AIRCARE Essick Air 821-000 Digital Control Evaporative Console Humidifier

I've had this unit for a little more than a month now and I'd say that this is one of the best units I've owned. Here are some things I wanted when I went shopping for a humidifier:*Quiet*Doesn't have to be filled more than once a day*Easy to fill*No chance for spillage/ Parts that can wear out and leak*Auto shutoff when unit runs low*Inexpensive to operate*And of course...Decent at humidificationSo how does it do?Quiet - As all the other reviewers here have noted, on low it's quiet You could put in a room with a TV no problem. Sounds like a box (window) fan on low. On high is's loud, sounds like a window fan on high. Conclusion...When you move a lot of air with blades cutting through air, it's going to be loud. Really needs a medium speed and one of the reasons I nicked this unit a star.Filling - Holds a lot of water 6 gallons if memory serves and lasts about 24 hours on low. Your mileage will vary of course depending on your humidity, and weather you use the auto shut off feature (shuts off when it reaches a certain humidity) and how fast you run the fan. Remember the more humid it is, the less moisture will wick away from the filters, so in that way it naturally adjusts to changing moisture conditions.Easy to fill - So the unity is easy to fill BUT, I have discovered something that everyone should be careful of when filling the unit. Depending on how you fill it it is possible to distort the wick with water if you aren't careful. I filled mine with a bucket and I let the water rush in very quickly and I poured it towards the wick and it was partially crushed restricting airflow. I had to replace my first wick after about a week. This is more user error than anything, just be careful filling the unit. If you pour a lot of water in quickly try not to let it hit the wick to quickly. I now use a short hose I bought here on Amazon for $6 to connect to my sink to fill. One other obscure but useful tip....Spillage - So when I got this I looked at it and I said to myself, it's basically a bucket. The bottom is one solid piece, no leaks, right? Well....Almost, but there is one interesting "feature" of this humidifier. Something in other reviews I hadn't seen mentioned and something I don't see mentioned in the manual! About 1/2 way up on the back, about 1" higher than the fill line there is a small hole (see pic)....Maybe 1/8" across. I presume this is to prevent overfilling. Frankly I understand why, but I would have thought a big removable sticker warning new owners about this hole would have been appropriate.EDIT: The hole in the back is to install a float system to connect to a water supply. I bought it and it's fantastic not having to fill my dehumidifier.Overfilling the unit won't break it (but the more you fill the less humidification you get as it covers the wick), unless you fill it all the way to the very top where the fan is. This hole would be a nasty surprise to someone who either accidentally overfilled or someone trying to squeeze in a little extra water in because they know they will be away, to find a big puddle on the floor.As far as parts, many of us are familiar with the kinds of humidifiers that fill at the bottom with the rubber values, some work great and never have a problem, but when they fail, it's a mess and I certainly wouldn't want a unit that holds this much water to rely on a valve system.Auto shutoff - It does. Several reviews have complained about the shut off mechanism. It's cheap and flimsy and you should be gentle with it, but it works fine. It is possible to put in backwards, but it's not difficult to figure out. It's also possible that the unit has been redesigned based on complaints, but the unit I bought at the end of 2014 works fine.Inexpensive? - One thing that I don't see mentioned often about humidifiers with wicks is how inexpensive they are. Ultrasonic humidifiers can use very little to a modest amount of electricity. At their lowest setting a small 1 gallon unit can use as little as 25W on low and 125W on high. Cool mist humidifiers are, from what I can find similar. Warm mist humidifiers can use quite a bit more with some using 350W or more, but when you consider the amount of humidification per watt, this unit seems to me at least, to be far better when considering electricity cost per volume of humidification, especially when considering that I rarely use on high. This unit only advertises it's electricity use on high, which is 90W. I've seen other reviews that put the low use at about 32W which sounds about right.But.....Filters are another consideration....There about $16 each and last a few months. Now add electricity use and you get something like this...So I'll give some low end numbers that assume that you will run the unit for 4 winter months, always on low and you can get by with 2 filters per season. At the low end I'll assume the unit runs for 12 hours out of every day.At the high end, let's say 4 months, 4 filters always on high running all day you get a range like this....Now, you'll need to figure out where you'll be based on your usage and KWh chargesFilters $32-$64 per seasonElectricity@ .14 cents per KWh $6.50 - $13 per seasonThus at the low end $38 per season ($9.50 a month) and at the high end $77 per season ($19 per month)To put that in perspective, a warm mist humidifier that uses 333W on high and 100W on low (for the sake of simple math) uses$20 (on low running 12hrs a day) to $134 (on high running all day) total in a four month season.Cool mist and ultrasonic are comparable to evaporative in terms of electricity, but they generally require a lot more maintenance (calcium buildup) and must be filled a lot more often. Some also require special softeners or anti-bacterial treatments that can be pretty expensive.Humidification - It's funny, because I set my unit on 45% humidity and I find it has a hard time keeping up and runs most of the day on low keeping the humidly at 30-40%. At the end of the day the unit is putting close to 6 gallons of water into the air, if it's not keeping up, I suspect that it has less to do with my humidifier and more to do with conditions in my home.Now if you've read this far I'm going to tell you a wonderful and easy to do tip that will make your wicks last longer and keep your fan quieter over time. Look for "AllerTech® Vent Guard 16" X 60" It costs $11. Now buy it and some Velcro strips (you only need a few inches of Velcro. Now once you get the vent filter cut it so if fits over the top of the unit (just the fan, not the angled vent at the front!) If you'd like you can secure it with one small piece of Velcro in the center, or 4 pieces at each corner. (see picture) Remember the fan pulls down so the filter will naturally be pressed to the top of the unit when it's running.Why? Because dust and pet hair will clog your wick making it less efficient meaning you will have to change more often. I have no idea why these units don't come with filters similar to those you would find on a window unit air conditioner.Hope this helps!UPDATE 12/28/14: If you live in a cold area and the water that comes out of the tap is really cold (mid 40's), if you fill the entire unit with pure cold water it can condensate in a humidified home. The solution is simply to fill your unit with room temp water (move the tap to warm). NEVER use hot water!

