BONECO Warm or Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier 7144

I followed all directions which are Simple compared to 2 Honeywell "Germ Free." I've used the Honeywell model and actually convinced myself #34 is working; even though I never saw evidence of (vapor/moisture) on windows. More importantly, my skin was still dry and getting worse. My nostril/nose membranes were tightening up from dryness, occasionally even bled. Honeywell tells (deceitfully) us, their customers (stupid) we won't see any evidence of its Humidifier working as they promised. I have a small condo. When I bought the first Honeywell, believing them (there'll be no evidence of its mist) I thought I needed a second Honeywell, yes, I bought a second Honeywell. These were bought from Ama- zon.com last year. After that winter, I even bought new filters from Amazon.com. During my recent PCM (doctor) visit, I discussed my situation with nose bleeds, etc. He said, your humidifiers aren't humidifying. That should have been obvious to me last year but it wasn't. Next Woe: be very cautious believing 5 & 4 star reviews. Presently, I average out all the reviews. Reviews can be as misleading as the Manufacturer and Seller's Perspective. Air-O-Swiss received a range of reviews, some positive while others were more discriminating. What a dilemma to be in! Several ISSUES won me over. 1-I don't need to daily and weekly sanitize every nook and cranny of the Ultrasonic Humidifier, whereas, the Honeywell was a daily/weekly chore. 2-Both Humidifiers require refilling the water tank one to two days depending upon usage and room size. These tanks gain a lot of weight when filled with a gallon or so of Water. 3-Ultrasonic Humidifier's claims are fairly well correct with IT's Claims. 4-I do hear it working. It emits a slight grinding sound. Maybe not grinding but certainly not high pitched. Its rather muted. I have to admit I have excellent hearing. I have positioned the Humidifier about 3 feet from the foot of my bed. Please keep in mind, this room is small. 5-AIR-O-SWISS receives 5 Stars from me because: a) Its adjustments on the humidifier are easy to see (I'm visually impaired); b) easy to understand and operate; BEST OF ALL: I can adjust the degree of humidity I want and I can visually see Vapor pouring o/o the top in several different directions. Vapor actually forms on the window. This Humidifier does just about everything it claims for itself so far. 6-I've been using this Humidifier for several days and my findings are: skin isn't dry; nose membranes are not tight & dry, no nose bleeds. The Humidifier stays at the humidity I designate and I have begun to sleep the night through w/o coughing repeatedly, then couphing up phelgm, etc. 7-Before buying this product, I researched what is the best rated Humidifier for my life style on the market. AIR-O-SWISS, this model, was always rated the winner. 8-I consider it Expensive to buy along with supplies the consumer will require for occasionally cleaning and changing the filter for a new filter. Financially I felt it was o/o range for me, BUT, I knew also I needed humidity in my home in an effort to alleviate related health issues: dry skin rashes; nose bleeds, etc. 9-I am content and happy with buying this humidifier. Its an investment pertaining to my health. 10-I recommend everyone, all consumers, particularly with expensive items, research the quality of the product before buying. Yesterday, I filed the above initial report on my personal experience with the Air-O-Swiss Ultrasonic Humidifier. I then went to the Amazon page showing this humidifier with its description plus reviews. I was totally surprised to read Amazon's new posting concerning the legitimacy of claims made for this product and/or method it was shipped. As I'm typing this update, I'm noticing the AOS sounds as though its working hard to maintain the humidity I've set. The humidifier is in the same room as I am now. When IT reaches the designated humidity level, that's when it seems/sounds as though its putting a "lot of effort" into working. If there is any change, one way or the other, I will update this report. I am unhappy with my purchases of the 2 Honeywell (?) humidifiers. I wish Amazon would consider my case even though its long pass returning it, etc. I have two (2) Honeywell humidifiers, including filters I had to buy because the filters which came with the humidifiers had to be replaced. The company involved is "KAZ". Rev Pat 12-13-12 Update: I'm learning when I fill the tank (about a gallon) it is very heavy to lift, carry and position onto the base. One previous reviewer mentioned this is an "awkward" setup. It is awkward to hold this gallon or more of water, turn it around in order to "get it in position" to be placed onto the base. I've been using it for about two weeks and guess what, " a red flashing light kept bobbing up & down" on the "screen." Think of the screen as home computer's monitor and it does have a "key pad" which is so easy to understand and use. This RED light was telling me "its time to clean the water tank" which was so easy to do, much different from my experience with last year's fiasco with HONEYWELL. Be ware of HONEYWELL Humidifiers. Don't buy them. So far as cons, cost is always a factor, same with this humidifier. Supplies are Needed: cleanser and filter. Then there's a really big CON: Swiss-O-Air does not mention its best to use distilled water. Research distilled water. Most people be- lieve its water left standing for days in an container of some sort. Wrong! Its a costly process which many can not afford. That is, if you buy it from the local bottling company or buy Amazon's distilling gadgets. Most of us will resort to letting our water stand still for days.... Today, I'm first trying my way: I have a fairly large electric water boiler, mainly used for my daily tea drinking. Now I'm using it in my own concoction for distilling water. 1st, I always pour water into my coun- tertop, small water filtering system. Then I pour it into my "big" electric boiler. Now, I'll let the water cool down and store it in whatever container I can find in my little home. After a day or two, I'll use it for the Air-O-Swiss. Amazon should Insist on correct detailed DESCRIPTIVE INFO. on the products they allow to be sold on their web site. Shame on Amazon for not doing this for their customers! I run into this problem with Amazon all the time. When it occurs, which is often, I email Amazon with my concern, then I just don't buy the product, that is if I "catch" this weak- ness/fault/deception. Now with the SOA everything seemed "upright." Today, is the first time I realized Its recommended to use DISTILLED WATER. I think this is unfair to us, the customer who are making THEM Rich. I ran into this problem with the Honeywell's also. I imagine all these appliances would do better/operate more efficiently with distilled water. I believe we're not told this by the manufacturer and/or seller because they know this adds to the cost of their product which then might make it less attractive to us. Rev Pat

