AIRCARE MA Whole-House Console-Style Evaporative Humidifier (Mini-Console)

Whole Home Humidifer... yes finally! This claims to cover over 3000 sqft and it does! I have an open, vaulted ceiling open floor plan. I placed this in the kitchen central to the main living areas (not including the upstairs) and it easily covers the 2000 sqft of main living area to include a master suite that sits right off the great room with little effort. It works so much better than the ones that spit out mist as this one is evaporative and the fan disperses the moisture out into the air better. It is quiet for the type of humidifier it is aka it uses a fan to blow the moisture throughout the home.Noise: It’s quiet. Based on the unit sitting approx 17ft from the tv and main living area: The noise is barely detectable at fan speed F1 (unless your home is super quiet as in no tv or radio). Fan speed F2 is like a very subtle white noise again nothing that impacts everyday living in the home. After a few minutes of F2 you won’t notice it. Fan speed F3 is noticeable but again I can still watch tv without it annoying me. Fan speed F4 (max) is loud and I only used that for about an hour on initial set up.Efficiency of Fan Speeds: I find that the unit works best at F1 and F2 unless I have a drastic drop in humidity (the unit might run out of water as I sleep or if I’m out running for the day).The Auto Setting: This setting works great but you must be sure to have independent Hygrometers in your rooms to gauge the humidity because the one that is on the cord reads higher because of it’s close proximity to the unit than 10, 20, 30ft from the unit. I have one set near where we sit most of the time as well as one in the master suite. Be sure to use the salt/water n cup method to test your hygrometers as they can vary. My living room one is digital and reads 1 to 2 lower than what the actual humidity is so I just add 1 or 2 to whatever it is displaying. The hygrometer in my master reads 3 low. In my home the unit hygrometer that is on the cord reads about 6 to 7 higher than the area we are actually sitting in. Once I figured that out I was able to set the unit on Auto at 60 and it keeps my area around 53 to 55 humidity depending on outside temps and how much my heat or fireplace is running. These settings will vary from owner to owner so be sure to test your hygrometers and then vs the cord hygrometer and see what works for you. I have asthma and 48 to 55 is a comfortable level for me but if higher than say 58 for too long and i can start having issues as anything higher than 60 can start to produce mold and mildew issues.—With all that being said about the fan speeds and the use of auto I tend to like manual control and use the F1 to F2 as my homes needs change. At night or if I’m going to be away for the day I will use Auto mode to be sure that the humidity won’t get too high.Filling the unit: the side container that comes off is easy to handle and easily fits over/in a kitchen sinks to fill. On initial set up you will need to do two full fills and if you are like me after the second one glugs (it does gurgle on fill up) in i then top off the container.Maintenance: This unit is easy to maintain and clean to include the filter it comes with. I did purchase the bacteriostat to add to my tap water fills. I only use about 1/8th of the cap per fill up of the tank. It would cost me too much to purchase distilled water for my homes needs as I do fill it first thing in the morning and then just before bed (about 14 hours later). That can vary depending on the fan speed you’re running. Every morning I flip the filter to keep one end from drying up more than the other. I recommend doing a full clean of the unit about once every 5 to 7 days. Cleaning it is very easy. The base Is light with very few grooves in it and it is easy to clean in a kitchen sink. I use dawn dish soap but I know others use vinegar. Either works as there is very little to no build up cleaning it at this frequency. It’s is important to keep it cleaned, remember you and your family are breathing the air that comes from it.Filters: The manufacturer of the filters state that one filter can do one full season. I personally will require a filter every two months because I’m very cautious about what I’m breathing and after a couple months the filter will start to dry out, get yellow and even brown. That is what it is supposed to do, it’s catching the bad stuff so you don’t breathe it. Once mine begins to look more yellow than white I change it. You don’t have to, it is just something I do and the filters are not expensive for the peace of mind it gives me.Warnings: I noted some reviewers saying that the casters for the wheels crack the unit so I decided to not use the wheels. The unit does not require the use of the wheels. Mine sits on my kitchen tile level and it moves with ease. If you want to give it a little lift or you are placing it on a wood floor then I would recommend getting the felt round pads that you can stick to the bottom of things for protection. Wallyworld sells them and they are very inexpensive.Wrap up! This unit exceeds my expectations. It is quiet and efficient in comparison to many other more expensive units I tried before this one that claimed extra large square footage and efficiency.

