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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

#71

Post by cooperadymas »

etrautmann wrote: post #51

I purchased this exact model a few months ago, and agree with all of the criticisms. One curious point, however, is that while I don't see any difference in the hygrometer readings even when I put the hygrometer right above the device, the water tank does empty quickly. It's not clear to me how much water the air in my apartment can hold, such that a few gallons doesn't change the humidity even by more than 1-2%.

Either a bad reading or you have forced air heat and a lot of air exchange sucking out all the moisture you just added.

I have the same model in a medium sized room, with the hygrometer on the other end of the room where it is open to the rest of the house and the second floor. About 3/4 of a tank yesterday bumped us from about 17% humidity to 22%, with a fire going in the fireplace.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#72

Post by shadytrees »

> 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-pollut...

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.122-a27

Instead, I recommend this humidifier, which is easy to clean (distilled water only, please) and refill (albeit on the smaller side):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WKZVWRD?psc=1

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#76

Post by dragontamer »

xyzzyz wrote: post #18
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.…

The slag issue can be solved by using demineralized water, and reverse osmosis water filter, which remove almost all minerals, can be had for pretty cheap these days.

People say "pretty cheap", but a lot of reverse-osmosis filters I've seen are ~$150 to $450.

Also consider: it takes ~4 gallons of water to make 1-gallon of reverse-osmosis water. All water-purification methods have their own issues.

-------

If you plan to make distilled water (aka: boil water to remove impurities)... that's basically what a warm-mist boiling-type humidifier does _anyway_.

All good water-purification methods either take up a ton of water (ie: reverse osmosis) or a ton of energy (ie: distilled).

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#78

Post by crgwbr »

lincolnq wrote: post #31

Gotta say, I’ve had the Honeywell for a couple years and I’m quite happy with it. I haven’t had any of the problems that the article cites — it works well, easy to clean, easy to refill. I’d be quite confused about whether article has the same product, except that the photos match my model.

Same here. I have the same model as the OP. It’s been on pretty much continuously all this winter and last. The filter only needs replaced every couple months and I’ve only had to wash the base once. And it keeps our 900 sq ft NYC apartment at a comfortable 40-50% humidity. I think the OPs main issues could be fixed by just keeping a cleaner house.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#80

Post by gnicholas »

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/

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