Summary: First and foremost, DO NOT buy this unless you have softened water, utterly free of dissolved minerals.

The much-touted \"No White Dust\" translates into \"everything that would be white dust if this was an ultrasonic humidifier accumulates rapidly on the fan blade and shroud.\" Because of this, it starts to *grind* after less than a week of use, as jagged bits of calcium and lime stick on the fan and all surrounding areas. Cleaning the fan blade, shroud, and the permanent filter thing are a huge pain involving much vinegar, a metric socket, and an hour or more of soaking and brushing and scraping with your fingernails.

It makes buying and replacing filters seem very cheap, clean and easy.


Second, this is not a high-volume humidifier. You can, with a clean unit, put about one tankful of water into the air in 24 hours. 1.6 whole gallons. Fine if you're humidifying one bedroom, not so much if you're trying to keep a bit of water in the air of your whole downstairs or even a couple of connected rooms.

Third, regarding the \"Whisper Quiet\" or \"Ultra Quiet\" or whatever version of \"really really quiet\" Hunter claims for this unit, may I say HAHAHAHAHA!! No, it's not the loudest fan I've ever heard, but it would be loud enough to be an annoyance in your bedroom or while trying to watch tube or listen to music, and no stretch of the imagination would make it \"quiet\" on the high setting (which you'll have to use if you actually want moisture in the air.) And that's *before* the mineral buildup makes it start to click and grind.

Fourth, the tank hasn't broken on me...yet. I can take one look at the design of it and know that it will, if I so much as set it down the wrong way. In order to fill it, you have to invert it in your sink, then wrestle it around while full to get it flipped the right way so you can carry it with the handles (two hands absolutely required, a third one would be a plus.)

Overall it's a cute idea, and I'd love to be able to avoid buying filters for the next ten years, but this is neither the technology nor the design that will do that for me. Or you.