Very very very very very very very good purchase. I have sinus issues during the winter, and this solved them immediately. During the rest of the year, I use this to make the air in my home more hospitable (i.e. less dry), which allows me to grow air-root plants. It also helps me to reduce the static shocks I get in the winter.

The rest of this review looks like a lot of work, but it really really is not. The actual cleaning takes maybe 20 minutes of your time. The rest of it is just waiting for the white vinegar to do its work. I made my instructions very specific, so that is why my review is long.

WORD OF WARNING:
As with ANY warm-air humidifier, you need to own up to the fact that it will require regular cleaning. that come with it. You NEED to read the instructions that come with this product. Think of the humidifier like your phone, and think of cleaning the humidifier like charging your phone. Alternatively, think of the humidifier like your dishes, and think of cleaning the humidifier like cleaning your dishes. Using your humidifier will allow mineral build-up from the water you use to fill the tank (even if you use filtered water, like me, which GREATLY minimizes the mineral build-up). Using your phone will drain the battery, and using your dishes will make them dirty. If you want to use your phone, you need to charge it. If you want to use your dishes, you need to clean them. Don't expect some magical fairy to clean your things for you or charge your phone.

The mineral build-up occurs because there are particles in your water, some of which are natural. Because this is a warm-air humidifier, the heating element will heat the water to create steam (i.e. evaporation). Whatever cannot evaporate will remain on the heating element. It's like taking salt water and leaving it in a pot under the sun. Eventually, all that will remain after several hours is the salt because the salt couldn't evaporate. The minerals cannot evaporate and will remain on the heating element. If you leave the mineral build-up on the heating element, the heating element cannot heat the water properly, and it also provides a very good environment for bacteria and mold to grow. You do NOT want bacteria and mold growing on your humidifier, because spores can become airborne, and you absolutely do NOT want to breathe that in.

Here are a few tips:
1) Use ONLY purified water (get a cheap Brita water pitcher) in the tank. This prevents you from having to clean it LITERALLY every time you fill the tank up. In other words, if you use unfiltered water, you will need to soak the heating element EVERY time your tank runs dry.

2) If, like me, you use filtered water and you have let the humidifier run through 3 or 4 tanks-worth of water without cleaning it, you will want white vinegar, which comes in a huge 2-gallon jug at your local grocery store.

3) When wiping off the heating element in your humidifier, use a soft cotton wash cloth or a paper towel. DO NOT USE A SCRUBBER or HARSH CLOTH ON THE HEATING ELEMENT. Rough/scrubby cloths, sponges, etc. will scratch and create grooves on the heating element, which provide more surface area for the mineral build-up to occur. (You'll see this reminder again later)

How to clean it after you've filled and used up 3 to 4 tanks of filtered water:
[note: "chamber" refers to the concave area around the heating element. "Tank" refers to the blue water tank that says "Vicks" on it.]

1) For the love of all that is good in the world, UNPLUG the humidifier before you even begin cleaning. Then, let the heating element cool down for an hour.

2) Remove the water tank and rinse it out (believe me, the tank can get dirty too, even if you use filtered water). Then remove all the removable parts (sounds stupid when I write it but once you get this humidifier in your house, you'll understand). You'll see this round, gray thing. That's the heating element.

3) Fill the area surrounding the heating element with white vinegar, making sure you cover the top of the heating element. Let it sit overnight. The instructions say 20 minutes, but I have found that it's better to let it sit overnight or even over two nights, especially if you can see any white residue on the heating element. If, after a few hours, you see the white vinegar in the chamber turning cloudy, then empty the vinegar into the sink and replenish the chamber with fresh white vinegar.

4) Drain the white vinegar into the sink and have tap water running while you do this.

4) Rinse the heating element area (and anywhere that had white vinegar) with tap water.

5) Use a soft dish cloth or Bounty paper towels (not the kind that you get in public bathrooms) to wipe the sides and top of the heating element.** Rinse with water. Then use a chopstick or a spoon to gently slide the towel or dish cloth down the sides of the chamber so you can wipe and dry the hard-to-reach parts of the humidifier. Rinse with water again.
**DO NOT USE A SCRUBBER or HARSH CLOTH ON THE HEATING ELEMENT. Rough/scrubby cloths, sponges, etc. will scratch and create grooves on the heating element, which provide more surface area for the mineral build-up to occur.

6) Thoroughly dry the humidifier

Use again.

