Best Evaporative Humidifier Stainless Steel 15 Gallon Deals

Customer Ratings:

In my quest to replace the fake woodgrain 1970s-vintage Sears whole house humidifier that we've used for years, I first purchased an EssickAir (Bemis) TD6-710. The unit had all the looks, size, and features we wanted a really slick machine. The only problem was that it was severely design-flawed.

There is nothing on the market as sleek-looking as that unit. It's sad that it is so flawed. The hardware store was gracious to take it back used and unboxed, and they decided to return all 3 units they still had back to the manufacturer.

Wal-Mart had the Boston Innovative Products EH-01-342 for $109, so we picked one up. This unit doesn't have the electronic humidity meters, out-of-water indicator, or super-easy refill of the EssickAir, but it is solidly built and so far does not overflow the water basin like the EssickAir. There are 2 two-gallon containers in it for water. Each has a handle for ease of carrying. Getting them out involves removal of a pop-out screen in the back of the unit, so you don't have the convenience of frontfill. The 3-speed evaporator fan in typically noisy, even on the lowest setting. Cold air blows out the front of the unit, making placement of it in the room a concern of comfort. The unit is taller but narrower that those boxy larger units, making it a little less invasive. Time will tell how it fits into our home. I may update this in a few weeks with further experience.

2-1-07 Update

After using this machine for a little while, one thing I cannot understand. Why doesn't it have an out-of-water indicator? It seems crazy that you have to attune your ear to the mild grating noise that indicates a water refill is necessary. Why put the water pump through all that excessive wear? Another thing that can be annoying is the short cycle time. I don't know how the humidity sensor is set up, but the unit turns on for a few minutes, turns off for a few minutes, turns on for a few minutes... why not design a delay in the timing so that it wouldn't be so jarring with all this cycling? I'm thinking now that a 3-star rating is more appropriate, although it still beats most of the competition that I have tried.

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We purchased this humidifier at WalMart when they were clearanced last year and got them out of the attic for this winter. First of all I don't understand how it can be called a "15 gallon" humidifier when it really only holds 4 gallons can anyone explain this? Also, we have also had problems with knowing when to refill it until the humidifier starts making a funny noise (and this surely isn't good on the machine to constantly let it run out of water). Also, we have had a funny substance running out of the machine almost from the beginning of use, and today while wiping up the "junk" I noticed that it is green now. ???? Anyway the reason I rated it a '2' is because it is nice looking and does run 'fairly' quietly when it is full of water. Overall, our family has been very disappointed in this humidifier.