Honeywell HWM450 Quick Steam Warm Moisture Humidifier
|
List Price: Category: Home See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Honeywell HWM450 Quick Steam Warm Moisture Humidifier
Customer Review: At First Overly Sensitive to Minerals and Rust In Water - but runs fine now.
Summary: 2 Stars
Honeywell is a solid manufacturer and I have had good experiences with their products. But in rebranding this unit manufactured by Kaz, Honeywell seems to be suffering from inconsistent manufacturing quality assurance (QA). At first I encountered a problem of which several other users have complained: the unit stopped working and needed to be cleaned after only 2-4 days of use. I think this may be due to its design: the heating element is a metal plate located on the bottom, in contrast to other humidifiers whose heating element hangs down into the water recepticle. This allows all mineral and rust deposits to fall directly onto the Honeywell HWM-450's heating plate -- which appears to be sensitive. After a build-up of mineral or rust, it shuts down and the "cleaning" light comes on. I don't know if this sensitivity is a QA issue (affecting only some units) or a design flaw (affecting all). I called the Kaz helpline but spoke with a fairly-uninformed agent who told me the problem was that I have "hard water" (which surprised me as I live in Stamford CT -- a city -- and have not encountered such issues with other humidifiers or water uses). Kaz suggested I need to clean it with vinegar, possibly bleach, etc. I didn't want to deal with frequent cleaning -- every couple of weeks OK; but every not 2-4 days? Fortunately, after the first 2 weeks, it settled down and now lasts a long time before cleaning is required. So in spite of my negative first impression, it seems to be a good little unit.
PROs:
Logical, convenient controls and digital readout (but RTFM)*
HIGH steam output when needed (selectable 3 levels)
Reasonably Quiet and Compact
Component design enables simple water tank filling
CONs:
Overly sensitive to mineral & rust particle build-up.
Tank is NOT 4 gallon capacity: more like 2.
Water tank has a round top; hard to sit in sink for filling
* = Read The Manual!
ADDENDUM in 2009: My first unit was returned because it crapped out after a few months; Kaz's replacement with a new unit took many weeks, but no hassle. If I clean the heating plate every 10 days or so, it keeps on working. But the rust and minerals build up much more quickly than with other units where the heating element is inserted. Best to use the Lime and Rust Remover, available at hardware stores.
Customer Review: Avoid
Summary: 1 Stars
I bougth this for my new born twins room and within three months, it stop working. I have another Honeywell humidifier and that is in operation for over 3 years and with no problemCustomer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Cleaning is a bit tricky, but nothing that some vinegar cannot care of. I have had it for 3yrs now and still love it. I will be buying a 3rd one for my guest bedroom!Customer Review: BROKE IN 3 MONTHS
Summary: 1 Stars
I should have followed the advice of most of the reviewers here before I purchased this humidifer. There was a large mineral buildup but that was the least of it. Worked fairly good for three months but then it stopped working. One of the controls literally "froze" in place and the machine was unusable. No way to fix it - had to throw it away. What a shame. Next time I will pay closer attention to what people write. My advice - by something other than a Honeywell. I have three packages of filters that I purchased separately - another waste of money.Customer Review: Bad product
Summary: 1 Stars
Product stopped working in a week, had to pay a return fee to Amazon even though the product itself was bad. Very disappointed in Amazon's policies.