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

[Elwing]

We used to use a Vicks warm humidifier, but it does share some of the  
problems you point out - you have to add salt to get steam, and it  
leaves cruddy stuff at the bottom to clean out every night.  Our new  
house has a whole house humidifier (Aprilaire 560) that we've so far  
been really happy with other than the excessive water usage.  When our  
furnace is on, there's a constant stream of water going down the drain  
from the humidifier.  But it keeps the relative humidity in the house  
at about 40% (and it's adjustable)

Elwing


On Dec 21, 2008, at 2:50 PM, Carla Schroder wrote:

> 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
>
>
> -- 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Carla Schroder
> check out the shiny new Linux Networking Cookbook!
> Chock full o' step-by-step howtos for network admins!
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>
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