Too dry!

EclecticGroove

So, I have to have a humidifier on pretty often. But so far the options I've gotten crap out after not too long (crane ultrasonic, and a vicks UV one).

During the later fall to early spring months, these things need to essentially run nearly 24/7 to keep my apartment from turning into the Sahara. The Crane one gave up after a few months before it began making terrible noises and then quitting.

The Vicks one lasted longer, but now it no longer does anything. I saw a few reviews mention the UV light is only on a brief moment after you power it on before replacing it, but I've replaced it and it still does nothing.

I need one that can hydrate my mid sized apartment decently and I don't have to keep shelling ~$100+ every year to replace.

Unfortunately it's hard to find "longevity" as something reviewed with any consistency. I've been looking around at several, but thus far I see a number of reviews for all of the "top" models on amazon effectively talking about easy of use, noise levels, etc. But most only mention owning it recently or for a couple months.
Almost every one of them has at least one 1 star review talking about how it's stopped working reliably or at all at around the year mark.

Several mention the newer models being flimsy and cheaply made compared to the several year old one they were replacing.

So, anyone have any recommendations for a humidifier that:
1) Can humidify a space of 600 sq ft+ reliably.
2) Does not need to be refilled more than twice a day at most.
3) Will LAST, I'm looking at a minimum of 2 years... preferably more, and absolutely more if it costs more.
4) I'd like it to be at least decently easy to clean. I have hard water, so I'll need to get at the thing to clean it now and again. I'd prefer to not have to bust out a work bench to do so.

I don't care how it gets the water in the air, warm mist, evaporation, Ultrasonic. So long as it works and lasts, it's all fine with me.

davidsdurions

Does your apartment use forced air style heating and cooling? Can you get permission to add something like this?

DisruptedCapitalist

Huh. I always had those problems too. I'd be curious to see if you can find anything better, because I certainly haven't.

EclecticGroove

If you have to remove something or attach it to the wall (aside from pictures, etc) they basically don't allow it.
To top that off, all of the vents are nearly flush with the ceiling, meaning they wouldn't fit, and there are also no outlets anywhere near where these would be mounted either. Which would basically leave an extension cord dangling around. The only one that isn't flush with the ceiling is horizontal and flush with a window.

So pretty much there's no option other than standalone no matter what.

davidsdurions

Figures. Bummer. Have you tried this style before? I think this is the model we used before. They call them coolers but really they are just evaporative humidifiers that if you add ice to them it feels cool if you point it at yourself. We used one in our rentals for a couple years. Hard water is a pain in the butt but if you run some vinegar in it every few weeks it seems to keep the scales from building up too much.

EclecticGroove

davidsdurions wrote: »

Figures. Bummer. Have you tried this style before? I think this is the model we used before. They call them coolers but really they are just evaporative humidifiers that if you add ice to them it feels cool if you point it at yourself. We used one in our rentals for a couple years. Hard water is a pain in the butt but if you run some vinegar in it every few weeks it seems to keep the scales from building up too much.

No, not yet. Those are the (general) style I've been looking at to get now. I'm just getting tired of shelling out money almost every winter for a brand new unit. But really open to anything so long as it's likely to last a bit under heavy use.

davidsdurions

When I get a chance I'll find the model we used. It was used pretty regularly for two or three years and we recommended/bought a couple for relatives with no one complaining as far as I know.

EclecticGroove

davidsdurions wrote: »

When I get a chance I'll find the model we used. It was used pretty regularly for two or three years and we recommended/bought a couple for relatives with no one complaining as far as I know.

I'd certainly be interested and appreciate that. If it looks decent I'd be willing to try one out I think. Can't be worse than giving another one a random try only to have it turn to junk in a few months. hah

Creagan

You might find a small evaporator humidifier in each room would be more effective. My parents have had evaporator humidifiers for 10+ years that still work perfectly fine.

EclecticGroove

Creagan wrote: »

You might find a small evaporator humidifier in each room would be more effective. My parents have had evaporator humidifiers for 10+ years that still work perfectly fine.

Any suggestions? The ones I had till now were smaller. I just had then placed in such a way that they managed to do the job for my apartment nicely enough. But they still need to do the job all day every day for several months out of the year. The ones I've tried so far have failed just on the grounds of not lasting, not that they couldn't do the job when they worked.

tinwhiskers

Evaporator ones are mechanically a lot simpler- they are basically just a small fan and a giant foam pad that wicks water up from a reservoir to in front of the fan. They are designed to do what you are looking for rather than those little bedside units.

Pirusu

This Essick unit is recommended by Consumer Reports, and is their highest rated whole-home humidifier. It's also of the evaporator style noted by tinwhiskers and Creagan.

The largest downsides to this united noted by CR was that it is loud, and the filter may need to be replaced periodically.

EclecticGroove

Pirusu wrote: »

This Essick unit is recommended by Consumer Reports, and is their highest rated whole-home humidifier. It's also of the evaporator style noted by tinwhiskers and Creagan.

The largest downsides to this united noted by CR was that it is loud, and the filter may need to be replaced periodically.

Yeah, that's one I was looking at. Unfortunately when looking through the reviews, it seems like more than a few people crop up to change their review around the 1 year mark where the system starts to breakdown pretty badly. That's kind of what I've been experiencing with the smaller ones I've gotten as well.

They work great for a few months to a year... but as I need to run it constantly, they pretty much stop working around that point.
I've read some pretty mixed reviews on essick on amazon, it seems the general consensus has been, "They made great products, I got a new one to replace an older one, and all the new ones seem to be pretty flimsy now".

Even so, I took a chance on on of their models with a bit more capacity than the one you linked. (the Essick Air H12-400HB).

Hopefully it can go at least a couple years, as it's larger and more expensive than the one's I've had previously.