When I got this the Box seemed undamaged, and there was no rattling or anything when I shook it a little bit. I was halfway to putting it together when I found out that the plastic supports that hold the fan in place had shattered, before I'd ever received it, and the fan had no way to be supported. Very upset very angry, now I've got to Lug this thing back to Home Depot almost 50 miles away to return it. When your supports can't even hold up the item it's supposed to support, then what the heck good is the product? As always Home Depot delivery and customer service for top rate, my being upset is regarding the product itself.

Ordered online had it shipped to house and it had internal damage. Returned it to the store and they reordered it and another one came to the house with the same internal damage. There are four screws that hold the fan shroud in and both times two of the plastic tabs were broken. Clearly there is a design or manufacturing flaw. My parents have had this unit for 5 years and it has worked very well. So after the second time one was delivered to my residence damaged, I said to heck with it and put JB Weld on the tabs. It works fine now but I'm still giving them one star because the broken tab issue is inexcusable.

wasted money

I bought this over a year ago because my other one was on it's last legs after 20 some years. I've only used it a week but it is going in the trash just as soon as I can order a different one.

Aircare will Change your Life for the Better

Within a year of relocating from a community in California's coastal plain to the high desert, I went from doctor to doctor attempting, unsuccessfully, to obtain treatment for a sinus infection. Their one-size-fits-all answer was to insist on treating "allergies" with steroid nasal sprays — because none of the specialists I saw connected my year-around symptoms to ultra-low humidity. I like the fact that this pedestal-style AirCare unit blends in with furnishings in my home and doubles as a stand on which to display things rather than screaming "Appliance!" Mine has been in continuous operation for almost three years on the medium speed, which keeps my house at ~40% humidity vs. the ~14% it was before. It's not super quiet, it's necessary to refill virtually every day and the wicks aren't particularly cheap to replace. However, compared to experiencing unrelenting 24/7/365 headaches and nosebleeds, this purchase is a no brainer for anyone who lives in a dry climate (mountains/desert).

It works fine. Not Pretty. Not perfect. Does the job.

It does work. There are two ways to fill it - through the side through a small mailbox sized slot using an extra piece that fits on poorly, or just lift the whole outside shell off (easily done) and fill it up with 8 jugs of water (3.5 gallons) directly into a big box - the preferred way to fill this. I fill it up at night and put it on level 4 fan and it brings the humidity up to 28% overnight, and I bring down the fan to 1 during the day and it usually stays around that level or drops slightly. I fill it every 24 hours - every night before going to bed. The fan is really, really loud. 1 is fine during the day - I work beside it and it is a slight white noise. I could not work near it at level 3 or higher. I forgot to fill it up one night and the house humidity dropped to 20%. Twice now there was a pressure wave from the fan - like having one window down a bit in a car - you feel a pressure vibration. I simply cycled through the fan speeds and it went away. The filter I intend to replace once a winter. It looks fine after a solid 6 weeks of use. It is quite ugly and I found that the air comes out of each side which means you really shouldn't put it right against a wall or you will have moisture problems there. I have mine where the air from the sides are away from walls. The casters are quite good and don't mark the hardwood floor - it is easy to move around, even full. I set the humidity level on the machine to the max - 65%, and the sensor is too close to the machine so the humidity it is measuring is way higher than the actual humidity in the room. The sensor will read 40 or 45% and it is really 28% on a humidity meter a few feet away. Keeping it on 65% will prevent the machine from turning off. My building inspector friends said that this machine is better than a whole home humidifier as the whole home ones can cause basement dampness.

Wish I had returned it...

I'm very disappointed with this humidifier. I don't care for the look of it, its too big and it feels just plain cheap. The humidifier is a pain to fill. Every time I fill it through the trap door with the included funnel water gets spilled on the floor and I have to clean it up. I find it easier to remove the top pedestal cover and fill it that way. The humidifier is also extremely loud on its lowest fan setting, F1. It sounds like a cheap box fan running all day in the other room. I can even hear it upstairs at night when I sleep. The humidistat reads 20% higher than any other humidistat I have, even sitting right on the humidifier. On fan speed F1 its managed to raise the humidity in my house (built 2014) from 30% to 35% and consumes about 2 gallons of water per day. On a higher fan speed, the humidifier would likely raise the humidify level more but its way too loud on fan speed F1. The humidifier also requires a daily dose of Essick bacteriostatic treatment. The bacteriostatic treatment product label is literally covered in product warnings which require you to put on gloves and goggles to handle the treatment. I'm less than thrilled about using it. I'm hoping the treatment helps the $16 replaceable filter wick last most of the season.

