Venta LW44 Air Humidifier and Purifier All-in-one
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Venta LW44 Air Humidifier and Purifier All-in-one
Customer Review: Is this really made in Germany not China?
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with all the 1 stars. This has to be the worst machine that is made in Germany. I recieved mine and when I went to clean the fan for the first time I took it apart and noticed that their where cracks on the corners. I called Venta and asked if this is covered under warranty and they stated no. I could not belive I paid $347.00 for a crappy machine. I am sending this back to amazon for a full refund. Buyers beware this machine does not do what it states and it is really poorly made. The Upper House of the machine will break eaisly. Very cheap plastic. I will never buy another Venta machine!!!!Customer Review: It's been a battle for the last 3 years
Summary: 2 Stars
After living with a low end humidifier that did little and made too much noise for the bedroom I decided I would get the best humidifier at any cost. That was three years ago and at that time the Venta fit that bill. My initial impression of the Venta was very good - the idea of a fan blowing over wet disks seems pretty ingenous and solves problems like airborn bacteria, mineral deposits, and gives the machine some air cleaning capabilities. Right from the start I was surprised how poorly it humidified the air - checked with a high quality hygrometer it only raises a medium sized bedroom's humidity by about 5% at maximum speed and is useless at lower speeds. Furthermore, at maximum speed the device sounds like an unusually loud room fan which is difficult to sleep with. People talk about the device being quiet at the slowest speed - which it was - but this setting is ineffective at humidifying even a small room based on my readings with a hygrometer.
Now I've lived with this unit for 3 years and have encountered further problems that have finally driven me to admit this whole purchase was not a good idea.
The first problem with this unit is that the "air washing" capability results in the machine getting dirty... but unlike almost every other kind of humidifier this dirt is everywhere on the machine - throughout the disks, all over the fan, all inside surfaces. On the inside surfaces (which have lots of hard to clean nooks) this dirt is similar to a sticky wax and on the wet surfaces its more like a slime. I spend about 30 minutes struggling to clean it each time I try before I feel I've done an OK job. The Venta cleaner additive doesn't work that well on the disks, doesn't do anything for the waxy sludge on the housing because it doesn't touch it, and the unit has so many difficult to clean parts that it's nearly impossible to get all the dirt. I even tried putting the non-electrical parts in the dishwasher which doesn't work either.
The second problem is that this device can "easily" generate very loud noises to the point that I have to shut the machine off because I'd rather be tormented by dry air than this devices groanings. I say easily because it is possible with enough cleaning and fiddling to keep this device operating at the "merely loud" fan noise that it had when I got it. But after 3 years this is becoming very difficult to accomplish. There are two possible sources for this noise. First, the gears themselves operate by having plastic tabs press against the gears in an undulating fashion. When clean this usually happens quietly... but when even slightly dirty these tabs can make a loud studdering noise that is caused by two materials not moving against each other smoothly. If you've ever heard your car's windshield wipers studder across your windshield instead of smoothly glide over the glass you know what this sounds like. It's not quite that loud, but when you're trying to sleep it might as well be. The second source for this noise is imbalance in the fan. With a little dirt on the leading edge of the fan the fan seems to be aerodynamically or statically out of balance and makes an undulating groan about every 4-6 seconds the way an old fan can be expected to. On a $15 room fan it would be the kind of noise that might cause you to throw it out and get a new one. On a humidifier this expensive?
Finally the device is sensitive to being assembled in just the right way or it will make the noises I've mentioned above much more easily. Normally you just put the top on the device and you're in business. But with these noises you start pressing on different parts of the top to try to shift the plastic pieces into better alignment. Once you press in just the right way and the device stops making noise you slowly remove the pressue and 99% of the time the noise comes back. If you push and prod you are sometimes able to get the machine to be quite, but often you have to unlatch everything, reseat the fan assembly and start over. That gets old fast when its 3am and the machine just starts making a really annoying noise that wakes you up.
I call my 3 year journey with this Venta machine a battle because I've tried tons of things to help compensate for this machine's problems. The initial problem of low humidification is because the device sets up its own recirculating airflow that's limited to an area fairly local to the device. The humidity within one foot of the device is very good according to my hygrometer. The humidifier's fan sucks this air back into itself repeatedly. By placing another fan to the side of the Venta to provide room circulating air current you can get an additional 3-5% humidity 5-7 feet away from the device (like where you're head is in bed). Of course now you've got another source of noise in the bedroom.
