Air-O-Swiss AOS 7144 Ultrasonic Humidifier
by Air-O-Swiss
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Air-O-Swiss AOS 7144 Ultrasonic Humidifier
Customer Review: Worth the money and more!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my 2nd purchase of this same unit...we needed another one for the living room. I have not had a single issue with either of them. One has been running for ~8 straight months with no need for cleaning (because there's nothing to clean off it). My newest one is only 2 weeks old. They both work flawlessly.
You need to realize that this humidifier is ultrasonic, which has many advantages over "swamp cooler" style humidifiers, but they have a few things to keep in mind. If you didn't know, an ultrasonic humidifier uses a piezoelectric transducer element that vibrates at ultrasonic speeds. This causes water molecules to break off from the rest of the pool and it becomes vapor. In doing so, it also rips the mineral deposits apart from the water. This is that "white dust" you hear about. It's bad. It will accumulate pretty much everywhere in, on, and around the humidifier...including the ultrasonic element. Minerals are abrasive...and they *could* essentially "sand" away the finish on the element over time. That's bad, but it's not the manufacturer's fault by any means...it's *your* fault for using hard water.
Now, with that elementary stuff out of the way, RO water good enough for daily use with the demineralization cartridge. The "white dust" may be non-existent to your eyes, but there are still trace minerals in RO water and the cartridge in the tank can't remove everything, so they'll build up over time. That's why you have to clean it every few months. I removed the cartridge and use a mix of distilled water (from the store) and free de-ionized water from my work. I get the best performance this way. If I ever get my reverse osmosis system fixed, I might us a mix of RO water and DI water to save some $$$.
So how about some features to consider:
1. Mist control - There are 3 levels: "barely any", "a good amount", and "old faithful." I keep both units set at 50% humidity and on the highest vapor setting. This is able to keep my living room and master bedroom at an optimal humidity. The tank will last 1.5 to 2 days depending on usage and relative humidity.
2. Near silent - When it's on, the little fan (that you don't have access to) is always on. It's only there to help the vapor get up and out of the unit. It's about the same volume as a single low-speed computer fan. You can only hear it if it's dead silent in the room. When the unit is producing vapor, you can hear the hum of the ultrasonic element doing its thing, and there's the occasional "blurp" sound of air bubbles in the tank. Total noise level is less than 25% of a typical house fan on the "low" setting. In fact, when my fan is on, you cannot hear the unit at all.
3. Pre-Heating - It has a pre-heat function that *warms* the vapor. By the time the vapor leaves the unit, it's slightly above body temperature. It adds the same energy usage as a light bulb, so don't be scared off by it...it's by no means a steam humidifier. If you put your hand 3" away from the nozzle, the vapor will be cool already. Speaking of nozzles...
4. Dual adjustable output nozzles - Great for putting the vapor where you want it. If you line up the thumb tabs, the nozzle comes out for cleaning...snazzy.
5. Buttons/Display - The buttons have a nice feel to them, and the display is big and bright...it's slightly brighter than my alarm clock's display. If it's too bright for you, leave the protective film on the display and color it in with a sharpie marker. You'll still be able to see the display...just a little darker.
Now for the drawbacks...
1. No rubber feet. I like things to stay where I put them. Because it has plastic feet it will move if you bump it.
2. It does drip a bit when you remove the tank. Now understand me: this is impossible to avoid. Warm vapor + cool water tank = condensation in the vapor tube. Also, the bottom of the case comes in contact with the water that's about to be pre-heated/vaporized. Pick the tank up, let it drip for 2 seconds, tip it at a slight angle, let it drip for another 2 seconds...no spilled water. Or you can be quick and flip the tank upside down in one swift motion like I do. The tank itself does not leak.
3. The only way to fill it is to flip the tank over and unscrew the cap. I've thought about drilling/tapping a 1" hole in the top that's big enough for a funnel...but I've never got around to it. Having to flip the tank over to fill it isn't worth the effort/time.
So that's it. The 3 "cons" are so minor they don't even matter, but I thought I'd still bring them up.
Customer Review: High Co$t, High Maintenance But WORTH IT !
