@Lynnerizer@remqnf
Living in international falls for a while, I can testify to that. June was spring July summer, August was fall, any other month carried the risk of snow potentially.
@werehatrack But I’ll give them this much; at least they aren’t claiming it’s an air conditioner the way the sellers of last years functionally similar big scam item did.
Nope. As much as I’d like to have a gallon-size humidifier kicking around when the seasons change, these filter/wick based humidifiers turn into giant mold factories if you look at them sideways. My place doesn’t have a mold problem (a spot or two all within the ‘normal’ range when using mold test kits) but even that is enough to cause these to explode into a full bloom before the end of one season. I say nay.
@1DisabledWarVet The instructions appear to recommend replacing a filter (maybe that’s the swamp pad?) about once a month, but nobody was saying anything about proper cleaning in the comments I read. Where swamp coolers are more common, there’s less mold, and people appear to swap out the pads on them “as needed”. Here? Yeesh. It would be slimed in three days, tops.
@werehatrack, Well I did mention cleanin it, but didn’t include instructions on how to DIY ‘Properly’!! I got one even though I live in the deep deep south. I plan ta R&R the filter every month & wash the disassembled parts [ if I ever get around to opennng d box & using the fn thing!]!
Any humidifier that uses a filter or “wick” especially with hard water will need replacement often as they tend to fall apart from the minerals and cleaning. In Arizona I’ve gone through almost a dozen humidifiers. Make sure you can get replacements and the cost is not prohibitive. I was interested until I saw it uses one.
@craigcush This unit appears to use the same cylindrical wicking media used by a dozen other models, including my Honeywell ‘Germ Free’ model (uses a UV bulb to sterilize the water), which cost less than $10 at Walmart. During winter, I change the wicking media about once a month.
@craigcush A filter for me generally lasts an entire season. Every month or so I remove it and soak it in a vinegar/water mixture and it dissolves all the crusted minerals. You can’t do that indefinitely, but it extends the filter life for several cycles.
Wow, it’s a real filter humidifier - not one of the ultrasonic ones that are bad for you unless you use distilled water - and for a good price! I’m impressed. Thanks Meh!
The reigning frugal option before this was Walmart’s black plastic Mainstays filter humidifier, $25, filters are ~$10 a pop.
If this thing uses the cheap cylindrical filters that it looks like it might use, those are even cheaper than the Walmart ones, so that’d be great. Anyone have an idea what aftermarket filters fit?
@hchavers Looks like they fixed that, but it’s really odd that the same model number is used for both the 1 and 2 gallon models. This screams “paste-on brand label” for me.
@hchavers Heh. Looking closer at the Amazon feedback, it looks like the 2 gallon ones weren’t. There was just a one-gallon version, and some of the sellers listed it as two-gallon, engaging in the great marketing tradition of specifications inflation. (This is most egregiously done with the specs for laser pointers. Don’t ask.)
@taneplapeorb Well I feel like I just fell off the turnip truck, thanks for turning me onto green text and
4chan. It looks like it could be fun or at least interesting!
@The_Tim A pencil sharpener whose shavings include no graphite. Right. But even loonier, one of the different-brand identical-unit listings on Amazon shows a happy little girl drawing something with a pencil, and next to her is one of these with the collection cup unsnapped and sitting off the unit, and nary a crumb of debris is anywhere in the area.
@jayman007@mjonczak And oddly enough, most of the reviews seem to be from 2013. Maybe the earlier batch was lower-quality crap, but why are 34% of the ratings three-star, with next to no reviews since 2014?
I just got a humidifier in my IRK a few days ago. (waiting to take a pic to post) From what I’m reading here in the comments, LOTS of other people are going to be getting them in their future IRKs too! Lol
@Lynnerizer If it’s ultrasonic, just use distilled water and they’re fine. If you put tap water into one of those, or bottled “drinking water” for that matter, the droplets will evaporate leaving an airborne mineral dust that ends up in your lungs and everywhere else. This is Not A Good Idea.
@werehatrack I guess not! Sounds like a lot of people could have damaged their lungs. I bet half of the people who bought these kind of humidifiers don’t read what kind of water to use! I mean most people think water is just water! Right?
The only time I’ve ever needed a humidifier was for my allergies when I was a kid and for my BF son when he was a kid. Even then I think it might have been a vaporizer. Dehumidifiers is what I’m used of needing.
@Kidsandliz Gotta be careful where you get that Texas air. El Paso or Midland stuff is likely to be drier than yours, and there’s just no telling what kind of free bonus extras are in the air from places along the upper Gulf Coast.
When I moved to this place 2.5 years ago, I found that I have to sleep with a humidifier or I get a sinus headache. I have a cheap Amazon one you fill from the top, which isn’t as good as it sounds. And I like that this has a filter, I’m tired of the fine layer calcium all over my furniture. And I like that you can pull the water container out and that it’s a gallon. The one I have is only 2.5 litres and I have to add water every night. It’s just not quite big enough to make it through two days. This is exactly what I was looking for.