This is a preliminary review addressing only one specific problem, which is Essick Air Products' lack of anything resembling Customer Service - which I encountered after they shipped my humidifier with a missing part.This review details the considerable difficulties which I've experienced with the Essick Air Products Customer Service Department while trying to secure this missing part. Once I've received the necessary part required to set up and actually use the humidifier, I'll follow up with another review.I conducted extensive on-line research before I decided to purchase this particular brand and model of humidifier, Essick Air 821-000 Digital Control Evaporative Console Humidifier, as a replacement for an unsatisfactory Sunbeam brand humidifier which I used for only two winters before the electronic controls completely failed. I ordered this Essick Air Products humidifier from Amazon.com, paid $105.38 for it, and I received the product promptly. It was sealed in a sturdy carton, very well packed, and it showed no signs of any damage or mishandling in transit.Upon opening the carton and unpacking the unassembled humidifier parts, I discovered there was no styrofoam float enclosed, a necessary part that must be installed before the humidifier can be filled with water, plugged in, and made operational. I carefully examined all packing materials to be sure that I hadn't overlooked the missing styrofoam float part. I also retained every bit of the packing materials and the shipping carton, until I could obtain the missing styrofoam float part from the manufacturer, Essick Air Products.The enclosed EssickAir Owner's Care and Use Manual, Model 821 000, White-Digital Control, listed two company phone numbers of 1-800-547-3888 and 1-800-643-8341 (the latter designated as Customer Service), a company mailing address of 5800 Murray Street, Little Rock AR 72209, and a website address of Essickair.com. There was also enclosed a Warranty Registration Card and an Accessories and Parts Catalog. I noted in their catalog that the part I was missing, Foam Float, Part #1B5060400, for Models 821 Series and 821-000 was available and priced at $ 1.09.For two days, off and on, I repeatedly dialed the Essick Air Products Customer Service phone number printed on their literature, 1-800-643-8341. This number was answered with a recording acknowledging that I had reached Essick Customer Service, and then I was placed on hold for long periods of time - between 11 and 19 minutes - without any human being ever coming onto the line. I also intermittently dialed the other phone number listed for Essick Air Products, with the exact same recorded "Customer Service" message answering, followed by a long hold, as the only response.Today, Monday 16 Dec 2013, at 8:29 a.m., on my 7th attempt since 7 a.m. CST, a human being finally came on the line at the Essick Air Products Customer Service number. I explained my problem to this individual, and I asked that the missing part be sent to me as soon as possible. I mentioned that I'd been trying, unsuccessfully, to get through for several days already, and that I really needed to complete assembling my new humidifier, so that I could actually use it.This "customer service" representative immediately said, "Yeah, the bad weather backed us up. I had to work until 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday. You'll have to register your humidifier first, then you can file a warranty claim and send in a copy of your receipt, before I can help you." I objected to these requirements that she laid out, explaining once again that this humidifier had been shipped from the manufacturer without all the necessary parts required to assemble it and even make it operational. I said that I had never heard of registering a warranty, or filing a warranty claim, on any new product before it was even fully assembled and operational.The "customer service" person then stated, "Well, a whole lot of our customers throw away parts when they unpack their products, and then they want us to replace them for nothing, so you still have to register your product, then file a warranty claim and send in your receipt, if you want a replacement part for nothing. Or I can just sell you another one, right now. What do you want to do?"I then asked to speak to a Customer Service Supervisor, as this individual definitely seemed incapable of understanding my specific problem. She placed me on hold for a full three minutes, then she returned to the line and said, "I'll transfer you to my supervisor now, but you should know that your entire phone call will be recorded while you talk to her." I responded, "That's fine. Please just transfer me."The next thing I heard was a voice mail recording for a person named Debbie - no other identifying information offered, no company name, no department name, no last name, no job title, just "This is Debbie. Leave a message with your phone number, and I'll get back to you." I left a detailed message on this voice mail, very carefully explaining again that I was attempting to secure a missing part for a humidifier that was shipped from the manufacturer without it, I included my full name and phone number, and then I hung up.I then logged onto my computer and went to Essickair.com, the website address printed in the humidifier's care and use manual, where I clicked on the Contact Us link. Frustratingly, all the Contact Us e-mail links were dead, although the Contact Us page stated at the top of the page: "Thank you for visiting our web site. We hope you found it helpful. For over 90 years, we have provided quality products backed by personalized service to every customer. This goal continues to be our focus today. Should you need assistance, please contact us at (followed by all the dead e-mail links):I looked all over the Essickair.com website for some other telephone number for this company, but there was none, except for the same two phone numbers which were printed in my care and use manual. I clicked on every e-mail address shown on this website - all were dead links. I searched for the name of any individual to whom I could address a snail-mail letter - there was none.Whether this company, Essick Air Products, manufactures high quality humidifiers, or not, I still cannot say. That they have totally abandoned all efforts at traditional, customer-focused, common-sense, customer service, however, has been made very, very, clear to me.No company or product is worth the tremendous amount of time, effort, and money which I've already invested in this company's humidifier - but I've vowed never again to let another horrible "Customer Service" experience slide by without documenting it publicly, in as many relevant places as I possibly can find. I understood that occasionally some part can be inadvertently left out of a shipment - but there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for any reputable company EVER to allow its "Customer Service" representatives to become so disconnected, so careless, and so arrogant, after their product sale has been made. All the snazzy, efficient, modern technology in the world will never replace a good, old-fashioned, common-sense, courteous, human response to a paying customer's needs and/or complaints.Fortunately, I heard back from Debbie today, who agreed that the correct solution to this problem was simply to mail me the missing styrofoam float part, which Essick Air Products failed to include in their original shipment. Debbie listened carefully and responded courteously, she made no excuses whatsoever for the oversight, nor did she attempt to accuse me, her company's paying customer, of causing this problem (or any other suspect motives), and she immediately promised to out the missing part today, by Priority Mail. Total time spent on the phone with Debbie at Essick Air Products: Less than two minutes total.The phone number from which Debbie called me back today is (502)562-1094 - which may be helpful to any other paying customers who attempt to contact Essick Air Products "Customer Service" Department - and have no luck or are subjected to a royal runaround, like I did and was.Are you listening, Essick Air Products CEO? If you aren't, you need to be. US consumers are finally, totally, fed up with being treated like nuisances, or criminals, or both, by these so-called "Customer Service" departments, such as the one you run at Essick Air Products.