Summary: 5 Stars
When my third "Big Noise Box" fan-driven humidifier from Menard's died, I researched humidifiers and this brand sounded good, so I picked up a couple from Overstock (same price as here) two years ago. I LOVE that the unit is so quiet you barely hear it running, compared to the box-fan type racket the Menard's models made. And, the fact that you can see a measurement of the humidity in the air on the unit's digital screen, as well as feel it as it billows out of the top of the unit.
Cost: I spent about $400 on two units, but then I was about to spend another $100 for my FOURTH junk brand unit from Menard's in a time span of about six years.
Maintenance: Consumables can be pricey with this unit. About every two weeks in the heating season (around November through March up North) you'll need to use a packet of EZ-CAL to clean each unit, and about once a month you will need to replace the demineralization cartridge, unless you buy distilled water to run it. Considering I fill the reservoir every morning and night every day of the heating season, using the cartridges works better for me. AND you can save some money by buying bags of replacement granules for the demineralization cartridge instead of buying a whole new cartridge every month. The downside is you must buy their brand, no substitutes or the warranty is void.
Service: I also experienced the dreaded "gold membrane" breakdown. After the first season, the gold membrane on both units peeled off. Originally I thought it was because I left water in the units toward the end of the heating season, but apparently it was not my fault. I returned both units and received two refurbished ones, which worked great until one of the developed the same problem. Again I returned the one unit and received a brand new unit in a box. I found no fault with their customer service. In two weeks I was up and running again with a brand new unit. Hope it holds up as well as the other replacement which is going on its second year of the three year warranty period.
As long as I place the unit high enough off the floor and position the top vents properly I do not experience any water in unwanted places. And I am very happy that I do not have to deal with changing any waterlogged, dirty "lab experiment" paper filters that the old big fan box humidifiers use. Just do your bi-monthly EZ-CAL routine, new demineralization cartridge or granules monthly, a little brushing with the yellow brush (and only the provided yellow brush or you'll void the warranty) for INSIDE the unit base where the GOLD MEMBRANE IS, and for the unit's removeable water tank, a little bottle brush scrubbing to get any slime off the tube inside the water tank (this tube rests above the gold membrane when the water tank is placed on top of the unit base; the water vapor travels up it and shoots out of the top through the vents). Cleaning the tube eliminates the little white specks of film I would notice floating in the water in the base of the unit when I removed the tank to clean it every two weeks (probably due to our rock-hard Wisconsin water). It's easy remove any of this film from the reservoir tube while you are waiting the half hour for the EZ-CAL to work, I discovered. Other than that, runs clean and well for me!
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a lot of research prior to buying this humidifier. When looking at humidifiers, it seemed for every good review, there were 2 bad reviews. It made choosing one rather difficult. So finally I took the plunge and went with the AOS 7144 for our bedroom and I have to admit I was very please with this purchase.
Once I got it home and unpacked it, I realized that the demineralization cartridge needed to soak for at least 24 hours if I was going to be using tap water to fill the reservoir. I am a rather impatient person, so while the cartridge was soaking, I purchased distilled water to use until the soaking was complete.
Our apartment uses forced hot air, so in the winter, it gets very dry. I leave the humidifier running constantly in our bedroom on the automatic setting. This setting monitors the temperature and automatically adjusts the humidity level accordingly. The warm mist option is also a plus. Not only does it avoid dropping the temperature of a room from the cool mist, but heating the water prior to "vaporizing" it, kills any of the bacteria that may build up between cleanings.
As I stated, our apartment is very dry and I leave this running constantly. I need to fill it about 2 times a day. Sometimes three times if it is very cold and I am home during the day. But with the use of the demineralization cartridge, I do not have to worry about incurring the cost of purchasing enough distilled water to keep it running.
Another great feature is that it reminds you to clean it when it is time. A red indicator light will blink after about 2 week's time. The operation of the humidifier is not affected when this reminder comes on, so you don't need to worry about cleaning it as soon as it does.
Air-O-Swiss recommends using their EZ-Cal product and it really does make cleaning it much, much easier. I tried doing it the first time without using the EZ-Cal and it took a look more elbow grease to accomplish what 30 minutes of soaking with the EZ-Cal can. But all in all, the cleaning process was rather easy.
