a lot of humidity that spreads throughout the house. Doesn't need any cleaning, refilling, etc. Total cost on Amazon, like $40 (probably cheaper from Home Depot). Picture of my setup: https://imgur.com/a/Oca4USg

I did that with 4-5 products: A shower head splitter, a shower->hose adapter, a mister, and anti-leak tape.

Splitter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064TXLHA/

Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GYV8G7S/

Elbow connector: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BZD03K/

Mister (I used just the nozzle and discarded the hose) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004INGNPG/

Anti-leak tape: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D7K8E0/

Alternatively tried this fogger nozzle which put out too much water and wet my bathroom floor, may work in some shower setups though. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FNYNZZM/