I''ve been using humdifiers for years and have tried every type. The cool mist ones mildew up quickly and the wicks are expensive. The ultrasonics are nice, but unless you use distilled water, you run the risk of breathing in bacteria from tap water, since the mist is cool and the water and any particulates that are in the water are nebulized into the air. The warm mist are the best, since the water is boiled and only the steam escapes. I have used many brands of warm mist humidifiers over the years... Holmes, Duracraft, and Honeywell. This Crane model is THE BEST yet. It hasn''t leaked once. The tank size is adequate for a medium sized bedroom. I run mine on the low setting and it goes for 12 hours easily. The operation is quiet. The other brands I''ve tired all have the same basic design... the heating element is round with a hole in the middle and is difficult to scrub on all sides if there is a lot of hard water build up. This design has a solid heating element built into the bottom of the unit and can be scrubbed easily with a brush to remove build up. There is some basic weekly maintenance required, but it''s not difficult. You need to use distilled white vinegar to dissolve build up and disinfect. One thing I don''t particularly like is the blue light that comes on when the unit is turned on. It''s not bright enough to light up the whole room (kind of like a night-light), but for folks who like 100% pitch-black when they sleep, this may not be for you. I''m glad I found this brand and model. For the price, it''s a great machine.
I needed humidifiers for a couple of rooms and I wasn''t sure whether to go with this Crane humidifier or the Vicks V745A. Both had pretty good reviews, had similar capacities, were about the same price, etc. So I picked up the Vicks model at a local store, and I ordered the Crane from Amazon.
Both models are very similar in the way they generate steam, but there are a couple of significant differences that makes me prefer the Vicks model over the Crane.
For starters, the low setting of the Crane outputs about the same amount of steam as the high setting of the Vicks, and it turns out that the Crane is a 400 watt unit, while the Vicks is only about 275 watts. I keep the Crane on its low setting overnight in the bedroom, and the water tank is almost empty by morning. The Vicks needs to be on its high setting to go through the same amount of water in the same period of time.
Second, the design of the water tank on the Crane makes it harder to fill than on the Vicks. Neither one has a tank that will fit under my bathroom sink faucet, so I have to fill them in the shower. And although the filler hole on the Crane is wider, it lacks a handle like the Vicks model has, and filling it under the shower faucet is kind of awkward.
Next, once the tank is in place on the Crane model, the bottom of the tank sits in a lot more water than does the Vicks. Not sure this is really a problem, but when you remove the tank for cleaning (there''s both daily and weekly cleaning recommended for both), it drips more water on the floor. Also, the filler cap on the Crane has developed a little bit of a musty odor, and again I''m not sure if it''s from sitting in more water on a constant basis.
Finally, I find the Crane model to be a bit more difficult to clean than the Vicks. The space around the heating element is much narrower, making it hard to wipe around with a cloth. The Crane also accumulates more rust deposits than the Vicks, which is probably because of its higher wattage heating element.
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On the plus side, this humidifier does put out a lot of steam. On the negative side, I woke up in the middle of the night with my bedroom full of acrid smoke.
The heating mechanism became dislodged and burned a hole in the plastic bottom of the unit before I woke up, unplugged it, threw it in the bathtub and doused it with the remaining water in the reservoir. The smell was awful but it did wake me up before my rug caught on fire. So, that''s nice.
Had only had it a few months when it caught fire.
Probably won''t be buying Crane products again.
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I ordered two of this humidifiers from Amazon later last year,they were used for around 3-4 months so far.This year we started to use them again, but with the first time using, I got smoke from one of them. I opened up the bottom cover, found the heater part melted the plastic in the bottom. This unit was in my kid room, couldn''t image what would happen if adult was not there that time!!!! I checked back another unit, saw similar problem, the symptom was not so serious yet, but no doubt, it will get smoke and fire very soon. This product has fire danger, manufacture should recall this product!!
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I had purchased a larger humidifier from a big box store that quit working after 1 week. I then saw the horrible reviews it got on Amazon and rolled my eyes at myself for not just buying here in the first place. I lost my receipt for the other one so it couldn''t even be returned. So I bought this one from Amazon after searching reviews and comparing prices, plus if it broke I knew I''d have an easy return! Ok, enough about how much I love Amazon! Back to the Crane warm mist. I got the black one and it''s really a nice looking little machine! Very sleek. It was easy to set up, and easy to fill. I noticed it last 6-7 hours on 2 (high), and over 12 hours on 1 (low). Even low puts out a very nice stream of steam. My last warm mist barely changed the humidity level in my room while this one took my room (about 12x14 with maybe 15ft vaulted ceilings) from almost no humidity (20%) to a nice 44% after running on low all night. Its been about a week and I can already tell the difference in my skin and hair. Cleaning is very simple, nothing to take apart, just take off the water container, add vinegar water, let it sit, drain, rinse. Same for the water container. As for the light, I will admit it''s annoying, but I put a dvd case in front of it as someone else suggested (I like darkness when I sleep). As for the noise, I sleep with a fan year round for white noise, and this is about the same noise as my newer model tower fan. It''s a consistent quiet steam noise. I do wish they made a larger model so I could use in larger open spaces in the house, but for the price, this is definitely a great machine with style and effectiveness! I''d recommend this to any of my friends!
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