[Techtalk] finding a warm-mist humidifier that isn't garbage

Carla Schroder carla at bratgrrl.com
Sun Dec 21 19:50:25 UTC 2008


hey all, yeah, this is probably off-topic, but I'm getting frustrated. All I 
want is a warm-mist humidifier for my bedroom. I already tried a couple of 
inexpensive ones, and they were both junk. They worked fine for a few nights, 
but were hard to clean, and both gave up the ghost in a few days. 

I've been searching all over the Internet for reviews and information, and 
it's the same all over-- no matter what price range you're in, there are many 
complaints of unreliability, poor build quality, and hard to clean. We have 
moderately hard water, and plain old white vinegar gets rid of any scale in 
short order. But you have to be able to take the thing apart in a sensible 
way to do this, which is not possible with a lot of these devices. I'm not 
going to buy distilled water because that is financially insane, and then you 
have to add salt to get any steam, and then you're making mineral buildup 
again.

I don't want a cold-mist vaporizer, must have warm-mist. WTF is so hard about 
heating water and making steam? I tried using a crockpot-- I made a lid with 
a little hole in it to keep the heat in and let steam out, but it doesn't get 
hot enough without being completely covered. 

So. Any and all creative notions are welcome. I thought of trying a hot plate 
and a little cast-iron kettle, but I don't trust hot plates to be safe for 
long periods of time. But I'm open to trying it, or other methods, if anyone 
has tried them.

thanks,
Carla


-- 
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Carla Schroder
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