Customer Reviews

Duracraft DWM250 2-1/2-Gallon Warm-Mist Humidifier

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

My grandparents had a cabin in Canada, and their "humidifier" was a shovel full of snow in a big pot on the wood stove. Ah...those were the days. Fast forward to the present, in my home without a wood stove, to a complaining wife and stuffy newborn. What I thought was a seemingly easy task turned into a nightmare, thanks to the internet and Amazon reviews.

The type was easy. Cool mist is too moldy (unless they are kept clean, and let's be realistic, who actually cleans humidifiers?) and filters are pricey, ultrasonic has the added benefit of the "white powder" in the air and settling on everything, and the whole-home kind that are attached to the furnace ducts aren't really made for small heat pump HVAC like I have in my house. So, warm mist it was, and I started on my journey to find the perfect one.

And it was a journey. I found fancy ones with all sorts of features, and cheap ones that made steam. All had one thing in common, those that hated them and gave them one star, and those that loved them and gave them more stars.

Meanwhile, my wife borrowed her mother's humidifier, which happened to be a many year old version of this particular one. It's the same humidifier we've borrowed every year since my wife and I got married five years ago. After playing with the idea of a UV lighted, mineral pad soaking, multi-gallon capacity, built-in hygrometer monster, I decided to get two of these units instead--at a cheaper price. Why?

For one, my mother-in-law's unit still runs like a champ after all this use. We really only use it at night for sleeping. The trick is to fill it up and run it on high while getting ready for bed, and then turn it on low when going to sleep. The water lasts all night and it increases the humidity nicely.

For two, many of the features offered on more expensive models are all but useless. So many people complain about filling the things--is it really that hard to walk to the sink once a day? In order to kill airborne germs, a lot more is needed than the tiny UV light offered in other humidifiers. If the built-in hydrometer is out of whack, too bad! Mineral filtration pads? Unless a person is unlucky enough to live in a "liquid rock" area, a good wiping with paper towel soaked in vinegar once a week is all that's needed to clean the heating element.

Sometimes, less is more, and I believe this is definitely the case with humidifiers.

I really like this humidifier and have been on the very difficult journey to discover which humidifier will work for me, whether cool or warm mist is better and which actually does what it says the same as everyone else. I get frequent sinus infections and am in great need of a humidifier here in the northeast during the cold months with the heat. I just constantly don't feel good without one. For over 10 years I have used cool mist humidifiers. I honestly never considered a warm one. The last one I had was a Holmes and it was certainly not cheap. I took good care of it and it still worked only 1 year. The filters were expensive and the unit was very noisy Last year when it worked it worked well, but last winter it worked only half the time. I did not know where to turn.

A friend suggested a warm air humidifier and I looked into it and liked what I read. I then researched, reading reviews and customer comments - even using Consumer Report. I kept coming back to this one and saw the definite mix of positive and negative reviews. I read all the negatives and saw that most were looking for the humidifier to do or be more than it said it was.

I live in a studio apartment and the humidifier says it is for rooms 400 to 700 square feet. Perfect for me. It also says that it runs up to 12 hours on one filling and it does. When I run it on the low speed it lasts 12 hours exactly. The directions also say to disinfect it before the first use. This is very important. With something like a humidifier it is very important to follow all directions. If you do not, you don't have a right to complain if it does not work correctly. This humidifier is very easy to clean/maintain and also very easy to fill. If you do not want to be filling it every 12 hours or more then get a different humidifier. For me, it is very simple and easy knowing I need to easily fill it every 12 hours.

The humidifier also makes no noise at all on either the high or low speed. I find that when running it constantly on low my humidity level is perfect and I feel great. This machine does exactly what it says it does so make sure that it will satisfy your needs. It is easy to use/maintain - so much simpler than a cool mist humidifier. I will never return to a cool mist one again.

I highly recommend this unit and say just make sure it is what you want before purchasing. Hope this helps you with your humidifier decisions.

I have gone through quite a few humidifiers. I had one like this before, after a few years it gave in because I never cleaned it (shame on me). Then I tried a few ultrasonic (ultraexpensive) humidifiers, which really hardly bring the humidity up (I have a hygrometer). So I decided to buy this one again, and am as happy as with the first one. If you want your room to increase in humidity, forget about those ultrasonics and go for this one. Cheap and good.

This is my third warm mist humidifier. They just don't last very long. The cool mist ones don't seem to make the room more humid. The last one I had (which looked similar to this) lasted two years, and the rubber stopper part at the bottom dried up during the summer (when it was not in use) and cracked. My first one only last one year. I am resigned to the fact that I will likely have to buy a humidifier every 1-2 years, so I'd better not spend a lot for them. This one works well, and on the low setting, can last 10-11 hours. This setting is enough for my medium sized room. On high output, it goes through the water very quickly, and if your room is small, will feel tropical. The one thing I don't like about this one is that after putting the dial on the desired setting, you still have to push a "start" button to make it start putting out mist.

The plastic on this model is pretty thin and flimsy, so I'm always afraid I am going to accidentaly snap or crack a part (like the screw-on lid) and completely destroy the product or render it useless, but the overall engineering design is really good, it is still working after about a year, great for baby, great for me. For the price I am satisfied, but I wish they would make more of a "mercedes" model for a slightly higher price that uses the same design, maybe a little more technology for the controls and more durable plastic. I love the fact that the water tank is removable, fillable and sealed shut for the trip back to the unit, no pouring or spilling involved. I bought this model because it has the same water tank and mist tower design as a Sunbeam cool mist humidifier that my parents used on me as a baby (which I still have and use for my son), and that thing is damn near indestructible.

