Duracraft DWM250 2-1/2-Gallon Warm-Mist Humidifier
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Our Price: $47.88 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Duracraft DWM250 2-1/2-Gallon Warm-Mist Humidifier
Customer Review: A little marvel of engineering
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not your mother's humidifier. Of course if, as a child, you enjoyed melting wax crayons in a noisy jet of superheated steam, you will be disappointed.
The air is dry here, and my wife and I would frequently awaken with dry, sore throats and sinus headaches. We decided to experiment with humidifying our bedroom. After researching the pros & cons of warm mist units vs cool mist units we decided on warm mist. We also factored in how much money we were willing to risk on this experiment (about twenty-five bucks).
I wish I could say that we have never had another sore throat or sinus headache since using this unit, but we are definitely more comfortable.
I am totally enamored of the thought and engineering that went into the creation of this inexpensive and helpful device. The only thing I am disappointed in is the listing of the unit as "2-1/2 Gallon". I think it is misleading. I think most consumers would assume that this refers to the reservoir capacity, which is actually 2-1/2 QUARTS (yes, I measured). All I can do is speculate on why this is labeled as it is. Nevertheless, on the "Low" setting it goes all night without needing refilling, with plenty left over. I haven't needed to run it all night on "High" so I can't offer any comments on run-time in that setting. If you fill the heating chamber tray before you set the reservoir in place, you can get more operating time out of the unit.
This unit is pretty quiet - the sound of a little water boiling, and an occasional burble as water from the reservoir recharges the heating chamber. We are completely satisfied with this unit.
Customer Review: Ahhh...finally some peace and quiet...
Summary: 5 Stars
The last time I had a steam vaporizer type humidifier was when I was an infant suffering from a chest cold. Since then I have had a variety of those ultrasonic types. I'm glad I was able to return to the old tried and true steam version at last.
First and foremost, this steam vaporizer humidifier is EXTREMELY quiet. At its LOW setting I can not hear it running. On the HIGH setting one can hear a very pleasant sort of low volume white noise like distant rain falling which I found will actually help me fall asleep faster! On both settings there is an occasional gurgle sound as water leaves the reserve tank and refills the tank that holds the water to be boiled. It's virtually unnoticeable.
This humidifier can easily be dissembled into several pieces for cleaning which might take you, at most, about 20 minutes of your time every few weeks or so. However, I've been using filtered water from a Brita pitcher in it and it has not needed any cleaning now after almost two months of use.
The nice thing about this unit is its simplicity of construction. There is no motor powered fan in it that can eventually malfunction or begin to make noise when its bearing lubricants fail. The steam it produces simply rises out of the top to humidify an area of up to 700 square feet which is about one or two average sized rooms. It is perfect for a bedroom.
It's tank of water will easily last for 12 hours on the LOW setting and will get you through most of the night if set on HIGH. No need to worry in the event that you run out of water during the night...the device will automatically shut itself off if that happens.
However, don't expect it to work immediately. On LOW it will take about ten minutes before the steam is being produced. On HIGH it will take about five minutes. After steam is being produced on either setting, you will still need about another ten minutes or so before you can "feel" the improved humidity in the air you are breathing...a small price to pay for the restful quiet and many years of reliable performance this device will provide you with. I doubt if I ever had an ultrasonic humidifier that lasted more than two years.
You will be glad you got this device...I was and will never go back to the old ultrasonic humidifiers again.
Customer Review: BEST VALUE ON THE MARKET IN PORTABLE HUMIDIFICATION
Summary: 5 Stars
After owning more than a dozen different types of hunmidifiers over the years this is the one I keep coming back to. It offers low purchase price and even lower maintenance cost than just about any other type you can find. Use of filtered water (like Brita, etc) will make the unit's heating element last much longer as minerals in water tend to collect on the element that does the heating thus causing the element to get coated and insulated. Using the filtered water reduces available minerals in water so unit works better for longer time. Regular cleaning of the element with vinegar will make it last even longer if you're so inclined. But for the low purchase price (less than some filter wicks on other types of humidifiers) one can afford to replace the unit more often. When I tried the type with wicks I had to replace wicks several times a winter at a cost of around $15.00 each which is more tha this unit costs. And this one will easily last longer than one winter if filtered water is used. So all in all this is a bargain and it works well.Customer Review: Broken in under 2 months
Summary: 1 Stars
There just don't seem to be any good humidifiers out there. I was careful each time I cleaned this unit. However, the bottom plastic reservoir bowed out in just over a month's use causing the water reservoir to continually drain. This does not allow the unit to work right. Even tried rigging it with packing tape, worked for a day now completely out of commission.
Customer Review: Broken when it arrived
Summary: 1 Stars
After reading many positive reviews of this product, I ordered one for myself. I disinfected it according to the instructions, filled the tank with water, and ..... nothing. Although the unit was plugged in and the power light was on, no steam ever emerged. The instructions say that it will take 5-10 minutes for the machine to begin producing steam, I left mine on for more than an hour with no luck. A call to the manufacturer's customer service line took ages, and they had no idea what the problem was. Diagnosis: it's broken. (Duh.) One interesting note: the service rep mentioned that these units were no longer being manufactured and that whoever was selling them (Amazon, in this case) was selling older merchandise that they had warehoused. She encouraged me to buy a "newer" model, though it is impossible for me as a consumer to tell which humidifier models are current and which are older. Unlike books, they don't have publication dates.