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.

When it works it is great but it doesn't work very often. After anywhere from 10 min to 4 hours it shuts itself off with a low water warning light even though there is plenty of water in the unit. Despite trying all of the remedies listed in the manual I have not been able to resolve this problem and plan to call Air o Swiss tomorrow to ask for a replacement or refund. When it works it raises the humidity in a bedroom from the 25% range to 60% overnight. It requires filling daily when it works and filling it is a bit of a hassle. It is absolutely silent, a nice feature. The filters, cleaning solution and disinfectant stick are quite expensive and need to be replaced regularly. Not happy with the unit but not sure there is a better one out there. I am hopeful this unit is just defective and a new one will work more reliably. Now some comments about AirO Swiss customer support. I had to call them multiple times to get permission to return the defective unit for repair. I got the clear impression that the customer support reps were specifically trained to not authorize warranty repairs. The reps were actively unpleasant on the phone with one exception. They were obsessed with actions I might have taken which could have voided the warranty though there were no warnings about that in the product literature. Once we got a verbal agreement to return the unit we had to email them our purchase receipt. Ten days later they gave us return shipping instructions after yet another phone call. We shipped the unit back, they received it 10 days ago and in still another phone call we were told it would be another ten days for a replacement because they had to check out the unit to "make sure I did not void the warranty"! I also got the impression my problem is a common one with no easy fix which may be the reason for their obfuscation. In conclusion: DO NOT BUY THIS HUMIDIFIER OR ANY AIR O SWISS PRODUCT!

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.