What can I say about any humidifier? They all do what they're supposed to do and this one works admirably. This one does the job, is easy to assemble and use and fill. Plus the price was certainly right.Air is sucked in at the top and blown out of the sloping grill at the right in the illustration. That grill is also easily removed for filling purposes.Cons:1. In the instruction book they omit the meaning of "CL" on the display...it means "Control Lock" whereby you can lock in settings. It can be deactivated (or activated) by holding down the power button until CL flashes on and off, around 5 seconds.2. Pity there isn't a 3rd fan speed setting in between F1 (very quiet) and F2 (quite noisy). That said I would imagine that I wont need full speed anyway, except for perhaps brief periods when it's really cold outside and the heating is on constantly.3. After a while it will start flashing "CF" but continue working as normal. That means a built-in timer is telling you to change the filter. In my case it came far too early on as the filter was almost new, and the only way to turn it off is to unplug at the wall socket, then reconnect. There should be a cancel button on the machine.Pros:On the plus side it is a neat and very efficient machine.When buying this machine I recommend you buy the spare filter  Essick Air 1043 Replacement Space Saver Wick  and anti-bacterial solution  Essick Air 1970CN Humidifier Bacteriostatic Treatment, 1 Quart  as well.........Edit 7 months later: After only 7 months the motor stopped working for whatever reason. Amazon wont take it back after that length of time, emailing Essick themselves but sending it back from Canada to the US will probably be more expensive than simply buying a new one and in any case never got an answer so have reordered the same item from Amazon.ca. As I bought a stack of replacement filters I'm basically stuck with this brand. Not good unless they come through with a deal. If the replacement lasts a good time then I'll come back and up the rating here. Essick Air 1043 Replacement Space Saver WickEssick Air 1970CN Humidifier Bacteriostatic Treatment, 1 Quart

