Holmes HM1865-U Digital Cool Mist Humidifier
by Holmes Group
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List Price: Our Price: $42.99 You Save: $17.00 (28%) Availability: Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Holmes HM1865-U Digital Cool Mist Humidifier
Customer Review: Works well but has quirks... may or may not work for you!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have recently purchased this unit so I can not comment on how sensible filter replacement is for me. We are using this to add humidity in our small to medium sized bedroom. It works very well in our room. Previous to owning this my wife and I would wake up constantly in the night during the colder months coughing and feeling like we're suffocating with a dry itchy throat. We could tell the difference within 15 minutes and have been sleeping very well ever since with the unit set to 40-45% humidity.
The downside to this unit for us is as others have mentioned the auto off and on. It will cycle off and on rapidly at times which definitely makes it difficult to sleep through. Our solution has been to use our fan in conjunction with the unit. We like to sleep with noise anyway so the combination of the 2 units doesn't bother us. It helps mask the shut off of the unit when it does occur and the fan seems to dissipate the humidity somewhat when placed close to the humidifier. This works well because with the setting on the unit to "Auto 2" the unit has to run constantly in order to maintain the desired humidity and rarely shuts off.
This may not be a desirable balancing game for some, but it does not bother me and I am very pleased with the effectiveness of the unit. One other thing I have noticed that I didn't see mentioned by anyone is sometimes the unit will "gurgle" when the water level is draining quickly in a dry room. This has been somewhat distracting for us even with the fan running when we are sleeping lightly. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who likes to sleep with some noise or a fan, but don't think I could recommend it to others as it can be fairly noisy at almost any setting and the shut on and off can be obnoxious without some balancing.
Customer Review: A great midside room humidifier, IF you're willing to roll the dice
Summary: 3 Stars
I've owned 6 or 7 of these humidifiers over the years. From the days when they had plain dial controls (just speeds 1, 2, & 3) to the current digital models where you set a target humidity and the unit reaches that, senses that, and turns off. This current digital model allows for 'simple control'... i.e. speed 1, speed 2, speed 3, or "automatic versions" of the three speeds, with a built in humidistat ... and that's where the trouble is.
It's a roll of the dice... some unit's work properly, some reach the humidity you set (by pressing the up/down button), then incredibly annoyingly, start to cycle on and off every 30 seconds or so. IT WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY.
This behavior will go on for hours and seems to be completely random. Somedays it works properly, some days not. I have to guess faulty components (welcome to the world of products you can no longer trust).
However. it's relatively quiet (I've owned at least ten different medium sized room models & this one's the best), and it really does a nice job on a roughly 15 x15 room (225 sq. ft. or so). It'll work fine in a smaller room, but go more than a foot or two larger, & you'll be filling this one twice a day.
One of my 2 current models is "afflicted" and so I have to run it in normal mode, I can't choose the automatic settings at all, the other works normally.
In my personal experience about 60% of these models have the humidistat problem, so if that's important to you, I'd look at another model. If not, compared to other similar models, it's actually a very good humidifier.
Customer Review: Solid Humidifier
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good humidifier. It does everything promised. We are currently using it to keep the humidity up in our server room during the dry winter months. (Yes, electronics don't like it when the air is too dry either) The humidifer is extremely easy to program and accurately shuts off at the desired humidity setting. It runs well and has an impressive output when running on the highest setting.
There are a few downsides I see to this humidifier 1. noise - not an issue for our application, but too loud to have it in a bedroom. 2. capacity - With the AC in our server room constantly drying the air, we only get about 18 hours contunuous runtime on a tank. Much less than the promised 48 hous for this model. However, if the air were not being conditioned and the humidifier were able to cycle off more often, I can see the capacity being sufficient. 3. resets - If the humidifer looses power, it defaults to the off setting. This is the biggest issue with an un-attended setup like ours. If the humidifer is unplugged or looses power (reasonably common here during storms) it switches to off and has to have the output and humidity settings put back in. This only takes a few seconds, but it still has to be done.
Despite the points above, this is a solidly performing humidifier at an excellent price point. I would definately recommend to others.
Customer Review: Powerful humidifier
Summary: 4 Stars
For those saying they aren't sure if it humidifies their room, get a hygrometer. You know, those digital temperature/humidity sensors with the LCD panel. I have one from Honeywell. This humidifier is able to keep my humidity at 40% in a LOFT apartment in Nebraska winters. We're talking below zero, frozen and humidity in the teens without a humidifier. In a single level apartment, it can get us to 50% but I keep it at 45. It is about twice as capable as a warm mist humidifier that can't get the room above 30%. PLUS, the warm one requires about 230w of electricity to run vs about 30w for the fan in this one. PLUS, the heater block in the warm mist unit must be soaked in white vinegar and have the minerals scraped off of it periodically. Pain in the butt, and not worth it.
The downside? The filter must be washed in a bucket of soap water every so often or it accumulates pink/black mold and smells funny. It won't hurt you, but it is unpleasant. That's the only reason I don't give it 5 stars.
I like the automatic setting. I want 45%? It will hold it there. That way I don't have to touch the thing until its running empty.
Use distilled water ONLY for the best results, as with all humidifiers.
Customer Review: Pricey and ineffective
Summary: 1 Stars
This humidifier does the job...poorly. I live in Maine and the air gets terribly dry because of winter and heat from the furnace. If I put this in the auto setting, the unit turns on and off every few seconds! The filters for this model are really hard to find, so unless you have time to drive around town or you like to buy for stuff online, it is not worth it. And did I mention that this humidifier makes my house stink? It did it from day ONE -at first I thought it was because it was new-. One week later it would stink even more because of mold in the filter!!! This junk is not made for heavy duty, like the manufacturer suggests. Save some nomey and buy either a cheaper humidifier or invest in one that is better quality.