Much bettah than the one I had before. I bought a different humidifier locally, can't remember who made it, and I returned it after buying this one. I DID like the aesthetics of the previous one, versus this one, but this one is more effective and easier to clean.

The previous one kicked out a decent amount of steam, but Oh, it was noisy! This one sounds like an iron when it's set on steam. You know, when you iron something and then set it down and it "exhales," for lack of a better word. That's exactly what it sounds like. I do find that I can hear it slightly over the t.v. or the waterfall "music" I use to help me fall asleep, but eventually, it just blends in. The other one, when it was on, made it difficult to fall asleep. Never cool.

This one is also VERY easy to clean. The other one had 3(!) separate pieces to clean, none of them removable. This one, I just take off the transparent, refill container, unlock the two locks and remove the opaque side. The base contains the heating element, I rinse it a couple of times, then pour hot vinegar (watch out for the fumes!) into the receptacle and let it sit for 15-30 minutes, or more if needed. The hot vinegar is non-toxic, inexpensive, and very effective at removing the lime build up. Then, I scrub the knobby element with a toothbrush, rinse, reassemble and refill. Bam! Done! Easy!

It has an auto shut off feature, very, very helpful and effective, well, until yesterday. I was using it and it shut itself off, because the water was gone, totally normal and expected. But this time, there was a funny (meaning: bad) smell when I got close to it, it smelled burnt! Uh oh! I turned it off via the dial. I removed the water receptacle, filled it, and returned it to the base. I waited a couple of minutes for it to refill and settle. I then turned it back on and no dice, the orangey-red light was still on (green means go, red means stop on this thing, just like in the rest of life). I wasn't happy. I thought about it, turned the dial to off and unplugged the unit and waited...... I went back to it about an hour later, plugged it in, (and with a bit of trepidation) turned it back on. I let it run for about an hour, to watch that little trickster, before I felt like it was running safely enough for me to trust it while I slept. I woke up this morning, nothing on fire, so I'm guessing it's ok. Hmmmm. I will update this review if something bad happens (let's just cross our fingers!). Oh, and so you know, I've had this humidifier since the first week of January and I use it every night. I'd still buy it again. I think. As long as it doesn't catch my house on fire.

You could probably buy a better humidifier, for more money, but this one is good for the price and VERY easy to clean. I'm happy with my purchase. : )

I am originally from Florida and moved to the DMV area for grad school 1.5 years ago. I took for granted all the benefits the humidity gave me: such as having to wear body lotion since it was built into the air! So winters here gave me peeling skin-- especially on my face, which was weird because I have quite oily skin. After trying a bunch of super thick and moisturizing moisturizers, I realized the cause was the dry air in my apartment due to the heater. I also experience an increased number of sinus headaches and migraines, which I realized was likely caused by the same thing.

This humidifier has done wonders for me-- in the ~2 months I've had it, I've noticed that my face is much less dry and I'm having significantly fewer headaches/migraines. I use it on the low setting most evenings and can usually get 2 evenings' worth of uses out of each refill of water. The upkeep can be a little annoying, but it's worth it. Can't wait to take this device to Phoenix with me for my post-grad school job!

I have used this same make and model of humidifier for a long time and just bought a new one the other day; the same simple design and efficiency have not changed one bit! The Reservoir is easy to fill up, and there are two humidity settings, low and high. The knob is illuminated (but not super bright at night so it won't disturb your sleep), green for operating, and orange for out of water; the unit shuts off the heating element but keeps the orange light on to let you know it is time to refill the reservoir, a great safety feature to have! It effectively restored humidity in my room and bathroom from below 20% to 45% in about 12 hours on high. Use cold tap water or distilled water if your water source is heavy. This unit does make a low noise sound (think an air purifier on medium setting) while operational, but I found it to not interfere with my quality of sleep overnight. A great affordable and effective unit to have, especially during the winter months!

I live in New England, and with the heat on in the winter, I usually wake up with a bloody nose and a sore throat. With the humidifier, I wake up normally. It definitely serves its purpose.

I was nervous about the noise level with all the other reviews. On the high setting, it makes a bit of noise, but it's more like a white noise. There are gurgling/bubble noises every once in a while, but this doesn't bother me. I'm a VERY light sleeper and I haven't been woken by this yet.

I was also nervous about the night light. You cannot turn this off, but it's very dim. I have it facing the wall so I don't see it at all. But even so, it reminds me of a digital clock. It's just a dim green.

I'm sure there are other top notch humidifiers out there, but I was looking for inexpensive. I have no complaints.