Honeywell HCM-6011i QuietCare 11-Gallon Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
by Honeywell
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Honeywell HCM-6011i QuietCare 11-Gallon Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
Customer Review: Honeywell HCM-6011i Humidifier
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great humidifer! I purchased two of these from Amazon a month or so back as we have a fairly large home and winters have always resulted in far too little humidity in the house. This year the story is much better, as we've been targeting 40-45%, and have had no trouble maintaining this level. I picked the model without the whiz bang electronics because it's identical in capability and I much prefer to have a couple of very accurate, $7 hygrometers (Analog Hygrometer) located on each level of the house and away from the humidifiers so I can tell what's really happening.
We've been running them every day for a month and have had no issues other than one of the "shut down on empty" switches was hanging up and not letting the unit restart if we let it run out of water. A little smoothing of the plastic float with sandpaper resolved this and now me make sure to fill the tanks every morning and every night. We put about 7 to 8 gallons of water into the air every day, and it couldn't be less trouble. We're still on the same "wick filters," with no mold or musty smells. (Of course, we have very good water here.) Note that filters are cheaper at Home Depot ($8 each). We bought four of them and surprisingly haven't had to use any yet.
They do tend to make some noise when running on high, but there is no way around this if you're going to actually get any moisture into the air. Once you get the humidty to a reasonable level for long enough to stabiize the walls, floors and items in the house, you can switch them to medium or low to maintain that level and the sound level is much lower. These things have really been great for reducing itching and sneezing and keeping our grand piano in tune!
I highly recommend these units, and Amazon's $90 price and free shipping make them a great deal.
Customer Review: Works well enough, with a few headaches...
Summary: 3 Stars
This is at least our third winter using this device, and it still puts out the humidity nicely. It is admittedly a bit noisy when running on 'high' (about as loud as a white noise machine), so I usually run it on medium unless I'm desperate to raise the humidity in the house.
Now for the headaches. The filter/wick device is supposed to be immersed in clean water daily. Accomplishing this without getting water everywhere (or carting around a large bucket) is nearly impossible, so I normally rotate(flip over) the filter once or twice daily. If you fail to keep it moist, the device will not humidify, and the filter will turn an unpleasant brown color where it has gotten dry.
The water tanks are somewhat bulky, requiring a deep sink (or a tall tap or hose) to fill. When placed for filling, the bottom of the tank slopes, requiring one to either hold the tank upright or wedge it against something. If wedged, accidental tipping becomes an issue.
If the lids are wet or over-tightened, opening them can be difficult, requiring a towel or gripper to get a firm hold. When setting the top of the humidifier back in place, the humidifier will not engage unless carefully aligned. Since it sits on the floor, minute adjustments to get it right can take a few tries. Lastly, in the past year one of the lids fails to drain properly unless coaxed and cajoled and reseated about 20 times. Once you get it all set right though, it'll run 14-16 hours on medium though.
We go through at least two filters per winter, and at about $20 each, they're not exactly inexpensive. I bought a case of them keep from running out. Once our supply gets low, or if the humidifier breaks down, I think I'll be searching for a filterless replacement.
Customer Review: The reviews for this are all generally correct - here's my summary
Summary: 3 Stars
The 6011i seems to be a three star product for me, but it appears to be one of the best 'of a bad bunch'. Amazing that the world of console humidifiers is so poorly served by the manufacturers. Here's what you need to know (and my opinion):
-Cost: seems like a lot for what you get - be prepared to pay for it again each year in filters and antimicrobial products. The filter (this evaporative unit 'wicks' the water through the filter which lasts 1-3 months and needs a Pro-tec aluminum sulfate/silver pellet insert to protect against mold. Do they make a large capacity quiet unit that doesn't need filters and anti mold products? Seems like not - darn!
-Quiet: Yes it's quiet enough on low only. Medium and High are loud. The plastic parts vibrate together. How hard would it have been to design some rubber pads to keep everything from sympathetic vibrations?! Goodness. You can make your own from sticky rubber feet or from bits of rubber bicycle tube, I suppose.
-11 gal capacity and refills: Why do these things always refill only from the bottom? If they made a refill port on top of the cannisters, you could just refill from a large watering can, or a hose. As the other reviewers have said, the handles make refilling unnecessarily wobbly, but it's not a big deal, really. My unit seems to go along on 'low' fan setting and keep the house (1800 sq ft) satisfactorily moist on a refil every two days. I wish they'd made the contours of the product different - they could have got more than just 11 gallons into the two independent refill canisters then - How about more capacity?
Should you buy it? I guess you should look around for a better one, but that said, I didn't find one.
Customer Review: Rather carefree
Summary: 4 Stars
So, I've been using Humidifiers for a many years now, and I finally got tired of having the cheapy humidifiers melt down (you know the ones you buy at the drug store for $30). So, I bit the bullet and got the Honeywell HCM-6011i QuietCare 11-Gallon Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology (what a mouth full!).
For the most part, I'm very pleased with this unit (and I assume the other units will be similar).
First of all this is a rather large unit 2 to 3x larger than any other humidifier I've ever owned - so, I had to create room for it in the bed room.
Secondly, it has an 11 gallon capacity, which means I'm not filling it up every night. There are 2 reservoirs to fill - be certain to tighten the caps down or you'll be dripping water across the floor from the faucet to the unit. But, the reservoirs sometimes don't seat right - I'll run out of water in one reservoir, the unit will automatically shut off, but the other reservoir is still full of water <shrug>.
Thirdly, they call it "QuietCare" which might be a little miss leading. Yes, it is quiet, if you have it on low. Turn it to medium or high, and it's just as loud as every other humidifier.
Lastly, cleaning can be a chore. Well, the taking it apart to clean it can be a chore (so many pieces and parts). On the (major!) plus side, it really doesn't get dirty. I have no calcium build-up. It's been almost a year, and I'm still using the original filter (don't tell Honeywell). Maybe it's that "Protec" cartridge?
So, in my opinion, you get what you pay for. I paid just a little over $100 at a "big-box" store, and even though it's not perfect, it's a far cry better than any of those cheapy ones.
Customer Review: Third Season and doing fine
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a 'cello and guitars that need humidity in the dry winters, and this unit has been filling that need quite nicely since I purchased it in late '07 - after going through two other products that didn't.
Pros:
Tanks are large, and I only need to fill them once a day. The noise level is quite acceptable as long as the tanks are more than 1/4 full. Wheels make it easy to move when needed. The unit is extremely easy to clean thoroughly - scale buildup is all on the disposable filter, which was a huge improvement over the other products I tried. I'm happy to be getting a third season out of it, as these days products like this just aren't made to last. Setting the level is a snap - just dial it in.
Cons:
As the tanks empty, the unit often hums - no consideration seems to have been made in the design to prevent this. I've taken to running it with one tank, then the other, so at least they don't vibrate against each other. You'll need to get a hygrometer if you want accurate humidity. The tanks are cumbersome to fill, but certainly manageable.
Note: if your water isn't chlorinated (we have a whole house water filter that removes 95% of city chlorine), you'll need to add a bit of bleach to extend the filter life. This isn't a problem with the unit as much as a fact of life: mold likes wet sponges. Less than half a teaspoon in each tank every few days works fine for me. Lately the Protec cartridges come only half-filled with elements and I'll probably stop using those altogether. A squirt of bleach is a LOT cheaper and I don't notice the odor at all. Others have mentioned using ammonia - I would *strongly* recommend against that.