Honeywell HCM-6009 QuietCare 9-Gallon Output Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
by Honeywell
|
List Price: Our Price: $74.59 You Save: $25.40 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Home See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Honeywell HCM-6009 QuietCare 9-Gallon Output Console Humidifier with Air Washing Technology
Customer Review: GREAT UNIT, Don't know what all the Negative stuff is about.
Summary: 4 Stars
Is it PERFECT? of course not, but is IS Darned Good. I gave a 4 ONLY because there were some minor things that could have made it better (Most of which you find on the more expensive units) which seems fair enough, you want more "Gizmo's" you pay for them. really I should change it to a 5. My experience has been just great.
NEGATIVE THINGS I HAVE READ HERE FROM OTHERS, That Just Don't Bear Out in First Hand Experience: (I almost didn't buy this unit because of all the nasty things people wrote)
Maybe the Biggest Gripe is "Oh My, It's Sooo LOUD"
I frankly have NO IDEA what these people are complaining about. It is Not Totally Silent (Was that expected?) but even just 4-5 feet away from the unit running Full Tilt, Max Everything I have ZERO PROBLEMS holding a normal conversation or watching TV. (Mine sits right Next to my TV and I have not adjusted the volume from what it was before I started using this unit) The "Noise" is NOT Linear in nature. The unit has 3 fan speeds; LOW lets make sound level =1; MED lets call sound level =2-2.5; and Yeah, HIGH/MAX is sound level =5 (as an example) There is a Significant difference between Med and High, BUT As I Said, NO Problems talking or hearing TV even on MAX. (for the record, I just moved here and had not had a humidifier previously, it wasn't necessary. So This winter season I was WAY LATE buying one and getting started. My house was down to just 15% and I had this unit running MAX Output for a Week as is slowly dragged the humidity levels up. So I am WELL Acquainted with the sound of this device (at it's worst). Just yesterday i got the house up to 47% and set the humidity dial on the unit to cycle on & off (more on this later). It has been described as Airplane taking off, Hurricane, etc.... Either the fan unit was not set back on the unit properly and it's vibrating (see "user error") or These people just got a Lemon ? (return it and get a new one) or they are just gripey people who needed SOMETHING Nasty to say, because this thing just IS NOT LOUD.
Next "Water spills all over the floor"
BUNK (period). I suppose if you are some sort of nut job who throws things around and slams things, etc. you MIGHT be able to make a wave or two in there, but the ONLY water I have seen has been the OCCASIONAL (not every time) drop or two, Never a "Puddle" (And I have ALL Hard Wood Floors, so this is a real issue for me) and the "Drops" came from the OUTside of the tanks as a by-product of filling them in my sink. I now keep a kitchen towel next to the area I fill the tanks and give them a quick wipe before walking back to the unit and NO MORE DROPS. *NOW* With All That Said Given that I DO have hard wood floors and a leak of any kind could be a "not good" thing for me I have taken the precaution of buying a plastic bin I am setting the device inside of. It is big enough that IF somehow the whole thing drained the full max water volume out, the bin can hold that and more. Just Good (and cheap) insurance. If you were wondering? I bought ((Underbed Plastic Storage Container - Set of Two (Clear) (6.25"H x 18"W x 28"D))
One of My FAVORITE Complaints ?? "You have to Refill the water too much" or "It uses too much water"
REALLY ?? Just THINK about this one. You BUY a Humidifier to .... Put Water In Your Air --- And You Complain about it Doing EXACTLY what you paid for ?? I mean, was the idea you buy a Big Unit to put LOTS of humidity in the air of a large house --- and it runs off a thimble of water for 3 months ??? NO, You would only get a Thimble full of Humidity. I just find this complaint SILLY. It's Doing it's Job. On a more practical note, one I have personally been going thru. As discussed above, My house was down to about 15% humidity when I started this unit up. What is More Important was it is NOT JUST THE AIR that is dry. The Walls are dry, the floor, ceiling, furniture, EVERYTHING was Dry, so putting some moisture in the AIR, doesn't solve your problem, the house just sucks it up and your air is dry again, It Takes Quite a While to raise the humidity level of EVERYTHING in the house up before you can have the unit cycle on & off as it NOW just keeps the Air moist. (As I said About, Mine ran for about a full week 24/7 Full Max to bring the house up to a good level. NOW it is cycling on & off (as of last night) where a refill on those tanks will last longer and I wont be filling them twice a day every day (Yes, I know the math suggests I would have been filling 3 times a day, but it just didn't turn out that way. It was 2 or just slightly over 2, but I Never filled 3 times in 24 hours, Not from EMPTY TANKS each time at least. There were plenty of 1 Empty tank and the other 1/2, or 2/3rds empty refills. Now that rate has slowed WAY DOWN and I would expect to maybe fill just Once a day. Later on when the Weather gets less dry I can see this unit lasting Several Days on a single fill.