Best of a poor selection

Current humidifiers use a wick/filter to evaporate water. This method is not as efficient as older models of humidifiers. Thankfully, this model uses a large base to hold water which is filled directly. There are no bottles to contend with as their other models have. However, the funnel provided is useless as it is not secure and easily falls off. You need a watering can or pitcher with a long, small curved tube as a spout to fit into the slots of the opening used to fill the base. The fan is quite loud and the air comes out 2 opposite sides rather than out the top. This causes a cool draft across the floor to add to the discomfort of our cold winters. Since this air does not rise into the room, the circulation of humidity is lower than it could be. The humidistat on the power cord is inaccurate and you will need a wall unit to measure humidity in your house. The manufacturer of this unit could easily correct the problems. If done, this unit has the potential to be a very useful model. It is keeping our humidity at 48 - 50% at the start of winter with the fan set at 6. When the outside temperature reaches the coldest point for the winter, I believe this unit will maintain this level of humidity by increasing the fan to the maximum setting of 9.

A bad trade-off..

Bought this unit during early Dec '20 sale. It rests in a corner of a large open-plan living area.

As others noted - with reservations/cautions

Design-wise, visually, I have no complaints.

Well since I have used this humidifier for the past 5 winters I should probably add a review. I a...

Well since I have used this humidifier for the past 5 winters I should probably add a review. I am trying to humidify 1200 sq. ft. of one living level. I also have a basement but I only have my vents slightly cracked open so the effects of the humidifier down there is minimal. I like this machine but it has its quirks that you need to consider while using. For one thing the humidity sensor which lays on the cord behind the machine when plugged in can be easily influenced by its proximity to the machine. My humidifier is in a small bedroom which adds its own quirks to the mixture. So if I am trying to get the humidity level in the far reaches of the living level to a modest lower/mid 40s in the middle of winter I find I have to set the humidifier to 50 percent. If I put it any lower, say 45%, it will turn itself off too quickly since the sensor laying right behind it quickly reaches set humidity. That means the rest of the house is on the dryer side. Of course the humidity in the small bedroom is much higher than the rest of the house but that is what you have to do to "manage" whole house humidity. Here's a tip - if you have forced air heat like I do with return vents built into each room then set the humidifier near one of those return vents. Then when the heat is operating and blowing out of the heat registers it will help circulate the humidified air into the return vents, through your air handler, and back out through all of the open heat registers throughout the living space. That really helps to distribute the humid air all around the house. It also means your humidifier will work longer, harder and need to be refilled more often but afterall that is the main goal, get the humidity out to the fartherst reaches of the livng space. Here's another hint - I never use the spout to refill the water, messy. Instead I use a 2 gallon watering can with the spout removed and stick the long end right into the humidifier and dump it in... this is quick and relatively mess free if you do it carefully. I always put one of the bio additives in the water to keep mold and mildew down and I can go all winter long without any buildup on the filter or the interior parts. I like most things about this machine. I like the large reservoir so I don't have to refill as often. The controls on front are easy to use. It looks pretty good on the outside and can serve as a small end table if needed. But I have a beef . The fan gets loud on any setting but the two or three lowest fan speeds. Once you get above F3 it is obnoxiously loud. Luckily for me I find I can get through most of the winter on the lowest fan setting F1. If it gets really cold and dry outside I might have to raise it to F2 or 3 for a couple of days just to maintain my overall house humidity (aiming for low/mid 40s). Now whenever you increase the fan speed remember you will have to refill the reservoir more frequently. But in the end over these 5 years this has been a dependable machine and maintains humidity well enough if you place it correctly and learn its quirks in relation to your home space.

Does the trick

This is absolutely the ugliest appliance you will ever own, but it does the trick. Honestly, I don't know who came up with the design. Maybe it was the CEO of Aircare and they were too afraid to say something; it's like a 1980's inspired Roman column with a digital clock. I digress...

Not Impressed

I have owned several humidifiers over the years and decided to try this big one, instead of the 4 smaller ones I have placed around my house.

Easy to use and maintain

I was hesitant to purchase this unit, first because of the premium price and, second, because of the size. But we had purchased a smaller Honeywell and it did a poor job of keeping our 1200 sq. ft. home humidified. The Aircare Pedestal Humidifier is taller than most other units, but since it uses almost the same floor area, it actually doesn't take up any more space. Also, the fake tile tray up top is solid enough for a potted plant, etc. And because of the chocolate "Espresso" brown colour, it looks less alien than the more common white plastic UFO style humidifiers.