Honeywell Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier, Medium Room, 1 Gallon Tank, White -Humidifier for Baby and Kids Rooms, Bedrooms and More

The media could not be loaded. I bought this on Amazon in February 2019 and it is now February 2024 and I felt the need to write a review (I almost never write reviews, but I have a useful tip that I wanted to share).Like a lot of people, I needed a humidifier to help with sinus issues b/c the winters are so dry. I've had other humidifiers with the cool mist, and the white dust was a major issue (the amount of water I go through with my humidifiers made purchasing distilled water unrealistic). This humidifier completely solved the white dust problem while using my tap water. The fan sound went on low is quiet enough that when I have it in my living room, it doesn't bother me, and if you are a white-noise-while-you-sleep kind of person you would probably be perfectly happy with it on a higher setting as well. The bubbling of the water emptying the tank into the tray can be distracting when I have people over and they hear it. I rarely notice it, but if you plan to have it in a bedroom and a light sleeper, that's something to keep in mind (I also have Honeywell's other evaporative humidifer that does not have a separate tank and so does not have that issue and that is in my bedroom - I find that one to be less convenient to fill, though).The plain white filters work fine - how long each will last depends on how hard your water is. I will note, I forgot to purchase refills once and was able to use one of the washable/reusable ones for another humidifier I have but that humidifier and those wicks don't seem to still be available on Amazon but it seems any humidifier that uses those cylindrical filters uses the same size filter.This year (the 5 year mark) when I first got it out at the beginning of the season the gasket was leaking a little bit when I refilled the tank since it's rubber and as it ages it has become stiff and brittle. Multiple reviewers have mentioned this and have expressed frustration that you can't seem to replace that one tiny rubber bit. I was getting ready to consider purchasing another one but as the only thing that seem to be wrong, was that one gasket I felt uncomfortable with throwing out the one I purchased five years ago. I decided to give something random a try to see if it would work first... I am pleased to announce that it absolutely worked better than I imagined!I do hope that Honeywell does offer the option to purchase a replacement water bottle cap (or at least the gasket) in the future, but in the meantime, if you don't want to get rid of the entire unit because it's working fine and you need to replace that one gasket there are other humidifiers out there with caps that sell replacement caps. The other caps are significantly smaller and the gasket is also a bit smaller than the cap and gasket on this Honeywell humidifier, however, the gasket doesn't actually need to be as large as the original one it seems!I purchased a replacement cap that appeared to have the same spring/rubber gasket mechanism to see if I could cannibalize the gasket from the other cap (I purchased this one that is for a slew of models including Emerson, MoistAir, Kenmore, etc: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082K4X4SQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I was able to pop the rubber bit off of the small cap and use that in place of the rotting one on my Honeywell and I no longer have to be extra cautious when flipping the tank over to place back onto the unit!!Hopefully, Honeywell offers replacement caps in the future so people don't need to purchase a whole new unit for one tiny, very replaceable part!

Things I love:- Very simple design- Maintenance and cleaning is very easy- The water tank is very large- Very quiet on the low and medium settings, and still not that loud on the high settingThings I don't love/aren't quite meeting my expectations:- It did not come with an instruction manual, and I had to look it up on the Honeywell website. Before I looked it up I didn't realize you had to wet the filter before use. So for about one full day the humidity was not changing much, and I was confused why the water tank wasn't depleting.- After soaking the filter as instructed, I definitely noticed the room felt a lot better in terms of humidity. However, per the hygrometer I have in the room (which is not that large, would describe as a small bedroom), the humidity level does not seem to be going past 20%. The humidifier is at least 2' off the floor, and I have tried moving the humidifier around the room to see if that helps, but it doesn't seem to be able to get past the 20% mark, even when I have it on the high setting. This is confusing to me because other reviews indicated that users would put the humidifier on high, and then come back a few hours later to find humidity had increased at least 10%.My guess is that the room is so dry, that the furniture is soaking up all of the moisture that the humidifier is putting out. I'm hoping that in a week or so of running the humidifier on high, i'll see some meaningful change in humidity, but if not I will report back.

Southern California has a dry climate. The relative humidity in our house is 24% to 32% when there is no rain (which is nearly always). I acquired the Honeywell HCM350 to increase the relative humidity. The unit is not suitable for a whole house. We use it in a room that is 16 feet by 20 feet with a 9 foot ceiling.The HCM350 is a cool mist filtered humidifier. It uses a paper or cellulose circular filter which is made from multiple sheets of paper cut into lattices. These sheets are glued end to end together so they form a chimney. The overall thickness of this chimney is ~0.5 inch and it is ~5 inches tall. Inside the HCM350W, one end of the filter is soaked in water (coming from the removable tank). On top of the filter, there is a fan which pulls in dry air from the room. That air flows over the outside of the soaked paper chimney, becomes humidified and then exhausts out into the room again. The whole principle is simple.It says germ free because inside the HCM350W, there is a small UV light bulb that turns on when you turn the fan on. Water coming from the tank flows under this UV light before it touches the filter. I am unsure as to how truly germ free it is.The HCM350 has 3 fan speeds. I only run it at the lowest speed which is very quiet. To my ears, it is < 35dbA. At this speed in the above room, the relative humidity increases by ~14% to 37-46% when the filter is brand new. I have a separate device to measure the RH in the room. I just use tap water. After about 4 weeks of use. the filter will harden up and yellow out due to deposits, and as this occurs the efficiency of the HCM350W goes down. After 5 weeks of constant use, the room RH only increases by ~6%.Note that each day, when I refill the plastic tank, I will flip over the filter chimney so the opposite end is soaked in water. You will need to do this since the filter end that is not soaked in water will dry out and that will hurt the longevity of the filter. Also, after 3-4 days, I will remove the filter and soak it completely in tap water for 15 minutes. I do not clean or soak it in diluted vinegar because I think that will just dissolve the glue holding this paper filter together. After 5-6 weeks of constant use, the chimney will gradually lose its shape and shortly after you will need to replace it with a new filter.In the above room, under those conditions, running constantly I have to refill the tank once per day.Overall I rate the HCM350 to be an effective humidifier and I am happy on the performance aspect.However the design does require a certain amount of maintenance on the filter. The operating cost will be high because:-each new filter will cost ~$8-10. Assuming each one will last 1.5 month, you are looking at $65-$80 each year if you live in a dry climate. You can buy replacement filter from vendors on Amazon or directly from Honeywell. In the long run, you will spend much more on filters than on purchasing this unit. In my view Honeywell should think about offering a more durable filter design.-Be aware the UV bulb is rated for 300 hours of operation. You can buy a UV bulb replacement on Amazon (but not directly from Honeywell).Due to the high operating costs, I remove one star from my rating.Update after 1 year of continuous (24hr/day, 7 days a week) useYou can stretch the reuse of the cellulose/per filter to 1 year like I did. Twice a month, I soak the filter for 3-4 hours in a tap water solution mixed with 1 cap of chlorox. This both disinfects the filter and dissolves most but not all hard deposits on the filter since I just fill the tank with regular tap water. By doing so, you restore somewhat the efficiency of the filter. Every 2 weeks I also wash with soap the bottom plastic chassis.