Honeywell HCM-6011i QuietCare 11-Gallon Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Honeywell HCM-6011i QuietCare 11-Gallon Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
Customer Review: Pretty good, not perfect.. Grade A-
Summary: 4 Stars
We've owned a number of humidifiers over the years. We live in Arizona where it's hot and dry so we often run them 24/7 for 10 months out of the year. We've used warm and cool mist humidifiers and prefer the cool mist units do to lower power consumption and obviously anything that helps keep the house cooler rather than warmer makes sense in AZ.
This unit does a great job of keeping our 1700 square foot house humidified. In fact it barely breaks a sweat so I imagine it could do the job even for a 2500 foot house or larger. The sound levels are basically what you'd expect from a fan in a plastic housing. Any claims that it is "silent" are ridiculous, but it's easy to sleep with it in the same room when set on low. My wife prefers the white noise anyway.
I'll address some of the complains that people have left here about the unit.
First, that it's hard to get the parts to align properly when you put it together. Either these people have an older model, or they shouldn't be trusted with anything mechanical. There are guides, grooves, and posts all over the base to ensure that you get everything fitted properly. I can't even imagine screwing it up.
The tanks are indeed hard to open and Kaz should take a lesson from the tank on our last humidifier, the Graco 4 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier. It sealed positively without being hard to take off. I'm a 36 year old male who works out and I still occasionally have to strain to get these open. NOT recommended for people with arthritis.
Some folks have noted that the various parts tend to vibrate against each other causing the unit to hum or buzz. This has only happened to me once and a nudge was all it took to resolve it. If it proved to be chronic then a few rubber stick-on feet from a hardware store would resolve it permanently.
The tanks do not inspire confidence in their contruction quality. Thin and the seams look like they're held together with crazy glue. I imagine these will be the first thing to fail.
One thing I am surprised about is how quickly and sudennly the filter turned a sour smell. After just 2-3 months of use it started smelling. Having owned several other humidifiers over the years I have to say that I expected better. In part I suspect that the filter is simply too large for the area we intend to humidify, and so it has the time to sit and stagnate more than it should. Still a quick trip to bleach-ville solves it for another few months.
One addition would make this perfect, that being a pump to circulate water over the filter. It makes for higher humidity output, prevents the filter from turning sour or stale as quickly, and prevent mineral build-up on the filter since it is constantly being rinsed. If this unit dies today I will replace it with Lasko 1128 9-Gallon Evaporative Recirculating Humidifier instead which has this feature.
A+ for moisture output
B for construction/design
C for features
Overall = A- since it gets the job done well.
Customer Review: QUIET - QUIET - QUIET The best humiderfier MADE
Summary: 5 Stars
This humidifier is quiet, fast humiderfication, can sit on floor rollers or on its own tower..... IT IS THE BEST, THE GREATEST.Customer Review: Quality Humidifier
Summary: 4 Stars
This humidifier is great. The digital humidistat makes the room(s) the perfect humidity level for you. The humidifier purifies the air in the room, as well. The filters that are used by this model last longer than the filters used in other branded humidifiers I have used. It is easy to use and works exceptionally well.
The only reason I do not rate this humidifier with 5 stars is because the water tanks are a little inconvenient when filling. The handles are not recessed into the tank, which makes it hard to set down when filling the tank. Also, I would not categorize this as a whole home humidifier. I live in a house that is roughly 1300 sq. ft. and this humidifier is effective for about half of my house.
Customer Review: Questionable quality
Summary: 3 Stars
The good news is that this unit is relatively quiet and that it does, in fact, humidify.
The bad news is that
--The two water tanks fit into the base so imprecisely that you never know whether the valves are open or closed until the unit shuts off for lack of water.
--The lack of precision in the fit causes the tanks to start vibrating loudly, which requires us to get up in the middle of the night to jiggle the tanks to try to stop the noise.
--The tank walls are so thin, and the bonded joints so precarious, that one mild bump while they're filled with water can crack them. I had to repair mine with aquarium glue only a couple of weeks of owning it.
--The flotation valve that shuts the unit off when the water is low can stick either in the on or off position. This means the unit may run even when dry (not a good thing) or it may require poking around with the switch to get the unit to run.
--Though this unit is promised to humidify a space up to 2,300 square feet, on a cold day when our head pump is working hard, this unit struggles to bring the humidity in our 1,000 square feet lower level up to the minimum 35% recommended.
Definitely not a happy owner!
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.