Hunter Humidifiers Review - Best Pick for Humidity Control

Cool mist humidifiers by Hunter for home, office, baby nursery

by Mercia Tapping, President, AllergyBuyersClub.com

Don't you just hate humidifiers? They break down at the drop of a hat, are awkward to refill, are a royal pain to clean, and before you know what your bedroom resembles a steam bath. Are humidifiers helpful to the sinus sufferer? Absolutely, if you use them properly. The sinus sufferer needs relief from overly dry air. Will you get years of trouble free use from them? None of our humidifiers seem to last too long.

INFO LINKS Humidifiers Overview - view all humidifiers sold by AllergyBuyersClub.com Humidifiers Comparison Chart - a comparison with pluses and minuses of all the best humidifiers Warm mist vs. cool mist humidifiers - Learn the differences between cool mist humidifiers and warm mist types Best Humidifier Articles - Editor's top picks on humidifier info

With those caveats in mind we will review a humidifier brand that we consider to be the best of the bunch we have tested so far. It is the Hunter Humidifier Plus line of humidifiers. What Hunter has going for it, is that somebody put some intelligence into the shape of the water reservoir so that you can fill it up from the bathtub and not have to walk downstairs to the kitchen sink. It also has (depending on the humidifier model) a way that you can regulate the flow of moist air into the room. Best of all, it is the only system we know which only requires you to clean it once per season, because of its patented Care Free Permawick system. Now, in case you don't know, it is imperative to clean a normal humidifier out with vinegar and water preferably on a daily basis, other wise you have all sorts of mold and bacteria growing in a heartbeat, completely obliterating any possible benefits of a humidifier. In fact, do not even think of using these kinds of humidifiers if you are not prepared to clean them.

Being inherently lazy, and balking at the idea of running to the bathroom just before lights out, going through a long cleansing rigmarole, in addition to refilling a humidifier (we never notice until the last minute that it needs a refill), we find that the Hunter suits us best. This is despite that we think the cool mist humidifier type has a slightly "clammy" feel to it, and a warm mist feels better (especially in winter).

We found that the Hunter humidifier works best if you have it on continuously. It could take several hours to bring the room up to the desired level of humidity. Incidentally ,a warm mist humidifier will probably bring the room up to the right level of humidity much faster- than a cool mist, in as little as two or three hours. So if the idea of continually running an electric appliance in your house while you are out gives you pause to hesitate (yes we did have one - not a Hunter, burst into flames once), you should buy the warm mist humidifier kind and clean the darn thing out religiously.

For our taste, we like to humidify the bedroom with a closed door for a few hours and then open the door for a while before bedtime to get rid of the clammy feeling and not have it running all night.

We gave the Hunter humidifier series a four star rating. We used to give it five stars, but down graded it recently when it stopped working after one season. Despite this we went right out and bought another one, although it didn't pass our stringent durability expectations.

Models for the Hunter line range in size from 2 ½ gallons to 3 ½ gallon capacity. The top of the line model provides a night light, automatic shutoff, a refill light and an adjustable digital humidistat, features we regard as highly desirable and worth the extra money.

See the entire selection of Humidifiers at Allergybuyersclub.com

First Published: December 1999
Updated: April 2007

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