I have been looking for a warm air purifier for some time (prefer warm air for safety reasons (avoids mould and airborn particles)). Warm air models range to well over $100. I decided to try this unit because it is cheap and has a large water tank.

I would highly recommend this unit for the price. It has two steam settings (high and low). It has an aromatherapy dispenser. It is easy to refill. It works really well actually.

Some previous posts have indicated that the unit may not last for years and years because of its construction. True, it is not built like a tank. However, for its price I think you would struggle to do better.

We have tried all kinds of humidifiers - ultrasonic, blowers, etc. Tried higher priced honeywell model (Honeywell HWM450 Quick Steam Warm Moisture Humidifier) - which works fine, but is noisy steamy noise.

We originally bought the Honeywell HWM-910 through Target around 2003 and liked it so much and went and bought two more. My wife threw out several of them when I didn't clean out the heating unit (even though I could of cleaned it and kept on using it. I had left them sitting in garage over the summer and looked like trash to her). Next spring, I'll clean them out and put them in nice storage box!

Found having two of them in the bedroom at low setting was perfect - got the volume of humidity and didn't have to refill them at night...lasts I think at least 12 hours at the low setting.

I have been spending quite a bit of time researching the different humidifiers available.

The Duracraft DWM250 is the same product as the Honeywell HWM-910 but is about $5 less and through Amazon comes with free shipping if you buy over $25. The cheapest Honeywell HWM-910 is $36.50 (with shipping factored in) when you buy from Amazon affiliate. Given it's the same product and manufacturer and just a different marketing brand logo of Duracraft instead of Honeywell, I choose the Duracraft model (saving over $11.50 per order). I just bought 3 more of the Duracraft humidifiers and I expect them to last for years. We live in semi-arid environment and in the winter the humidity is very low.

We'll plan on turning down the heat to rest of the house and use these to keep us warm and comfortable humidity level while sleeping.

I checked wikipedia and it talks about Honeywell brand and Kaz company and Duracraft which are just marketing brands of the same product.

If anyone finds a better combination of value and performance, I'll consider another brand/model in future, but for now I think the time I spent into researching is paying off. Just wanted to stop getting products that go to the landfill much too quickly and get some value.

You can always buy extra water tanks and pre-fill them and leave them in room if you want to replace the water at night but not bother to refill (if you use only one humidifier at high setting). It is $15.99 ($19.94 with shipping, so probably makes sense to just buy another humidifier at less than $25)

[...]

Notice that this water tank can be used with both Duracraft DWM250 and Honeywell HWM-910.

This humidifier may lack options that expensive ones have, but it is still a good deal. The sound is silent and the water tank has two handles on top and bottom for your convenience. It does not require a filter because it does not have any filtering process. The buttons for "high" or "low" humidicifations are all you need and that pretty much all it has.
The weak point is that the water tank is so small that you need to fill it again after the use of a night. And the "start" button does not have any indication whether it is pressed or not (you have to listen to it untill it sounds to heat the water).
Overall, it's a practical humidifier and a low price.

I spent literally hours researching humidifiers and hope my experience will help you make a good purchase.

Here are my conclusions:

1. It is near impossible to find a good quality humidifier and many people (myself included) get frustrated with the search. Who knew humidifiers were so hard to make!?

2. The best one on the market seems to be the "Air-O-Swiss AOS Ultrasonic Humidifier - 7135" at a cost of over $140. It seems that unless you are willing to open your wallet for this particular model, finding a good humidifier is a crapshoot and you might as well get the cheapest one that seems to work. Every humidifier has reports of malfunctions and/or poor craft. Even this model has over 10% reports of malfunction. Other than that, though, people's only complaint has to do with false advertising related to the size of the tank.

3. My purchase: I have had the Duracraft DMW250 for a few weeks and have not had any issues with it.
This product seems to be exactly the same as the "HONEYWELL/ENVIRACAIRE HWM910 Warm Moisture 2 Gallon Humidifier by Honeywell/Enviracaire." It only has a 1 gallon tank but it works well for my bedroom and has greatly improved the air quality during our New England winters. I no longer wake up with sore throats and dry lips. I refill it basically every day and it lasts for about 14 hours on the low setting. I don't have to worry about buying and replacing filters because this is a warm mist humidifier, although I may pay more in my electric bill than I would for a cool mist since it takes more energy to heat the water. It is virtually silent! You will hear a small "gurgle" or "bubble bubble" once in a while but that's it. It's construction seems flimsy but it's really easy fill and take apart for cleaning. It's one of the least expensive models and it works well.

4. My advice? Don't spend a lot of time researching. A good quality humidifier simply does not exist.
Buy the Air-O-Swiss if you have the money, or purchase the cheapest model you can find that has a lot of reviews and a decent to good review average (statistical research suggests that people review things either when they are really happy or really unhappy). Amazon's prices are better than other places I tried and their product reviews were aligned with other consumer reports.

Happy with product overall. We decided to go with a warm humidifier for cleanliness and because we only use it in winter. This one makes some gurgling noises as the water drains down into the machine, which doesn't bother me, but might bother you if you are a light sleeper. Needs to be refilled about every 4 hours on high.