UPDATE (2/2/25): After owning this humidifier for 8 years, I looked back on my reviews and can't believe that I rated it at 3 stars. Comparted to the warm mist humidifiers that I was accustomed to, this one is miles better. No need to clean it, just throw the wick out and put a new one in. Sure, the wicks cost extra money, but I'll pay that for the time savings that it gives you any day. And yeah, the humidity gauge is inaccurate, but over time I've learned to adjust the target humidity level to compensate for the inaccuracy. And another big plus about this unit is the tank size. The tank is huge, and the fact that you have to fill it up less often is a big plus.Not to mention - this humidifier has lasted 8 years for me!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Overall, this is a decent unit. I haven't owned any other cool mist evaporative humidifiers, so don't have anything to compare it to. I bought this unit to replace a warm mist humidifier which works well, but is a huge pain to clean. I've only owned this Aircare unit for a week, so I'll add to my review if anything changes. Here's what I see as the pro's and con's so far:PROS:-EASY TO CLEAN: This is the biggest plus for me, since this unit is replacing a warm mist humidifier I have which is a PITA to clean. You'll have to add bacteriostat to the water to keep it from getting dirty. This isn't too much of an issue - you just add a fraction of a capful each time you fill the tank. I am currently using the Essick Air bacteriostat which was recommended by Amazon. I've only ran it for a week, but there is no build up, vs. my warm mist humidifier which will have a thin layer of scale within a week. With this evaporative design, I can't imagine it getting anywhere near as dirty as the warm mist humidifier which it is replacing. This is probably as close to maintenance free as it gets.-LARGE TANK: Tank size is stated as 3.6 gallons, but that must be the capacity of the bottom tray and the tank combined. Nonetheless, its large enough to keep you from having to fill it too often.CONS:-FAN NOISE: The fan noise is not awful... probably only slightly louder than you would expect, but I was hoping that they would have put more effort into making it quieter. I have this humidifier in my kitchen, and with the fan set on the lowest setting, I can clearly hear it turn on while I'm sitting in my living room. As I said, it's not awful, but loud enough that I would not want to have it in my living room. If you sleep with a fan on like I do, you could put this humidifier in your bedroom and it wouldn't be an issue as it would provide some good white noise. I need to have it on the main level of the townhouse I'm living in, however, so was hoping for something quieter.-INNACCURATE HUMIDITY READING: As far as I can tell, the humidity gauge on this unit is WAY off. When the gauge on the humidifier is reading 60% RH, my wall mounted humidity gauge only reads 48%. Of course, I'm not comparing it to a calibrated hygrometer or anything, just to a wall-mounted thermometer/hygrometer combo, but I'm inclined to believe the wall mounted gauge over the reading on the humidifier. The humidity reading on the humidifier rises WAY too fast for it to be accurate. For example, the unit will read 58%, will turn on for a minute, and after a minute will read 60% then shut back off. There's no way that it raises the humidity that fast. The humidity sensor is on the power cable, so the farthest you can get if from the unit is 6 inches. Regardless, I don't think having the sensor too close to the unit is the problem. I can take my wall mounted hygrometer and put it next to the sensor on the humidifier, and it still doesn't read as high as the humidifier does.For the price, I guess you get what you pay for. Overall this is a decent unit, but with the how inaccurate the humidity reading is, I'm wondering if it will be effective in the winter. Also, I'm interested to see how much it will be running when the cold weather really gets here. If it's running non-stop, the constant fan noise could get annoying. Time will tell...