I wish we had a 50 gallon drum with a spigot in MN. Our dehumidifiers suck out about 2 gallons a day and our humidifiers (ultrasonic, not wick) use about 2 gallons a day. The water from the dehumidifier is essentially distilled…but I would not drink it.
@radi0j0hn So - I live in a very dry climate and am pretty clueless about dehumidifiers, but I’m puzzled about why you need humidifiers if you have to run dehumidifiers?
@Kyeh@radi0j0hn
My understanding is that this usually is a case of putting a dehumidifier in the basement, where it tends to be damp, and humidifiers upstairs where the action of the heating tends to make it dry.
Specs
Product: Optimus 1 Gallon Cool Mist Evaporative Humidifier
Model: U-33015
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$54.59 at Walmart
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, Jul 28 - Monday, Aug 1
Meh
So … if I use my Amazon log-in I’ll get an Optimus Prime??
/image Optimus Prime
*checks the weather
No…no, I don’t think I need a humidifier.
@remqnf .
Certainly not down here in the south in the summer!
@chienfou @remqnf
Here in the North winter is right around the corner, it happens every year!
@Lynnerizer @remqnf
Living in international falls for a while, I can testify to that. June was spring July summer, August was fall, any other month carried the risk of snow potentially.
@chienfou @remqnf
No thanks!
Ah ha, the nation’s ice box!
Biv…
@Lynnerizer @remqnf
Yep. Below zero 24/7 for several days on end in January/Feb every year…
So this is basically a microswampcooler masquerading as a humidifier. Yeah, that’s gonna be real useful around here. Not.
@werehatrack But I’ll give them this much; at least they aren’t claiming it’s an air conditioner the way the sellers of last years functionally similar big scam item did.
Nope. As much as I’d like to have a gallon-size humidifier kicking around when the seasons change, these filter/wick based humidifiers turn into giant mold factories if you look at them sideways. My place doesn’t have a mold problem (a spot or two all within the ‘normal’ range when using mold test kits) but even that is enough to cause these to explode into a full bloom before the end of one season. I say nay.
@blaadnort, I think you’re spouse ta wash’em more often then once a season! Maybe, wash/clean them every 1-2 weeks, not eery 4 months!!
@1DisabledWarVet The instructions appear to recommend replacing a filter (maybe that’s the swamp pad?) about once a month, but nobody was saying anything about proper cleaning in the comments I read. Where swamp coolers are more common, there’s less mold, and people appear to swap out the pads on them “as needed”. Here? Yeesh. It would be slimed in three days, tops.
@werehatrack, Well I did mention cleanin it, but didn’t include instructions on how to DIY ‘Properly’!! I got one even though I live in the deep deep south. I plan ta R&R the filter every month & wash the disassembled parts [ if I ever get around to opennng d box & using the fn thing!]!
I’m going to pit this against the dehumidifier and see who wins. I wonder if I can set up a hose to feed this from the dehumidifier?
@fuzzmanmatt Hardware Wars 2.0?
@fuzzmanmatt @werehatrack I could go for a Hardware Wars 2.0. I have the original on DVD.
Did anyone find a filter less expensive than the humidifier?
Any humidifier that uses a filter or “wick” especially with hard water will need replacement often as they tend to fall apart from the minerals and cleaning. In Arizona I’ve gone through almost a dozen humidifiers. Make sure you can get replacements and the cost is not prohibitive. I was interested until I saw it uses one.
@craigcush This unit appears to use the same cylindrical wicking media used by a dozen other models, including my Honeywell ‘Germ Free’ model (uses a UV bulb to sterilize the water), which cost less than $10 at Walmart. During winter, I change the wicking media about once a month.
@craigcush A filter for me generally lasts an entire season. Every month or so I remove it and soak it in a vinegar/water mixture and it dissolves all the crusted minerals. You can’t do that indefinitely, but it extends the filter life for several cycles.
Wow, it’s a real filter humidifier - not one of the ultrasonic ones that are bad for you unless you use distilled water - and for a good price! I’m impressed. Thanks Meh!
The reigning frugal option before this was Walmart’s black plastic Mainstays filter humidifier, $25, filters are ~$10 a pop.
If this thing uses the cheap cylindrical filters that it looks like it might use, those are even cheaper than the Walmart ones, so that’d be great. Anyone have an idea what aftermarket filters fit?
Does it work with margaritas rather than water?
@cbilyak
Could you imagine, the newest way to injest alcohol. Airborne!! I would’ve loved it back in my drinking days!
@cbilyakz, no, but regard-less, Don’t Drink The Water
!! 
It must only be in Meh’s world where 2.0 GAL = 1 Gallon.