This humidifier replaced four other humidifiers we were running in the house, and is more effective than all of them combined. It's very easy to use and easy to clean. Another nice thing is it doesn't leave that weird white film that the other humidifiers were leaving on surfaces, and it's not affecting our gas range stovetop - we found that the other humidifiers we were using were actually tinging the blue gas flames with yellow/orange as a side-effect (look it up on youtube - this is a thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiP1KcPdQMo).We live in a very dry climate, so it's pretty much running all the time (it does auto-shut off when the humidity level reaches the level you set it to, which is a good energy saver). There are only a few little quirks with the unit you should be aware of:- the humidity level on the unit isn't accurate, so you should set it much higher than you're expecting. We have a separate hygrometer in the house and it's about 8-10 percentage points higher on the Essick than it actually is in the room.- if you're in a dry climate, you have to fill it at least once every day and a half - it's a thirsty, thirsty machine.- the "f2" setting is pretty loud, so we run it at that level at night time (we sleep upstairs so we don't hear it). It's really effective, though - I'd say it raises the humidity at least 5-6 percentage points more than the "f1" setting.Other than that, we're really happy with it - it does a great job and is worth the money.

Pretty good whole house humidifier for a long Canadian winter. I did a lot of research and tried smaller ultrasonic types before getting this. Unfortunately all it really is, is a bucket of water with a water wick filter and fan; but it does the job well. On the highest fan setting it can maintain the humidity in -40C but needs to be filled every 8-10 hours. The easiest way to do this is a 9gal bucket sitting next to it.Not 5 star because it's decently cheap feeling (not to the point of breaking though). Also fitting the fan piece on top is difficult sometimes as the water level sensor needs to be aligned just so.

I owned one of these humidifiers many years ago and loved it! I was happy to find one again at Amazon, because they are no longer sold here locally. It is working beautifully for my space and my skin is happy with the extra moisture!

works well and has large tank. Built flimzy. Best one we could find for the $