I own several Air-O-Swiss humidifiers...this is their largest one of the ultrasonic type. They also make the evaporative type humidifiers as well.
First, Air O Swiss makes the best Ultrasonic mist humidifiers on the market... the mist is very fine, never forms to droplets in the air, and are very durable, I have never had a unit fail over the past 5 yrs. I have not tested the filter system, which removes hard minerals to prevent white dust on furniture and can leave deposits in the humidifier base. I use purified water instead. The system uses an ionic silver stick to prevent microbial growths from occurring in the pond that forms in the base unit...its very effective... they suggest replacing the silver stick every year. ($25) However, I have used them for several season with no growths. Silver is a very potent anti microbial agent. However, using hard tap water, its possible these silver sticks can be coated with hard minerals, preventing the silver ions from releasing into the water. So your mileage may vary based on the hardness of the water hitting the silver stick. My water has less than 3 ppm dissolved solids, so its nearly 100% pure water. It is risky having microbial growths being injected into the air / lungs. Air O Swiss did a great job engineering this solution to the microbial problem. But like most products that use water, without regular maintenance, problems can arise.
As for this humidifier vs. their smaller ones.... well, its a mixed bag...it has slightly greater output, a larger tank and its much more stylish than the other units. Assuming its in a nice home, this might be important. The downside is the design of the tank.... having more water, its much heavier ptob. 15 lbs when full...and therefore, harder to handle. The design of the handle and the insertion area of the base is the weak link IMO on this products (as well as their other units, but they are not as bad)...its hard to sit the tank on the base, as it must align near perfectly for it to seat securely. A funnel type design would have been ideal, as the heavy tank would would NOT need such precision to drop in place. The higher the humidifier is placed above the floor, the harder this task becomes, as it's harder to support the weight of the tank up high while jiggling it till it aligns / seats. So if your not very strong, be prepared to place the unit about 3-4 ft from the ground, based on your height, or use a few smaller units whereas the tanks are easier to handle. The extra flow is nice, tank re fills still required 2x a day...but the output is greater, so the work load of always changing tanks has not changed, but it will service a bigger room, they mention 650 sqft... which would be hard to hold 45% RH in a room this large with one unit unless it runs 24/7, at least in the dead of winter, when the RH inside can drop down to 10% or less.
As others have mentioned,and I fully agree....the design of the tank is also,less than optimal when it comes to re filling the tank. The tank must be turned upside down to refill in the sink. A FLAT top would be very useful to allow the tank to sit without rocking in the sink, so it could fill unattended. However, this is not the case, with the rounded top, often you must hold the tank to keep the water flow entering the tank. sometimes I wonder who designs these products...do they ever use them?
Overall, a very well made unit... with improved tank design and seating system I would have ranked it 5 stars....but refilling can be quite cumbersome.
If you are deciding between some of the Air O Swiss Ultrasonic models, don't be fooled by the fancy electronics... IMO, they serve little purpose. As in most cases, the humidifiers are almost always undersized vs. the room...therefore, they never reach the humidity set points you are shooting for. The rare exception would be when the humidifier is over sized and the RH in the space is not that low to start with, in which case, you can control the humidity by not changing the tank as often. The base unit with no electronics is very reasonably priced and is the same unit, minus the electronics...
the other nice benefit of these units is the HEAT setting....heating the water before its atomizes assists the mist to be quickly absorbed in the air. So no water droplets form on counter tops or furniture it sits on. It also can potentially kill any microbial growths, as the heated water can get quite hot, maybe 125 deg.
IF you have very hard water, these ultrasonic humidifiers can leave a significant amount of mineral mist on furniture, it appears like fine white powder. If the Air O Swiss filters are effective, which I doubt they are 100% effective, as its very hard to remove hard minerals from water.... u will need to replace them quite often as the small cartridges have limited mineral removal capacity. The harder your water is, the more often you will need to replace these cartridges. So consider this cost of operating the unit... OTOH, if you have very hard water, the more simplified evaporator type humidifier might be a better option, as the minerals are not atomized into the air like these ultra sonic units do. The minerals collect in the evaporator pads, which have a lot of surface area, and is less costly to replace.
Also, don't underestimate the amazing difference of 45% RH indoors during the winter, vs. the typical 10% in most colder areas, which of course are not near the ocean or some large body of water. Of course, the 10% humidity is the humidity at room temp...so while you might see 30 deg at 30% rh on the weather report in your area.... when you heat that air up to room temp, say, 75 deg F, the RH will drop to approx 8%. This is because at higher temperatures, air is capable of holding more water vapor. The term Relative Humidity (RH) is a "relative" expression, meaning, it's the amount of water vapor in the air, relative to the max. amount of water vapor air can hold at at that temp. Warmer air, can hold a significantly greater amount of water vapor, hence the term "relative" is used, when expressing humidity values. (IMO, this is a very poor expression of water vapor in the air, its deceiving to the avg. person, but its been the standard for so long, don't expect it to change) This is why we feel such extreme dryness in the winter months, indoors.... your skin, throat and eyes, etc. As we age, our skin is not as oily, and very dry air sucks what little moisture we have in our skin, into the air.
