Hunter carefree humidifier owners...input please!

[LuxyBebe]

I have a 5 month old DD who is sick for the first time and I went out to buy her a humidifier. I got the 2gal Hunter Carefree Humidifier ULTRA at target for $49.99. I read a lot of rave for the same model except its the plus NOT Ultra...which is what I got.

My question is...how can you tell that it's even blowing out the moisture? I can't tell if its just the fan that's going or if mositure is actually being blown out. I taped a small piece of tissue paper in the vent but half an hour later it's still dry. Can someone please give me some advice on how I can go abouts finding out if its working correctly?? Thanks so much!

Kim

[TaChapm]

That's strange. We had this one for awhile and I never could feel the moisture on my hand but when I would go back into the room if it was closed off I could always tell it was working. Is the water level going down in the reserve? If it is I would say it is working.

Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler William 6-9-05

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[Toba]

I know a model we bought a long time ago came with a very small stand that displayed the moisture level in the air, with a comfort zone highlighted. That humidifier got chucked a long time ago, but we kept the display. Maybe you could find something like that in a store? A humidity sensor?

If the water level is going down, that moisture is definitely going somewhere, KWIM?


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[Toba]

Sorry, also wanted to mention ...

My son recently had croup and his pedi said we needed a warm air mist humidifier. I almost bought a very expensive ($150+) one that had the UV light to keep the mildew/mold away. We go through at least one humidifier a year because *I* can't tolerate the dryness in the air from our forced hot air furnace in the winter (way before my son was born). When I got to the store to buy the expensive one, it only guaranteed to be free of mildew/mold for one year. What good does that do me?? I might as well buy a cheap one and replace THAT every year, instead of a $150 one, KWIM? So that's what we did ... we bought a cheap Vicks warm air one and we'll just replace it next winter. I find that after continuous use over the winter/spring, the humidifier is beyond cleaning (even after semi-daily cleaning, it just gets so gunked up with whatever) so it's safer (IMHO) to just replace it every year. ;)


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[amp]

We just know because the water level drops. It doesn't put out moisture in the same way that a vaporizor does, so you won't see it putting the moisture out. Let it run and see if the level drops thru the day.

[LuxyBebe]

Its hard to say. I cant even find a picture of the ULTRA model. It is quite bulky. The only way I can really describe how it looks is by saying that it resembles a water cooler. It has two bottom resevoirs(sp?) that the main tank drips into so I dont really know if the water is just going into those resevoirs or into the air. I think I will just return it and try to find the Plus model like everyone has. This this is quite big so it's space consuming too. Thanks for your input everyone! You'd think Hunterfan.com would have a picture or something of this model but it's no where to be found online at all! GRRR.

Thanks!

Kim

[renefjr]

Pick up a digital hygrometer at target or walmart. They are about $15-$20. Typical homes without humidifiers will read about 30% during the winter. With a humidifier you should see about 40-45% humidity.

I would suggest investing in a whole home humidifier that installs into your furnace. We just had ours installed and it is so much more convenient that having to refill the resevoir every day! The only maintenance required is changing the water panel every season. I ordered it online for $170 (Aprilaire 400) and had it installed by my FIL.