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What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

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Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#81

Post by mudkip »

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 owned a (different) Honeywell cool mist humidifier and ended up buying a Venta LW45 after getting fed up with the Honeywell. The Venta works _shockingly_ well, and requires basically no maintenance. The problem with most wick humidifiers is that minerals build up on the wick very quickly (even before anything starts to grow), and minerals prevent the wick from absorbing any liquid. Even if you don't see or smell anything growing on the wick, the efficiency drops dramatically within a couple weeks, unless you change the wick constantly.

In comparison, the Venta requires almost zero maintenance, and the entire machine is basically indestructible. The electronics pop out if you press the two buttons on top, which means you can hose the entire thing down in a bathtub if you want. You could probably put the whole thing in the dishwasher if you really wanted to, but I haven't tried that myself.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#82

Post by mudkip »

cshepher wrote: post #70
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 had a Venta LW15 for a long time, and like it. I have gone through many humidifiers, and the LW15 is the only one that has lasted more than five years and does not require filters. It is expensive, even with cleaning> It does require regular cleaning, though -- that can be a pain. It pulled minimal power, too. I have switched to a whole house humidifier this year and I really like not having to change water ev…

I don't know if the LW15 has a different mechanism than the LW45, but it shouldn't be difficult to clean. The entire machine literally comes apart (https://youtu.be/-f2FAI70BSk?t=154), leaving only plastic pieces that can be hosed down.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#83

Post by kab63 »

Our Honeywell humidifier has been working perfectly for years. One trick I haven't seen mentioned here is filling the tank exclusively with RO (reverse-osmosis) water. This keeps the mineral deposits down to piratically nothing, meaning that things (pet hair, dust, etc.) don't really stick to the fan blades. After each winter season I spray the fan with compressed air and throw the filter away. We usually go through two filters per winter season.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#84

Post by zbrozek »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #22
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.)

This channel is the only one where I find real utility in Newpipe's ability to go faster than that.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#85

Post by analog31 »

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.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#86

Post by jimhefferon »

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 have had the opposite experience. I live in VT, and a humidifier is a real need. I used to use an ultrasonic device because, basically, that is what stores near me had available.

But I noticed that every winter I got bronchitis. I remembered that years ago I read in Consumers Reports that these can cause a reaction because they can break particles apart. (I remember it saying that it can break apart virus particles, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if that is correct.)

Based on that dim memory, I bought a Boneco AIR-O-SWISS Warm Mist Steam Humidifier S450. It has faults, and is expensive. But I don't get annual bronchitis any more. So we use that.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#87

Post by RobertRoberts »

After years of garbage humidifiers, I made my own.

It cost a tiny fraction of the high end models, has huge reservoir, easy to clean, easy to modify and repair.

It's a food grade 5 gallon bucket ($3) with a bathroom vent fan ($15) mounted to the lid with a pvc pipe section ($2 maybe) for adapting the fan the wick, a flour sack cloth towel (pack of 10 for $5). A couple of holes in the lid, some creative testing for holes in the cloth (made it a tube that is cut to the height of the bucket) and presto... industrial strength humidifier for about $25 with 3 gallon capacity.

I am never going to buy another commercial humidifier ever again. I will tweak this design until it's perfect.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#88

Post by r00fus »

We only run the humidifier once in a while (if someone is sick or it's really dry) and we've done well with a cool-mist + cheap distilled water (nearby water store). Distilled water simply doesn't go bad, so we buy many gallons at a time and it also serves as a disaster prep item.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#89

Post by dragontamer »

thebean11 wrote: post #12
aidenn0 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I read the Wirecutter review, they only looked at the wick style of humidifier. The stated reason for this was the propensity for steam and ultrasonic humidifiers to over-humidify. It's entirely possible that the Honeywell is the easiest to clean and most quiet of this type of humidifier. [edit] Direct quotes from the Wirecutter post (emphasis added by me): > We recommend the Honeywell HCM-350 Germ Free Coo…

There are ultrasonic humidifiers, at the same price point, that have humidity meters built in so they don't over humidify. It's completely dishonest for wirecutter to claim that the entire category over-humidifies. It's just not true.

Ultrasonic just sprays all the disolved minerals across your room. You won't notice it at first, but about 2 or 3 weeks into using the device, you'll find plenty of "white dust" all over your room.

In my experience, you get a smelly bacteria-infested humidifier if you keep using it for a few days. You need to regularly rinse ultrasonic humidifiers... or really any humidifier at all.

Re: What’s Wrong With The Honeywell Humidifier

#90

Post by dragontamer »

jmartrican wrote: post #61

I also just boil water. It's easy to adjust the rate of evaporation. For night time I lower the fire to its lowest setting, and if needed I just use multiple pots. Over night at lowest setting only half the pot is boiled away.

A warm-mist humidifier is just the boiling strategy... except with actual safety-shutoff sensors.
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