Interestingly enough, most people complain about how hot and DRY the desert southwest summers are in the USA... in the summer, the opposite happens... at 110 deg. and 10% RH outdoors....when you cool this air down to 70 deg F indoors, the RH jumps to approx 40% which is very acceptable, hence why even in the dry desert, there is plenty of moisture in the arid summers to feel perfectly comfortable indoors. (of course, air conditioners with evap coils running too cold can condense some of this water vapor from the air and reduce the RH slightly)
For most people, specially with naturally dry skin, you will notice a huge difference in how your skin feels in higher humidity....as well as your eyes not feeling dry...throat, etc. It is a PITA changing the tanks morning and night, but IMO, the work is worth the luxury if you have dry skin...., at least for those DRY 3-4 winter months...
Of course these units are for small living spaces.... water vapor disperses in the total volume of the space (cubic feet), so tall ceilings, multi story homes, etc changes the sq. ft. capacity the makers suggest. So you may need at least a few of these humidifiers even in a relatively small space, such as 2bdrm home. Buy a decent humidity sensor to monitor how effective the result is... at least $40 for a reliable humidity sensor, such as Extech. Loss of humidity often occurs due to leaks in HVAC systems, door cracks, exhaust fans, etc. So, without a humidity meter, u won't know how effective your humidifiers are... I run 4 of the Air S Swiss units, and just barely hold 40 45% RH. I re fill the tanks 2x per day..any less, and humidify falls well below 30%.
Hope this helps with your buying decision...
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I love these units, but one of my three just died. The ultrasonic emitter is no longer working so I called AIR-O-SWISS to have it repaired and was told that they would replace it if it were still under the three year warranty, but since my units are over three years old, they will not repair or replace. Why? Because according to their customer service, they have no repair facilities in the USA. Buyer beware. These are expensive, well-built units, but if they go bad after three years, throw away and buy new.
AIR-O-SWISS, if you are listening, you should offer a customer exchange program where you mail them a replacement unit for a factory direct discount. You'd keep a loyal customer that way. Now, I am looking elsewhere.
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I bought this humidifier for two reasons: it was extremely attractive and wasn't the eye sore in the room it was in, and it was supposed to automatically regulate the humidity in the room by itself. Well, mine never did. I called the company and they told me how to check the hygrometer and I did and it seemed to have worked just fine. However, I have always had it in my bedroom (which is about 200 sq ft.) and the windows in my bedroom would be dripping with condensation in the morning, but this humidifier would still say the humidity was only 25%. It was frustrating because I have eczema and I wanted to be comfortable in my home and not have it feeling muggy. I just took mine out for the fall/winter this year and it doesn't seem to be working. I have had this machine for about 3 years. My recommendation would be to go with a different company.
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This humidifier has many advantages, including high output, large tank, and quiet operation. Unlike others, I find the tank convenient to fill. It sits securely upside down under my bathtub spout and fills in seconds. Then it's easy to place back in the unit. Of course it's heavy; it's a two gallon tank.
It needs to be well off the floor, like the manual says. I had it on the floor, where it hardly wet the carpet at all. But the humidity reading quickly rose above 60%, making the automatic settings useless.
Two feet off the floor it reads 33%. (Two nearby meters show 45% and 44%.) So the automatic settings are still useless.
The Automatic and Sleep modes are too rigid. They vary the output quantity as needed, which would be useful if the humidity reading were accurate, or if the humidity target in the automatic modes could be changed. As it is, it might just as well be set on manual and high.
And the Sleep mode is limited to 60% humidity and 6 hours. If you sleep 8 hours, or want a little more or less moisture, tough luck. Change the target humidity in either mode and it switches to full manual settings.
Every time the machine is turned on, it comes up in Automatic. If you want the heater turned off (and it doesn't do much for me except eat electricity; YMMV), or have it set up just the way you want in manual mode, you'll have to reenter those settings every time.
So if you want a humidifier that holds a lot of water, and are willing to let it run, this is your baby. If you want it to operate automatically, not so much.
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I enjoyed this product for 2 years, then all of a sudden it stopped working. They would only fix it for a hefty price, I might as well buy a new one. So I opened up the unit to see what the problem was and lo and behold everything inside the unit was corroded, including the electronic chips. Wish they would make things that last, guess its a good business model for them. ARGH! Definitely going to buy a different brand.
