Is bacteria/mildew ever a problem like it is on regular portable humidifiers?
825922
Although I have not experienced this with this unit, the membrane doesn't sit in a bath of stagnant water like a portable unit. The way this unit is installed, warm air from the furnace is pulled through the membrane when the furnace fan is running. If there is concern. I would suspect that the fan can be set to run rather than to auto mode and it will help dry out the membrane once the set humidity level is reached. I will keep an eye on this more closely if anything changes, but the unit is easily serviceable in order to remove, replace or even clean the membrane with soapy bleach water. Hope this helps. Although I have not experienced this with this unit, the membrane doesn't sit in a bath of stagnant water like a portable unit. The way this unit is installed, warm air from the furnace is pulled through the membrane when the furnace fan is running. If there is concern. I would suspect that the fan can be set to run rather than to auto mode and it will help dry out the membrane once the set humidity level is reached. I will keep an eye on this more closely if anything changes, but the unit is easily serviceable in order to remove, replace or even clean the membrane with soapy bleach water.... » Read More Although I have not experienced this with this unit, the membrane doesn't sit in a bath of stagnant water like a portable unit. The way this unit is installed, warm air from the furnace is pulled through the membrane when the furnace fan is running. If there is concern. I would suspect that the fan can be set to run rather than to auto mode and it will help dry out the membrane once the set humidity level is reached. I will keep an eye on this more closely if anything changes, but the unit is easily serviceable in order to remove, replace or even clean the membrane with soapy bleach water. Hope this helps. « Show Less
825923
Although I have not experienced this with this unit, the membrane doesn't sit in a bath of stagnant water like a portable unit. The way this unit is installed, warm air from the furnace is pulled through the membrane when the furnace fan is running. If there is concern. I would suspect that the fan can be set to run rather than to auto mode and it will help dry out the membrane once the set humidity level is reached. I will keep an eye on this more closely if anything changes, but the unit is easily serviceable in order to remove, replace or even clean the membrane with soapy bleach water. Hope this helps.
825924
I have not had any problems, probably because the membrane does not sit in water.
825925
I have used April aire exclusively; never having any trouble with eith bacteria/mold. It takes very good care of itself, leaving little maintenance for you.
1902808
Yes - if you have hard water. White dust will come from any ultrasonic humidifier that is used with mineral-laden ("hard") water. The dust is actually the mineral residue from the water, just like the salty coating you would see in the pan if you boiled salt water until it was dry. I have soft water and do not have a problem with white dust. The key issue with white dust is the water, not the humidifier.
1900488
Mold. You have to clean the humidifier - any humidifier - regularly. This one is a little tough to clean, so I'd recommend a bottle brush.
598160
Yes, these are just meant to be dropped into the water tank, and they work well. I have the same problem with mold in the humidifier base you are experiencing, and I clean it periodically the low-tech way with a paper towel and a bit of dish detergent.
2087448
My initial reaction would be to say no. It's really about keeping the insides of your humidifier clean and muck-free. It significantly reduced the amount of slime that accumulates in the water laden areas of the machine. It will also extend the practical use of the wick filter, but dust I is a different matter.
855296
We haven't had a problem with it smelling like mildew. We let it air dry between uses.
1104403
It depends where you mounted the humidistat. Is it upstream or down stream from the humidifier? If it's upstream that would be normal. It would also be normal if you have any other source of humidity in the living area such as fish tanks, steam from shower, boiling a lot of water in the kitchen area, etc.
1410971
I use my everyday during Cross Country season and the only time i ever encountered mildew was when i left just a little watter on the bottom, completely sealed, and left it there for a little under a week. So, Yes, it does mildew.. but not easily. Just clean it and you'll be good
1663878
I'm using this humidifier for the 2nd year and I have not had any "white dust". The water in my apartment is very hard water, and their is a lot of mineral deposts that get left on the filter, so I have to change the filter more often. Maybe the filter is good enough so that you don't get "white dust"?
548966
Not that I have seen, but I used it in a Swiss made humidifier that I paid a lot for and left it over night. It had a brass part in it that did not seem to be affected.
729704
Jeff, I would have to say no, because I never saw any. After reading all the other answers - I still say no, and I use water right out of the tap. The one at the apartment is city water, but one at the house is drilled well water and neither of these humidifiers leave white dust.
1044678
I do not have that problem with mine. It does not leave a powder in my rooms, but that may be because I follow the directions about leaving doors open so the humidity can go where it needs to. Also, I alternate between the lower and high settings. This is a good, basic cool humidifier - I am happy with it.
1065232
I have 2 humidifiers and used both these upon arrival about 3 weeks ago. So far no "white dust". However we also have a whole house water filtration system which may help also. These are way easier than using the bottled treatment and the humidifier and wick are staying much cleaner.
1191376
I have only had this humidifier for a month. We have very hard water, so I am only using distilled water and, so far, it is very clean. If you run the unit for 12 hours a day it goes through a gallon of water pretty quickly, so there really isn't standing water building up algae..........
1027111
The only thing you can do is keep it clean with the cleaner they sell. Outside of that, if it quits misting, there's usually not much you can do or replace yourself! Kinda sucks because I know they fail for no good reason, but it's my favorite humidifier when it works! You may try reseating the water container into the base unit and or jarring it a little bit to see if something is stuck. I wouldn't attempt to dis-assemble it. Messing with water and electricity is dangerous.
1803799
We have used this Humidifier for about 6 Month and use it often but not every day, we use distilled water and so far see no reasonto clean it, it works really well. Hope this will help
194742
They all do unless you use distilled water. The harder the water, the more dust. This one was better than the little humidifier I used to have though. Same way when you put tap water in an iron causes white spots. Changing the filter at least 1x a season could help.