Customer Reviews

Holmes HM485-U2 Ultrasonic Humidifier

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I originally bought this humidifier because it was smaller than the Bemis humidifier I already owned and because it runs quietly (I wanted to keep it in the bedroom to run at night). While the unit fit nicely in the small space I had available for it, and while it was indeed very quiet, the mist this humidifier produces did not disperse into the air but instead fell to the floor--and soaked it. I tried it in three places: first on the floor in my bedroom (where I'd kept the other humidifier I was using), next on my nighttable, and finally on a table in my living room over a hardwood floor (in the hopes that a less absorbent surface would be less likely to soak up the mist). In all three cases, the result was the same: a puddle on the floor beneath the unit. I returned it today and bought a second Bemis humidifier to replace it.

I bought this item and and was initally happy but after less than a month of use it stopped providing mist. I bought another as a replacement and it was dead out of the box. I called Holmes to have them replaced and they wanted me to pay $20 to have them replace THEIR defective products. After much annoyance they waived that fee and told me my replacements would be shipped in TWO months. Are you kidding me!!!. The product is a piece of junk and the company apparently doesn't care about customer service. If I never buy another piece of #@%^#$ from Holmes again it will be too soon!

It is pretty quiet and puts out a considerable amount of mist. But there are problems.

1) Despite the fact that it comes with a demineralization cartridge that is supposed to eliminate white dust, there is white dust all over my furniture, and especially electrontic equipment.

2) The unit is designed with many nooks and crannies that make it quite difficult to clean. And you will have to clean it regularly, since brownish gunk accumulates frequently.

3) The opening to fill the water tank is too small to insert a normal sized hand, so it is impossible to wipe clean inside.

4) As other reviewers have noted, a lot of the mist simply falls to the ground around the unit.

5) Do not under any circumstances move the humidifier around while the tank is in place with water in it, or it is very easy for the water to overflow into the air vent and go down inside the base with the electrical components and short them out. This happened to me, and the unit promptly died.

When the first unit we bought in December stopped working after two weeks of use, Holmes Customer service said we had to pay to ship it to El Paso, TX where they would exchange it at no charge for a new one. We paid the shipping, and two months later, Holmes said they process exchanges "in the order they are received"; "they believed our unit was in the warehouse"; but they "hadn't entered our return into their customer return tracking system", but told us "not to worry; it was surely in their warehouse and they would eventually get to it."

So, since we need the humidity in the winter months, not the summer, we purchased a second unit, followed ALL the cleaning instructions precisely, buying ALL the Holmes recommended anti-bacterial, water-treatment, & cleaning products, only to have the unit fail (it stopped producing mist) after 6 days; this time we exchanged it at the hardware store, where it was purchased.

We purchased another unit from AMAZON, since the price was significantly less than what it costs at hardware stores in our area.

Ultrasonic humidifiers, compared to the sponge dipped-in-water type, are superior. But as, eight other reviewers have noted, the Holmes model is probably at the bottom; we have all the problems your other reviewers have found.

HELPFUL HINTS:
(1)We purchased the cheapest ($15.95) Holmes Hydrometer (which tells you the %Humidity in your room and placed it [it's 2"x2" in size] fifteen feet away from the humidifier); when it reads more than 55%, the room is too humid. WE SHUT THE HUMIDIFIER OFF!! until it falls back where it should be(40-55%). This reduces the white dust and drenching of nearby furniture. We NEVER rely on the "automatic" settings on the Holmes Humidifier that are built into the machine.

(2)We keep the unit high off the ground, nowhere near furniture or electronic equipment when possible; at nighttime (when we have no intention or desire to check the hydrometer, we put it on the tray of our children's high chair. WELL THAT'S KIND OF EXTREME, but it does work.

(3) Also, FYI, the warmer the air, the more moisture the air will hold, so if you are lucky enough to have a toasty warm room, you have to watch the humidity levels more closely.

This complete piece of garbage stopped producing mist after 3 nights of use. But that's o.k. because at least our carpet now has a chance to dry out since the thing simply soaked everything near it. Like someone else asked, "Has anyone at Holmes even tested this thing?" It's going back to Sears tomorrow.

I have rarely seen such a thoroughly ill-designed and shoddily constructed piece of equipment as the Holmes' HM485 Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier. I couldn't tell you what the tank capacity is, because it doesn't say on the box or in any of the product literature. It looks like about 1.5 gallons. The tank has one handle on the top only, so it is difficult to turn upside down to fill. And the top of the tank is not flat, so setting it down is precarious. The cap that you remove to fill the tank gets stuck easily in the closed position, requiring Herculean strength to budge it. But cool mist ultrasonic humidifiers are difficult to come by, so I was willing to put up with poor design.

I bought my first Holmes HM485 Humidifier in the fall. It spewed a lot of mist and did a satisfactory job of humidifying my living room. But it drenched the floor with water, so I had to elevate it and put a towel underneath. Using it on a carpet was out of the question unless I wanted a soggy, moldy carpet. No ultrasonic humidifier I have owned in the past ever got the floor wet. Then 3 weeks after I started using it, the HM485 stopped working. The motor didn't die. The disc stopped vibrating, so no mist was produced. I called the company, and Holmes said they would replace the unit if I paid $10 shipping. I agreed, since it was past the date I could return the humidifier to the store where I bought it. I got a second HM485. It lasted 3 weeks. Same problem as the first machine.

I prefer ultrasonic humidifiers to evaporative humidifiers, because they don't grow mold as easily and don't require a wick that has to be replaced. It costs me about $100 per season to operate each one of my evaporative humidifiers, because I have to periodically replace the wick. They mold quickly and extensively. I once owned an ultrasonic humidifier that lasted 12 years before the motor died. It worked great and never got a drop of water on the floor, even though it sat on the floor. I even owned a Holmes ultrasonic model about 8 years ago, which only lasted 2 years, but at least it did a satisfactory job. So there's no reason an ultrasonic humidifier shouldn't last a long time and humidify the air as opposed to the floor. Just don't buy this one.

Got what we thought was a deal on this unit from WalMart (closeout at $10), too good to be true. Then, when something seems too good to be true...
For the first 24 hours it ran quietly, looked pretty nice. Now it just looks nice, and smells bad (burning electronics smell), and has quit completely.

It's going back today.

It worked for about 2 weeks at lowest setting. Consider that the company has no local repair shop. You need to pay to send it to the company plus pay them to send it back to you... Sure nobody will want to do this as this cost almost as much as the humidifier. If I could have chosen less than "one star" for my rating, I would have done it... Life is too short to waste money on a bad product from a bad company!

Facts are well written in other reviews.
Mine worked for 2 months (what a good luck!!)
I just tried to clean the sensor (because it's the one that makes the problem) and finally broke it.

I would not try to replace it because it will cost me $10 and what I'll get for it will be another junk.

I bought two of these poorly designed, lousy humidifiers. Both ceased to operate after their first use. Stay away from this product. It stinks.