@hchavers Looks like they fixed that, but it’s really odd that the same model number is used for both the 1 and 2 gallon models. This screams “paste-on brand label” for me.
@hchavers Heh. Looking closer at the Amazon feedback, it looks like the 2 gallon ones weren’t. There was just a one-gallon version, and some of the sellers listed it as two-gallon, engaging in the great marketing tradition of specifications inflation. (This is most egregiously done with the specs for laser pointers. Don’t ask.)
Immediately thought of that one greentext about pouring soda into someone’s humidifier and leaving
@taneplapeorb Well I feel like I just fell off the turnip truck, thanks for turning me onto green text and
4chan. It looks like it could be fun or at least interesting!
@Lynnerizer For milliseconds. Once.
@Lynnerizer oh dear I’m so sorry
Am I the only one who thought this was a pencil sharpener on first glance at the image?
@The_Tim A pencil sharpener whose shavings include no graphite. Right. But even loonier, one of the different-brand identical-unit listings on Amazon shows a happy little girl drawing something with a pencil, and next to her is one of these with the collection cup unsnapped and sitting off the unit, and nary a crumb of debris is anywhere in the area.
Horrible reviews on Amazon.
@jayman007 some real horror stories
@jayman007 @mjonczak And oddly enough, most of the reviews seem to be from 2013. Maybe the earlier batch was lower-quality crap, but why are 34% of the ratings three-star, with next to no reviews since 2014?
I just got a humidifier in my IRK a few days ago. (waiting to take a pic to post) From what I’m reading here in the comments, LOTS of other people are going to be getting them in their future IRKs too! Lol
@Lynnerizer If it’s ultrasonic, just use distilled water and they’re fine. If you put tap water into one of those, or bottled “drinking water” for that matter, the droplets will evaporate leaving an airborne mineral dust that ends up in your lungs and everywhere else. This is Not A Good Idea.
@werehatrack I guess not! Sounds like a lot of people could have damaged their lungs. I bet half of the people who bought these kind of humidifiers don’t read what kind of water to use! I mean most people think water is just water!
Right?
The only time I’ve ever needed a humidifier was for my allergies when I was a kid and for my BF son when he was a kid. Even then I think it might have been a vaporizer. Dehumidifiers is what I’m used of needing.
All I need is bagged MS air (or TX air I am sure) to release in the winter. No need for a humidifier then.
@Kidsandliz Gotta be careful where you get that Texas air. El Paso or Midland stuff is likely to be drier than yours, and there’s just no telling what kind of free bonus extras are in the air from places along the upper Gulf Coast.
@werehatrack I figure if I get out of the meh warehouse you never know what might crawl in there with it.
Who are you people in South Florida buying humidifiers? Let us know so we can get you the help you need.
@Weboh If they’re living in South Florida voluntarily and they think this think will make their life better, they are beyond help already.
Ok…Temps are in the 90s w/ dew points in the 70s & you’re trying to sell me a humidifier? I’m going w/ “NO” on this one!
I live in Florida. If I need humidification, I just open the window for 60 seconds…
When I moved to this place 2.5 years ago, I found that I have to sleep with a humidifier or I get a sinus headache. I have a cheap Amazon one you fill from the top, which isn’t as good as it sounds. And I like that this has a filter, I’m tired of the fine layer calcium all over my furniture. And I like that you can pull the water container out and that it’s a gallon. The one I have is only 2.5 litres and I have to add water every night. It’s just not quite big enough to make it through two days. This is exactly what I was looking for.
I wish we had a 50 gallon drum with a spigot in MN. Our dehumidifiers suck out about 2 gallons a day and our humidifiers (ultrasonic, not wick) use about 2 gallons a day. The water from the dehumidifier is essentially distilled…but I would not drink it.
@radi0j0hn So - I live in a very dry climate and am pretty clueless about dehumidifiers, but I’m puzzled about why you need humidifiers if you have to run dehumidifiers?
@Kyeh @radi0j0hn
My understanding is that this usually is a case of putting a dehumidifier in the basement, where it tends to be damp, and humidifiers upstairs where the action of the heating tends to make it dry.
@Kyeh Summer: de-humidify. Winter: add humidity.
@radi0j0hn Down here where it’s humid most of the year, we call our dehumidifier “an AC system”.
@radi0j0hn Oh, I see - thanks.
I use a swamp cooler in the summer which adds some welcome humidity to the indoor air.
This thing is worthless junk; on high its output MIGHT be enough to humidify a small coat closet.
Unusable. The controller piece came shattered. So. Totally worthless. Absolute worst meh purchase so far.
After 12 hrs on high this thing has only put little more then half gallon of water in the air. Worst I have owned!
Mine keeps leaking water out from the bottom somewhere. Am I doing something wrong?
Right out the box, this product never worked. REALLY disappointed.