Works really well in making it easier to breathe and bring some moisture to your skin when you're in a dry environment (I'm using this in the middle of winter when the relative humidity is in the low-mid 20%). I usually use the "auto" mode and let it make the necessary adjustment to get up to the desired humidity setting (I leave it on the default 50%). The heat function works well, even though the mist coming out doesn't feel all that warm, you will eventually notice the difference (especially if you're room is cool, or warm to begin with like mine, in which case, I end up turning off the heat function because it gets uncomfortable). The unit is also very quiet (generally a very low hum and gentle hiss)....you can't even compare this to a Vick's humidifier which sounds like a jack-hammer in comparison. One other consideration is how often you have to refill the tank, which for me, is every 2 days (9-10 hours of use per day on "auto" mode set at 50% humidity). The only three things that would make it perfect are: an easier way to refill the tank (which requires removing the large plastic housing on the back of the machine; to fill, you have to take the whole thing off, invert it while trying to avoid dropping water that accumulates at the bottom since that's where it flows in the unit, and then either holding the whole thing upside down or setting in on a padded surface while filling to avoid any possible damage to the top vents where the mist comes up), combine the two filters into one or have the second one (which you just drop into the tank and kinda floats around) somehow attach to the base filter or tank, and maybe a remote.

I searched long and hard to find a humidifier that would meet my needs. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one, so this is what I ended up with. Kind of harsh to start out with, I know, but I'm just being honest. I wanted a humidifer, first and foremost that was quiet, so I started looking at Ultrasonic Humidifiers. Ultrasonic humidifers are notorious for emitting a white dust as they work which is actually dissolved minerals in the water. I did not see this as an issue as I will be using RO (Reverse Osmosis) water to fill it. Next, a Humidistat. Suprisingly few humidifers actually come with humidistats, even among the higher priced units. A unit with a humidistat will control the the humidity level of a room by constantly measuring the humidity and turning the unit on or off based upon the preset user selectable setting, much like a thermostat does for heating and cooling. Many units simply have Low Medium and High settings, or some variation thereof which makes it difficlult to control the humidity level with any precision. I chose the 7144 for a few reasons, the Primary of which were the features talked about above combined with the minimal footprint and elegant modern look. The unit is fairly quiet, although even when not working the fan runs. A fan is used to propel the mist into the room making for a more efficient introduction of moisture to the environment, however when the unit is at rest and not calling for humidity, I see no reason this fan needs to be running. This is both a waste issue as it is using energy and a noise issue as, although the unit is fairly quiet, the fan can still be heard when it is running. The Water tank is undersized for the the unit. This humidifer is capable of outputting a generous amount of moisture, however if left to run at maximum output at constant interval the tank will need to be refilled about every 8 hours. The tank is also awkward to handle and difficult to refill. While the tank conforms nicely to the asthetics of the unit, once removed, it has an odd shape to it which makes it difficult to refill. One can't simply place it under the sink and leave it to fill, it requires some kind of shim, or assistance to keep it from tilting over, or even to keep the opening close enough to the edge of the sink in order to reach the faucet. I have overcome this issue by refilling it in the Kitchen sink and using a funnel to reach the faucet. The last issue I have with the water tank is that it is a bit messy to remove. It is impossible to remove this tank without dripping water all over the floor. When installed in the unit, the base of the tank actually sits in a pool of water making it wet. Once removed, the wet tank drips everywhere unless it is wiped down immediatly, or some such. I've given the unit 3 stars for its' elegant look, attractive fine mist, humidistat, and quiet operation, and dropped the 2 stars for its wasteful fan and numerous water tank issues.

