Customer Reviews

Slant Fin GF-240 1.9 Gallon Germ-Free Cool Mist Evaporative Humidifier

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

So far I really like my new Slant/Fin GF-240 1.9 Ga Germ-Free Cool Mist Evaporative Humidifier. The features I like best about it are the large capacity water tank, the ease of filling the tank, the use of tap water without getting mineral deposits and white dust, and its quietness on low fan. This humidifier is much better than the last two I owned. The first was a cool mist machine that sprayed fine droplets of water all over the room. The other was a hot mist machine that clogged up with minerals in the water and had to be cleaned with Lime Away about once per week. Needless to say, we have very hard water, but I have had no problems using it in my new Slant/Fin GF-320 humidifier.

Bought the Slant/Fin GF-240 in Jan. 2010 through Amazon, sold by J&R Music. I bought this humidifier to replace a Honeywell HCM-300T (also a UV humidifier), which was a disappointing product because the fan motor became obnoxiously noisy after a year or so of operation, and the airflow was toward the bottom of the unit which meant your floors became too moist while not enough moisture dispersed into the air. Eventually I had to put the HCM-300T in the trash because the motor seized up entirely -- the Honeywell was poorly designed, not end-user serviceable.

The GF-240 unit itself is small enough so that it will fit in a tight space, such as the corner of a room or even underneath a desk, fan is on the top for more effective delivery of moist air. Just rotate the fan grid on the top to change the direction of the airflow so that the unit can be placed against a wall. The water holding tank is quite large, very easy to refill and replace, sets right into the unit's base without effort.

Slant/Fin intelligently designed the G4-240 as the electrical components (fan, motor, UV bulb, controls, and sensors) sit above the water in a housing which detaches easily from the base for really easy cleaning and maintenance, this was a feature that I had not seen on other humidifiers. The UV bulb has a rated lifespan of 2000 hours, so it'll last at least 3 months if you run the unit 24/7. I was impressed by the bulb as it's fairly beefy, in other words, the bulb will effectively destroy bacteria and other organisms present in tap and well water. Watch out for other UV humidifiers (such as the Honeywell HCM-300T unit) as the UV bulbs are tiny and simply not effective. The wicking filter (comes with the GF-240) absorbs minerals from the water which prevents the "white dusting", a common problem with ultrasonic and vaporizer humidifiers that spray water directly into the air.

The only CON is that the fan is quite loud at the high setting, this was acceptable in my case because the unit is used in a bedroom (not occupied during the day) so I can set the fan to LO at night. At LO, you won't even know the GF-240 is running, but it still effectively disperses moist air on the LO setting. If you intend to run this humidifier in a large bedroom all night and must run it on the HI setting, you may want to look for a quieter unit or an ultrasonic humidifier.

Overall, the Slant/Fin FG-240 is a well-designed humidifier with more features (UV sterilization, a larger holding tank, and auto-shutoff when the desired humidity level is achieved) and better quality than just about anything that can be purchased at a department store.

I have never written a review for a product but because this humidifier has been such a huge disappointment and waste of money I feel compelled to warn others. The biggest problem is that the fan sucks up water and continuously drips, very loudly! It is very annoying. In the middle of the night I have tried picking up the body off of the base, shaking it to drain all the water out of the fan, but 10 minutes later it's right back to drip, drip, drip. Of course you want to get a humidifier to increase the humidity in your room, but this one does not do the job. We have a digital humidity detector, after running this humidifier, full of water at the highest setting for more than 24 hours the humidity level in the room only changed by 1 percent, 22% to 23%. A comfortable humidity level for a room needs to be at least 30%. We have an older Honeywell humidifier for which I recently purchased new filters and the first night we ran it, the humidity in the room jumped to 35% and has consistently been in the 30s every time we run the humidifier. So I am certain not only does the Slant/Fin GF-240 have the most annoying dripping habit but it doesn't even do the job of adding humidity to the room. Save your money and spend it on a humidifier that works!

Just don't expect it to humidify a whole house. I use this to humidify a wine storage room, so that fact that it does not create steam is a plus, as is the uv sanitization. The sensor does a good job of keeping the humidity level within 5% of my desired level. I've been using one for years with no problems and no mold, so when it finally gave up, I ordered another to replace it. The original uv bulb never burned out. I fill the tank with water from my reverse osmosis spigot, rather than hard water from the tap, so that has probably helped its lifespan.