Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this unit to replace an older Essick Air humidifier. It arrived yesterday, and it was put into service almost immediately. This unit's appearance is a bit more pleasing than some of its more utilitarian cousins, so it integrated well into our décor. Its performance, however, is disappointing. First and foremost, the built-in humidistat is inaccurate. It consistently indicates that the relative humidity in the room is 20-30% higher than three separate external hygrometers: one placed on top of the humidifier (pictured), another placed on my piano about nine feet away, and a third in an adjacent room. I believe that this is the result of a poor design, which allows humidified air to be recirculated into the unit. When the fan is stopped, the humidistat reading quickly drops to match the external hygrometers. As soon as the fan starts, the humidistat reading quickly climbs until it reaches its setpoint, and then it cycles off. In the end, the fan does not run long enough to increase the relative humidity level within in the room unless I raise the setpoint to its maximum at 65%. I removed the side grills to flip them so that the humidified air would be directed upward toward the ceiling instead of downward toward the floor. This seemed to help some, as the built-in humidistat now reads only 10-15% higher than the external hygrometers. We have also experienced three instances in which the digital display read, "EC." According to the manual, this indicates that the unit is running on an external control, or a remote control. This unit did not come with a remote control, and I did not purchase one separately. After a period of displaying, "EC," the unit powers itself off as if someone has pressed the power button. I attempted to call Essick Air at 800-547-3888 and info@essickair.com, but I presume that everyone is out of the office for Thanksgiving by this point. I look forward to receiving a response when they return, and if possible, I will update this review as additional information becomes available. In the meantime, however, I would not recommend this unit due to the troubles that we have experienced with ours in just the first twenty-four hours.