My family and I moved from Southern California (where we slept with the windows open nearly year round for wonderful, well rested sleep) to Phoenix, Arizona (where the humidity hovers at most to 15% in my house according to my hygrometer.) After a month (and before we got the humidifier), my kids (3 and 1) were absolutely suffering. During the night, they were choking and hacking, wheezing and just plugged up. I was no different. Needless to say, our sleep was badly affected. I knew it was the air situation. After 3 nights of researching the different types of humidifiers, I finally settled on buying two Air O Swiss 7144 units (one for each kid's room). Although it was expensive, I buy things for the long haul and figured better to spend up front then have problems with cheaper models down the road. I have since turned it on absolutely every single night for them and the difference is short of miraculous. Here are some points: 1- a full tank lasts two nights running at 8 hours a night with the windows closed and the door nearly shut (about an inch ajar at most) 2- tank is not difficult to fill. I use one 3 gallon water bottle (normally used for my drinking water dispense) to completely fill up both humidifier units 3- to maximize space and thus get the most water into the humidifier, I removed the demineralization cartridge and use only reverse osmosis drinking water for my unit. I have had ZERO WHITE DUST. The R.O. water is purified enough that there are no remaining minerals to be churned out as white dust. This trick also saves me from having to replace the cartridge. (BTW, our tap water is VERY hard so I didn't want to use it even with the demineralization cartridge because why make the machine work harder than it has to?) R.O. water is perfect and again, NO WHITE DUST AT ALL!!!! 4- It's so quiet, it's ridiculous. I LOVE that. 5- The warm mist feature is perfect. It does not raise the temperature of the room so it's never like a sauna. The air leaving the machine even at warm mist feels somewhat cool (and the first night I kept checking in on the kids to make sure I wasn't freezing them) but the unit actually heats the water to 104 degrees which is just the right temp at maintaining room temp (no moist saunas!!) and/or preventing steam burn to your finger in case a curious little one chooses to wave his/her hand in the mist. 6- I've religiously used the units each night for the last 3 months with absolutely no problem. 7- The buttons don't light up or create distracting glows. Important for me because I wanted the kids' rooms to remain relatively dark as that's what they're used to. 8- There is no leaking or condensation on the unit. The mist is so fine that it evaporates before it touches the little folding dinner tray table that I have each unit placed on. The carpet underneath doesn't feel soggy or anything. It truly produces an ultrafine mist that dissipates almost immediately. 9- I can adjust the flow and humidity to my liking (to get 2 nights' worth of output from one tank, I set it on warm mist at the lowest air flow at 55% humidity) 10- It automatically shuts off when it runs out of water. There is a blinking light that indicates that the machine is on "On" but there's no water. I usually press the off button the after the second night's use. If I forget to press off and fill the tank up on the third night, I noticed that since the machine is technically "on" (even though there's no sound or movement indicating that), as soon as I put the filled tank back on the unit, it immediately starts working on the settings I last set it on. 11- I have yet to use the cool mist (since it's still winter) but I read that it actually helps to maintain (at the very least) or slightly lower the room temp which is convenient in summer months. All in all, I love this machine. By the way, on a few occasions when my older child needed me to sleep next to him until he fell back asleep (usually a nightmare woke him up), I noticed within 10-15 minutes that my breathing was VERY different in his room where the unit had been running for several hours into the night. No clogged sinuses or difficult inhalation. Once he was appropriately tucked in and I would go back to my room, within 5-10 minutes, my breathing would get adversely affected. That's how dry the air is in our house. So, that's why after 3 months of enjoying how well it's worked in the kids' rooms, my husband and I are looking forward to our own good sleep after just purchasing our 3rd machine.

THe unit is nice an quiet, but there are a few items that need to be improved: 1. The force ejecting the mist is not very strong, so a lot of water tends to fall on the piece of furniture the humidifier is on, and has to be continuously cleaned. 2. When empty and the tank needs to be taken off, there is a lot of condensation on the unit, so when the tank is lifted, there is a lot of water that drains/drips down. One has to be carefull to lift the tank, tilt it so it is over the bottom of the humidifier so that the water drips there, before QUICKLY removing the tank and the remaining water dripping off. Otherwise, it is a big mess to clean the water from the furniture the humidifier is on. 3. When refilling with water, it is extremely uncomfortable to hold utank pside down and refill (opening on bottom), since the top of the tank is not a level surface and has the mist openings. One essentially has to put the tank on a cushy towel, or hold it in air as it is being refilled. 4. Lastly, the design of how the tank fits on the unit is strange. When replacing the full tank, one has to be very carefull how to align the tank and more than once I have pinched my fingers as the tank slides into place. The functioning of the unit is great. Very quiet. But, bad design IMO. I just do not understand why the tank is not made to be refilled from the top. Why can not the manufacturers of these humidifiers figure this out. Just add a refill opening on the top of the tank. Then one would not even need to remove it from the base. No spilling, carrying, etc.