As for the other consumables that this uses, the demineralization cartridge lasted about a month and a half for me. You can tell when it needs to be replaced, because you will see a fine white dust starting to build up. The silver stick will last about a year per the instructions.
The unit does look pretty neat compared to the other humidifiers on the market. It has a rather small footprint and for the most part it is rather quiet. I do have this in our bedroom and it has not impacted our sleep at all.
I have owned this for about 2 months now and I am extremely satisfied. I am so satisfied that I purchased a second Air-O-Swiss product, AOS 7142, for the main living areas of our apartment.
Customer Review: A Better Humidifier
Summary: 5 Stars
This unit is much better than the evaporative type. I owned an evaporator for 2 years but it had problems with mold in the wicks and filter. Air-O-Swiss uses ionization, not evaporization, to put mist in your air. Ionization is faster and more efficient. It doesn't require a fan to do it's work, as all evaporitive types do, so it is quiet. For compairison, see the Essick Air 336-500 3-Speed Tabletop Evaporative Humidifier, this is an evaporitive type that I owned before buying the Air-O-Swiss.
The Air-O-Swiss is easier to clean, more efficient and it looks pretty cool too! It seems that most air cleaner/humidifier makers don't care much about how the product looks in a room, but this one is sleek and subtle, blending well with my modern taste (I hate taupe/beige appliances, but that's me). Whatever it looks like, it needs to be effective, as this unit is. The higher price seems justified by the very useful controls (which are completely absent in cheaper models), the superior design and efficiency.
The unit has many settings and digital controls that allow timed use, heated or cool mist, and humidity control. It flashes a symbol to let me know when to fill more water. No need to keep logbooks about cleaning, a different flashing signal tells me whenever I need to do the simple descaling. It's easy to loose track of cleanings without this feature (who has time to keep notes on such a thing?).
All humidifiers need some cleaning and filter replacement. The Air-O-Swiss replacement filters (for cleaning the water, replace about 4 times a year), the silver stick (needs replacement rarely, maybe once a year or less) and descaling packets for cleaning the tank (cheap and must be used once every week or two). The costs for all of these are reasonable, perhaps somewhat lower that the costs of the extra things needed for other units I have owned/checked out.
Do not neglect the replacement/cleaning processes. This unit, or any other brand, will begin to fail quickly if you do not keep up the maintenance. This is true with any humidifier, but the Air-O-Swiss manages to make these steps easy and relatively hassle-free.
I would never go back to the evaporative type, the filters for them are much more expensive, they seem to mold no matter how carefully maintained (a big problem for sensitive people) and they use more electricity than the Air-O-Swiss. The Air-O-Swiss costs more to start, but consider having to buy the other, cheaper type, 2 years worth of replacement wicks, filters and descalers, then scrapping it all to buy this one anyway. This one is a pleasure to use and own. My advice is to consider my experience and buy the more expensive, but much better, Air-O-Swiss.
Customer Review: Our second Air-o-Swiss - Excellent as always
Summary: 5 Stars
We live in the North East - NJ to be specific and have forced hot air central heating. When winter arrives (and it seems early this year) the heat goes on...and the dryness sets in. We bought our first Air-O-Swiss a couple of years ago for our bedroom and it works like a champ...to this day we have had 0 issues with it. We needed another unit and decided to get this for our home...it arrived on time, perfectly packed, and was up and running in minutes.
Pros: Excellent quality, filteration, and different settings modes.
Cons: NONE
I love that we can set the humidifier to an automatic mode so that it humidifies the room until the reached level is achieved, it then shuts off and comes back on as necessary. There is a filter inside of the unit that takes the 'gunk' out of water and makes for clean humidification..ie. no white dust on furniture near by. We have well water and thus the filter is essential. The unit will also let you know when it needs to be cleaned (highly recommended) so that no deposits of minerals and other water impurities settle in the system.
We do use the Ez-Cal powder mix to clean the unit once every 2-3 months...but we clean it out regularly with warm water and the included brush...again...both highly recommended.
Excellent product which will last for a long time...its a bit expensive but the expense is worth it due to the quality of the product.