One lady said the tanks were too heavy. said that "A Gallon is too heavy", Well, 1- they are 1.5 Gallons each; 2-a Gallon of water weighs 8 pounds and that is the weight of a new born baby -- and babies don't have handles. OK, 1.5 gallons -- so thats 12 pounds and we are talking about a 3-4 month old baby now, same thing. Women pick up 3-4 month old babies all the time and they don't come with handles, Plus they Wiggle. So, REALLY ?? Grocery sacks average more than 8-12 pounds unless you are buying nothing but rice cakes and bread. Again, the ENTIRE IDEA is to put water in the air, stop complaining that it's bad, because it does its job.
One "Semi-Ledgit" issue was the lack of Digital controls to dial in an exact humidity level.
TRUE, that is part of what I was talking about at the beginning about "Gizmo's" that were not on this unit, BUT ARE on the more expensive units. Do you Buy a Chevy and say the Chevy is JUNK, because it is Not a Rolls Royce ?? If you want a Rolls, go BUY one. This unit is a Chevy.
However; another complaint was that the lack of the digital controls didn't allow for setting a reliable humidity level. Again, BUNK. as I said yesterday my house got up to where it was comfortable and (as in the instructions) I turned the humidity dial down until the unit shut off. Then leave it and see what you have. (YES, you need to have a reliable temp/humidity gauge. They sell nice ones on here for like 7 or 8 bucks. This unit didn't claim to show you the humidity. You can do it by FEEL if you want, or buy the gauge and know. I was shooting for something between 45-50%. I saw 47 on my gauge and set the dial on the unit. In the last 24 hours EVERY TIME I have checked the gauge it is at either 47% or 48%, and I would call that VERY ACCURATE. I'm going to leave it where it is another week or so till we get another cold snap and see if it holds the level. Once I'm convinced it's right, its time for the Sharpie Pen and put a little Dot or Line on the dial so I can hit the same spot next year. (I't Not Rocket Science)
You can say you don't like the color, the wheels are funny, you don't like the shape, or just say it's Momma Wears Army Boots, if you feel like saying SOMETHING Nasty, but the Bottom Line is the unit is well priced given its market and features and it does its job very well.
IDEA'S?
I found one Great One; that was every time you fill the tanks and replace them, Pop the Top of this unit and flip the filter over. The top edge of the filter dries out as it works and if left that way will, in time, get crusty with stuff and no longer soak up water as effectively. (like if you tried to flip it over only ONCE in its life span, that second half isn't going to work as well) I have found that by doing this the filter stays moist and functional and just works better. (It takes an extra 20 seconds, and it's worth it)
I'm using the bacteriostatic stuff they show as a companion product. Since i have not run it without this stuff I really cant say if it does anything, but it is cheap ($4-$5) and you only use like 1/2 cap full in each tank when you fill the tanks, so it Lasts a long time. What I CAN SAY is I have not had ANY buildup of Funky Stuff in the tanks or reservoir of the unit, and as I said, with the flipping of the filter and this bacteriostatic stuff the filters are still soft and absorbent.
Hope this Helps, I had Concerns when i bought and ended up wishing someone had "Cleared the Air" for me, so I did it for you.
BTW, I have purchased a SECOND Unit and plan to put it in my Upstairs bedroom. (I have no "Noise" Fears) I have a small ultrasonic unit up there now that just isn't doing the job. by itself it could only raise the air from 15% to 20%. Once I got this big guy put to work downstairs I have seen the humidity slowly rise to between 30% - 35% which isn't bad given it is only the moisture that manages to make it past the heater as it gets circulated upstairs.
Customer Review: Just What I Was Looking For!!
Summary: 4 Stars
We used to have a big humidifier for many years and it finally just quit working properly...it was about 10 years old. Didn't want to buy another one as I thought that we really didn't need one and didn't want to spend the money at that time for a big, new one. Bad mistake. Over the past few years, I had been telling myself that we needed one through the winter anyway as it was difficult to sleep (the air is so dry in our house), my throat would be sore in the morning and nose would get so stuffed up through the night that I could hardly breathe. I had looked for one for quite some time and had done a lot of research before deciding on this Honeywell model. Our house is quite small - less than 1,000 sq. ft. and this little model does the job on the whole house quite nicely.
Is it the easiest to fill? Not the easiest, but it's far from impossible. We have a deep kitchen sink and a high faucet and I can easily put it under the faucet, balance it in the corner and fill it without any difficulty at all. It's not that hard to carry - sure beats handling a 2 1/2 gallon bucket, which is what I used to do. The handle makes it much nicer and I hold my other hand under the bottom to make it more balanced so it's not as heavy or at least doesn't feel that way. The lid goes on easily and it's stressed to not overtighten it. Not hard to do at all. It does start to drip a few drops when turning it over to place it in its spot but that is not a problem as I make sure that I turn it over right over the unit itself; it slips easily into place and sits securely. The fact that it doesn't have a way to see how much water is being used is not the best, but it's easy to pick up each canister and see how heavy it is - gives you a pretty good idea of how much water is being used and if you need to fill it. You catch on pretty quickly as to how often you need to fill depending on how much you actually use it. Not too hard to do or figure out...just takes a little time.