To compensate for the gear noise and the dirt problems I've tried adding all kinds of things to the water that might act as either a cleaner or a lubricant or both. I've tried double quantities of the Venta additive, a variety of soaps, various aeromatic oils in quantities where the oil's lubricant properites might help. Really nothing is effective.
In the end I have to say that I'm most dissapointed by this machine's price. The unit is nothing more than a large hunk of plastic with fan on top of it. If it was made in China this unit would cost $39.95. But its made in Germany by a company that seems to be over charging far beyond what the added expense of German manufacturing and poor exchange rate would explain. Being German made I was expecting that the unit be better engineered. The machine is built well - nothing has broken in 3 years of constant operation. Its weaknesses are not structural. There are simple ways of eliminating the problems I've listed. Fan noise can be reduced by using a larger, slower moving fan with more and better bearings (something that should be expected in a $500 device). The gear mechanism that generates so much noise should be replaced with a non-contact device like a magnetic drive similar to high grade aquarium pumps. A top of the line magnetically driven pump costs 1/3 of what this Venta costs so magnetic mechanisms should easly have been considered for a $500 device. That these obvious techiques... or any others... are not employed on a device of this cost in the face of its inherent problems is criminal.
99% of the time I recommend spending the extra money (even if it's 5-10 times more) and getting a machine built the right way. This machine is not built the right way - it's just 5-10 times as expensive. I don't believe anyone is building a humidifier the right way at this time. Given this I would have to recommend one of the 4+ star devices for $50-70 - steam seems to be the best for avoiding white powder and bacteria. I've purchased two Honeywell HWM450 steam humidfiers for $55 each. Their ability to humidify is incredible. In the same bedroom with 50% humidity the Vental might get it up to 55%. The Honeywell can get it to 70% if you want and has digital controls for setting the exact humidy you want (although they don't work that well). Overall any shortcomings of the $55 Honeywell are not related to it's main function - humidifying. The same can't be said for the VENTA.
Customer Review: Love the Venta but it's Expensa
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been interested in the Venta Airwasher for several years now but the high price has kept me away. However, I recently found the LW42 (model prior to the new LW44) being liquidated on Ebay for $250 (with free shipping). I took the chance and bought one even though it came with a reduced one year warrantee.
The Venta is very easy to operate & maintain. Just fill it each morning and wipe it clean every 10 days. The unit quietly puts out 3 gallons of moisture daily which has greatly reduced my daughter's coughing bouts. In fact, she hasn't had a single night-time coughing episode since we began using the Venta (2 months ago).
The Venta is also very energy efficient. Their brochure claims it only consumes the equivalent of a 40 watt bulb. I guess I believe this as my monthly bill did not increase since firing up the unit. The add'l moisture in the air also increases the relative feel (warmth) in my house so the thermostat can be set slighly lower.
I've found the water additive and cleaner a bit cheaper on buyhardwaresupplies.com and was pleased with their quick service (and free shipping > $50). I'm not knocking Amazon (I buy a lot from them) but I'm always looking for a better price.
I did not give the Venta 5 stars primarily because of the high purchase price. I also cannot rate the durability as I've only owned it for 2 months. If my unit lasts 5+ winters than it's worth the investment and I'd certainly buy another one.
Customer Review: Noisy and Doesnt Increase Humidity
Summary: 1 Stars
This over priced piece of junk was a waste of money. Like some of the other people on this site, I thought that if I purchased the most expensive I was getting the best. WRONG. Two issues: 1) it doesnt generate much humidity. The water in the tank is only about 2 inches lower after two days of operation and our bedroom is still bone dry. 2) the plastic gears that rotate the disk slip every 5-10 minutes, creating a loud "stuttering" noise that wakes us up. I only bought one unit - i was going to get 2 more for the kids - thank god I didnt waste the money.
DONT BE FOOLED - this doesnt add humidity and its noisy.
Customer Review: Not as good as I hoped for
Summary: 1 Stars
Bought the LW22 1 year ago and thought its too small, because of no result.
so, the Venta LW 44 same story, when the cold weather came to Florida we could not get the humidity over 35%.
To return the unit seems to be a hassle
2011-01-19
Eric