Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Researching humidifiers on Amazon was a somewhat tiresome exercise. Almost all products I looked at are subject to very serious complaints, most importantly noise, leakage, and lack of reliability. I decided to go with the AOS 7147 because most reviewers agree that it is really quiet, and because I liked the clean look and the features. Here is what I can report after about a week of usage (will update if anything changes over time): Noise level: Both my wife and I are extremely noise sensitive, but this unit can operate in our bedroom without affecting our sleep. Yes, there is a bit of a humming noise, but it is barely audible. Also there is a bubbling noise once in a while when water flows out of the tank into the tray. All-in-all, it seems about as quiet as can reasonably be expected. Effectiveness: We use the auto setting that lets the device decide the target level of humidity and the output level. This works very well and hassle free, keeping the room comfortably moist. Warm mist setting: I would recommend having it. Without it the room feels cool and damp. Even with using it there is a bit of a cooling effect, but it is acceptable. Filtering/water treatment: We did not see any white dust around the unit, which was a concern. Reliability/ease of use: No problems so far, straight-forward to operate, everything works as intended. I will post updates, if something comes up. Look: Matters more than you would think, because it is supposed to be three feet away from the ground and away from both heating and return vents. Inevitably it will end up in a rather visible place. This unit has a bit of a techy, but overall relatively neutral look, better than most. In summary, I am very happy with this unit. Update: After a winter, We are still happy with it. So we bought a 2nd one to be used in the office. Some tips on reducing the humming noise. Put a tray underneath the unit, then a thick sponge pad or similar cushion underneath the tray. The cushion dramatically reduces the noise level. The tray is very important. We first put the sponge directly underneath the unit, and that totally screwed up its moisture reading. We could watch the moisture level reduce from 50 to 49 to 48... to 37 in a few minutes and the unit cranked out steam like crazy. It seems that the unit needs to be placed on a hard surface to read the moisture level properly. Once we put a tray underneath it, the reading works normal again.