The unit itself is easy to put together and the instructions are simple to understand in how to prepare it for first use. We have soft water so I'm not too concerned as how often to clean it as I pretty well know from past experience. The filter is nice and sturdy and should last for quite a long time with proper care. If you have hard water, you would want to clean it regularly, though. It may be a little time-consuming to do so, but I don't think that one can complain for the ease of doing it and the money spent for the unit.
I don't run it on the high fan, so the noise doesn't bother us at all. Even on the medium setting, it is not too loud to sleep with it being in the hall area right around the corner from our bedroom. Our old one ran a lot louder than this.
I like the fact that is has casters to make moving it easy. It is a very nice-looking unit, and doesn't take up a lot of space making it easy to put in a smaller space if needed. The fact that the air comes our the front and sides does not bother us at all as we don't sit in front of it. Yes, the air is cold but so was the other humidifiers that we had. You don't place it so it blows on a thermostat and you don't place it so that you sit right in front of it. Pretty simple.
It is easy to assemble, take apart, simple parts, simple instructions to use it and so far has been a great little unit for our entire home!! I am happy with the purchase and would recommend this unit for a good sized room or a small home.
Customer Review: Medium Maintenance Machine
Summary: 4 Stars
I had read a lot of mixed review for many different types of humidifiers before I bought one. This was, as other reviews state, can provide some very good and quick humidity to fairly large or open areas of a house. But it's size and fan can create space or sound distractions to people who want humidity without the inconveniences of an appliance not suited to being hidden, tucked into a cubby hole, or generally placed to the side. Also, although the machine is supposed to turn on and off at various times to give the mechanisms a break, it goes off for very long periods, which I have only been able to guess is caused by lack of water in the reservoir. This is the most irritating aspect for me because it frequently shuts off for lack of water when one or both tanks still have water in them, sometimes significant amounts. Because the tanks only loosely fit into place, and because the water release valve has to be set exactly on the release knob in the reservoir tank, if it is off a bit or the tanks shift, etc., the water will run out of the reservoir without drawing more water down from the tanks, thereby turning the machine off. This explains (now, for me) why several people seemed severely frustrated by the machine turning off (and perhaps on) at truly random times even when the instructions say that this is "normal" as well as why complaints of this problem to the makers went relatively unfixed. Just a quirk. Pick up the tanks and re-situate them back in the base or wiggle the machine around on it's wheels until you hear the water release and then turn the machine back on. Think of it as a small pet and the irritation will lessen significantly.Customer Review: Form and function pros and cons
Summary: 4 Stars
I really debated about giving this item three or four start. I decided on four because bottom line it does a good job getting moisture in the air and some design items work well. For instance, it is on wheels so it is easy to move and the water fill containers are manageable. They had the forsight to make two instead of one and the handles are comfortable.
Now for some negatives. At the highest setting, it is still pretty loud. I live in a condo so, if I'm watching TV I usually keep it on the second highest setting or wear headphones and keep it at the highest setting. Here is another noise issue- when it starts getting empty, a loud humm starts up. Another thing I don't like is that you can't control or see what the humidity level is- it just kicks out. I think this feature is available on a higher model but it seems like it should be available on this one for the price they are asking.
Probably the biggest issue I have with this unit is that it has a side discharge for air rather than through the top like most units. This is an issue for me because when I watch TV I usually sit on the floor (TV over a fireplace would never work for me) and this unit blows COLD AIR out and it is quite uncomfortable. You could make the argument to move it somewhere else, but for maximum benefit you should keep it where you spend most of your time.
So ther you have it. I probably should give it three stars but it does what its supposed to do well- with some design issues.
Customer Review: Works well, but kind of bulky
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this humidifier about 2 years ago because winter and radiant heat have a way of sucking any moisture out of the air. I have eczema and own two cats so the super-dry air during winter made my life difficult. I purchased this because unlike many others I looked at, this one has a HEPA filtration system. It works great at keeping my 500 sq ft studio humidified all winter long. It is quiet except when the water is getting low in the tanks; then it get noticeably louder, and kind of reminds you to fill it up. I like that you can set the humidity as well as the fan speed (I like it on the lowest speed since I don't need much more than that for my tiny place) and that it cycles on and off as needed. One con is that it has quite a large footprint. Another con is the way you have to fill up the tanks. The screw-caps are on the bottom while the top of the tanks have handles, so they can't be set down due to a lack of any flat surface. But I found that if I take it to my kitchen sink and use the hose sprayer to fill it while cradling the tank in one arm, it's doable. But I can see how this might be inconvenient or impossible for some as the tanks get pretty heavy after filling. Another note: this humidifier doesn't do much if you leave the windows open. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. The humidity makes such a difference, especially when I wake in the morning without a bloody nose or chapped lips, and with soft, supple skin.