Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This unit is comprised of four parts that are elegant in their simplicity and optimization. Part 1, the base "platter", is merely a simple piece of tough plastic (no motor, no switches, nothing electrical, no mounted parts at all) embossed to provide channels that conduct water from one end (where Part 2, the reservoir "jug", sits) to the other end where the water is absorbed up into the cylindrical wick "filter" cylinder (Part 3) where the powerful fan in the upper main unit (Part 4) pulls air through the moist filter perimeter and ejects it upward into the room. In my moderately large house (3600 sq ft) I have 4 of these units running, and the reservoirs (1+ gallons) have to be refilled every 12 hours (8+ gallons per day total) to maintain reasonable humidity in house. These work much better than my furnace-mounted humidifier. Reservoir refill process is, take a 2 gallon plastic bucket of water to humidifier, lift out reservoir, lift off main unit, put wick filter in bucket to soak, make a trip to sink to refill reservoir jug, put wick filter back in place, put main unit back in place, drop reservoir jug into main unit, move on to next humidifier. In a 4-month heavy heating season, you'll need new throw-away wick filters ($9) at the outset, and half-way through. (The manufacturer-supplied wick filters are the only item that can be improved on. Don't buy Honeywell's replacement. Get Sunbeam SWF-227. They're 5-1/2" instead of 5" tall, but after they're soaked, you can easily squish them down.) At end of season, clean platter and reservoir in the dishwasher if you like, and wipe down underside of main unit surfaces with a damp cloth. Not absolutely necessary, the surfaces don't accumulate deposits that much. The only other thing you'll need to replace periodically is the special UV lamp that shines down from the main unit into the water channel to kill any stray incoming bacteria/virus. Get humidified, and stop the itching.