Review on 🕊️ Honeywell Cool Moisture Humidifier - Ultra Quiet, Auto Shut-Off, Variable Settings & Wicking Filter - Ideal for Small to Medium Rooms, Bedroom, Baby Room - White by Ashley Andrews

As an experimental scientist, I tend to be cautious about the equipment and technology I buy. Humidifiers may seem like low-tech devices, and you might think they're more or less the same. They all saturate the air with moisture using simple mechanisms. How big can the difference be? I didn't put much stock in it until I recently had to replace my old ones. Past experience has taught me to avoid ALL ultrasonic and warm fog models. Ultrasonic models are quiet, but leave white dust in the room. They work by ejecting micro-droplets of water into the air as a visible cool mist. The droplets evaporate quickly, but the minerals dissolved in each drop remain in the air as a tiny speck of dust. They either get into our lungs or settle all over the room. The severity of the problem depends on the amount of trace contaminants in the water. Some people resort to using distilled water to alleviate the problem, but it's expensive. Distilled water also contains impurities, just less than tap water. This is a classic case of bad engineering design: solving one problem by creating another. Warm mist models heat water and turn it into steam, resulting in higher energy bills than using a small air conditioner in the summer since it runs 24 hours a day. and the air conditioning may only be needed for a few hours a day on some hot days. This is an example of spending a lot of money on a small problem. A leading consumer magazine also recently confirmed my longstanding suspicion that both of these designs shed bacteria or other microorganisms from the water into the air. The only design that delivers clean air is the wick/steam option. The wick filter draws water from the main reservoir, trapping minerals and bacteria in the pores while the moisture is released into the airflow blown by the fan. It costs money to replace them, but it's no more than the cost of heating water or gallons of distilled water every day. The main reason people stay away from wick models is fan noise. I've never been happy with the ones I've had, just put them in places where you can hear them less and live with them for cleaner air. When I was shopping for new ones this winter, I decided to bring a few home to consciously test fan noise and critically review the design without flooding them with water. So they can be returned as new. I ended up with two different Honeywell models: the HEV320 (this model) and the larger HCM-350. (That's why I didn't buy from Revain.) This little HEV320 is the best. It looks deceptively simple, but in fact all design elements are correctly executed. It is ultra-quiet at low fan speed, which is enough for my main BR room with a total area of around 400 square meters. ft. At this rate, I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and only have to fill a 3 liter container once a day. (For smaller spaces that need less humidity, you can just use a timer if needed.) It's small and light enough that I can easily hold it under the faucet with one hand without having to go to the kitchen sink. The opening is large and therefore easy to clean. The container is nicely shaped, easy to lift and place with one hand, and there's no water dripping on the bottom, which is a good sign that the valves and seals are well made and a good fit. The floor pan is designed to hold very little water and not easily spill when carried to the sink for cleaning. Power consumption is only 12W with low fan speed. His 24-hour work costs a penny a day for electricity, or $1 to $2 a month. High fan speed costs less than $5/month, but there's really no need to run at high speed all the time. (It may help to let the unit run for a while the first time it is started in a dry environment.) Honeywell's warm mist model uses about 10 times more power. You can imagine how quickly the electricity bill will exceed the cost of the device. Life in the snow belt may require several of these to be running non-stop throughout the winter and utility bills will skyrocket. It didn't escape me that the airflow path was well thought out. The fan blades are unusually short, allowing dry air to enter at the bottom edge and exit through the top. The path runs parallel to the cylindrical surface of the filter, giving it maximum time to absorb vapor. As a result, it releases more moisture into the air despite the low fan speed. This slow and even evaporation extends the life of the filter. How long it takes depends on the amount of contaminants in the water. Water molecules are light and bounce in the air one by one. Molecules of heavy minerals and bacteria remain. In many designs, the airflow passes through the filter and most of the evaporation takes place in a small area just above the waterline. This can lead to rapid and dense deposition of the mineral in that area and clogging of the pores. Once this happens, the water cannot be sucked in by the capillary flow and the top of the filter becomes completely dry. When this happens the filter is dead, but most of it is still fine. Therefore, to prolong the life of the filter, you should always use the lowest fan speed and never let the filter dry out. Other ways to extend the life of your filters are frequent turning, soaking in a bucket of water/vinegar, rinsing with fresh, clean water, etc. Filters are no different than a kitchen towel. immediately and do not let it dry idle. Common sense tells us that the filter should be washed frequently and never allowed to dry out and harden the minerals. The filter is made of synthetic fiber. If rinsed gently every day, it can last as long as you want. In practice, when refilling the tank, you only have to pay attention to color change and dryness and rinse if necessary. It all comes down to how clean the water is and if you're willing to spend a little time not being wasteful, producing less waste and saving money. What people often overlook is the cost of electricity because it's invisible unless you look at the utility bill. -350 Honeywell germ-free cold mist humidifier, HCM-350) for my family room of about 600 square meters. ft. The design elements are very similar. Again, I only run it at its lowest speed and it's only marginally louder and still rivals ultrasonic models. It has a larger footprint and a larger container. The power consumption is only 16W at low fan speed, and the electricity cost is only slightly higher. (Medium/high speeds use 28/54W). This is a small price to pay for increased humidity. Whole-home console models are getting bigger, louder, and consume more power. It is better to buy more such calm babies. Their low speed operation is more energy efficient, quieter and the filters last longer. There are only two minor flaws in the design of this model: (i) the water tank doesn't last all day even at the lowest fan speed, (ii) the filter is actually smaller on this larger unit. I have to fill the tank more than once a day and clean the filter more often. So if he only evaluates "design" he loses to smaller models. The presence of two models from the same brand gives another advantage. When ordering replacement filters, you can usually save some money on price and shipping by placing a larger order. The fact that these Honeywell models come with a 3-year guarantee is exceptional. You can do it because they are so easy that there aren't many opportunities to fail. There is only one fan, one switch, one valve and one seal, nothing complicated.