Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After my daughter was born, we purchased this for her room. I'm surprised to read all the complaints about this humidifier, because it's a cheap, low maintanance item! I must admit, that after 5 years of use (used anytime the furnace is on) and with little or no cleaning, it's doing just fine! We have hard water and we do have a softener, so no salt is needed. As soon as we fill it up and plug it in, the thing starts boiling away, QUIETLY. The directions say it lasts 18-24 hours, but in reality, it doesn't with our water. The more minerals and salt in the water, the faster it boils out of the tank. No smells, no white residue, just easy to use and no parts to replace. In the morning, we take it to the sink, dump out the black specks of minerals (THIS IS NORMAL) and refill it for the next night. I like the idea of the boiling water killing germs. We don't have any slime or gunk filling up the tank like our other evaporative humidifier. I love the cup on the top for medicine placement. I buy a huge bottle of essential oil of eucalyptus, and pour some in the cup when someone in the family is sick. Works like a charm! When it's time to replace this one, I would not hesitate to buy another. It's a very basic humidifier that raises the humidity quickly. I would buy the largest model of this type. Considering the horrible reviews on the other models, it doesn't seem to be worth buying anything else. Even if something goes wrong with it, it really isn't that much of a problem considering the cost of the unit. UPDATE: Shortly after I wrote the review, my unit stoppped working. It had a great run! Of course we replaced it with the same unit. It is currently sitting on my kitchen counter and we keep it running all night, every night and all day on the weekends. My favorite design was the old one. The new larger models have large, flat bases which are harder to drain, clean and fill. Even though it says it has larger capacity, the steamer does not use all the water up. It stops steaming after using one gallon of water, leaving extra in the base which is fine with me. Each day I pour in another gallon, and plug it in.