Venta LW15 Original Humidifier White - Filter-Free Evaporative Humidifier for Spaces up to 300 ft²

I've had the Venta LW25 for about 2.5 years now. It has been trouble free and works well humidifying the air and cleaning the air. You need to add the Venta water treatment, once every two weeks when you clean the unit. I simply "rinse" it out and use a paper towel or cloth to wipe it out. Once a season I use the Venta cleaner. It is a bit tough to remove mineral deposits, but otherwise it is very easy to fill, use, rinse. When you clean it after two weeks you can see the sludge in the bottom of the tank of debris it has pulled out of the air. For my house, which is forced hot air, a full tank usually lasts 40-48 hours unless it is extremely cold, then it lasts 24-36 hours. (other types noted below, even with larger tanks would be a max of 24 hours). We usually leave ours on the medium fan speed and it is a nice background noise. If it is really cold or if the unit ran out of water for a while, we use the high speed which still isn't too bad. I've used boiling water (dangerous & energy hog), cold air filter types (filters grow mold in a matter of weeks), and ultrasonic for years.I've been using various types of humidifiers for years (20-30 years) due to sinus and/or winter allergies. If I don't use a humidifier in winter, I also get bloody noses, which I haven't had since I've been using this unit, so that is a good sign that it is humidifying the air. I got tired of trying to clean the boiling water types and the energy bills. Looking at the cold air filter type, It can't be good to spread mold around the house and cleaning it was also troublesome and replacement filters are costly regardless of the brand. As for ultrasonic, they worked the best of the other three BUT they ruined several pieces of furniture and some wood flooring from their "white dust" mineral laden output. Granted the water in my area is mineral laden but I can't do much about that. I also found it to be a pain to clean it weekly, very tough to get into all the nooks in cranny's of the brands I've had. Of the three styles, I liked the Ultrasonic the most, but I can't live with the damage they have done. As for the Venta - it is much easier to refill, I use a pitcher, easier to clean than any of the other styles, and I have to fill it less often because the tank holds more water. Unlike other types, it automatically shuts off when it is out of water.YES it is more expensive than a lot of other humidifiers on the market, but in the end both my wife and I are very happy with the unit. Also, worth considering is there are no filters to replace, so if you do the calculations over a few seasons, the VENTA starts to look pretty competitive. You need to purchase the water treatment, which a bottle lasts most of the season, and the cleaner solution for use once or twice a season. For a season, these both cost less than one set of filters which typically last 2-4 weeks. The cold air filter type humidifiers are kinda like the Razor blade business, they often give a away or sell the handles cheaply, but they get you with the replacement heads (filters).All in all a great unit. Good size water tank for extended use, no filters to replace, comparably easy to clean. Obviously I'm a fan of the VENTA 25 units. I recently purchased the larger VENTA 45 for the living room!

Solved low humidity problem for main section of living space. After 12 years of having lung issues with the ultrasonic humidifiers, no more coughing. Who knew that even with using distilled water in the ultrasonic humidifier you would still have contaminants in the air that aggravated my lung condition!!!!! This is the first winter without horrible lung issues. This evaporative humidifier is easy to use and is refilled by lifting off the lightweight top section, filling and carrying a pitcher of tap water to it and pouring it in. Done, just that easy. This has three speeds and I adjust the levels according to the humidity reading on my weather station. It is in the main area of our home and I also use a ceiling fan so that it provides adequate humidity for our living room, kitchen, dining room and office. It is simple to clean and I do use the recommended additive. It is spendy but I would do it all over again without hesitation. Highly recommend this product. Stop breathing in the particles spewed by the ultrasonic humidifiers!!!

I tried very hard to like this given the cost and assertions made by the company about humidification and air purification. When this arrived 5 months ago and I opened up the packaging my immediate thought was seriously this cost this much?! I honestly have no idea how this is so expensive, but that's neither here nor there. I bought it lets hope it works. After the first night the water was indeed cloudy so clearly it was pulling in dust from the air that was getting filtered out so that's a positive. Unfortunately that's the only one. The container and the cylinder quickly become covered in a clear and orange slime after just a couple days use. I changed the water daily and would spend about 30 minutes each day cleaning the container (water reservoir) which is easy and the cylinder which is impossible. I would take the shower wand and put it on a jet setting using scalding hot water to blast away what was an endless supply of gunk every single day. Now if you want to go ahead and use the chemicals to clean this apparently it is pretty effective and virtually eliminates my complaint. However, when you read the warning label on the additive it states "Eye and Skin Irritant. Harmful if swallowed. Do not induce vomiting. Seek medical attention". Call me crazy, but the thought of taking something with this warning, pouring it into the airwasher and vaporizing it in a room where we sleep isn't something that I'm willing to do. It got to the point where I was pretty frustrated with this and I contacted the seller regarding a return. I was within the return window, but hadn't kept the packaging so I was told that there would be a 20% restocking fee for taking this back. I already spent 300 dollars on what turned out to be an oversized petri dish. I wasn't willing to spend 60 dollars just to get if off of my hands and get what ultimately ends up being a partial refund. So with that being the case, I wasn't willing to give up just yet. I continued to wash this on a daily basis only to see that the inner areas of the cylinder were getting more orange in color and an odor start to develop. I tried different ways to clean including vinegar and citric acid treatments (which doesn't thrill me either) which did help some, but over time it was slowly building up and just getting worse. From what I have been able to research, the chemical additive appears to be the only thing that seems to work, but again for me that just isn't an option. 5 months later I am finally waiving the white flag. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have been waking up with soar throats and have had bad congestion. I pulled the plug and replaced it with a Honeywell HCM350B Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier. Haven't had these issues since. Coincidence? I don't think so. As far as the Honeywell, so far so good. Granted it has a filter that needs to be replaced from time to time, but it's a small price to pay for performance and health. The nicest thing about it is how easily it comes apart and it couldn't be easier to clean (including the water reservoir where you can reach inside and clean it... every other humidifier I have ever owned with a separate removable water reservoir didn't have an opening large enough to do this). Bottom line is if you don't mind using additives in your humidifier then maybe this is as great as it's billing. For anyone that isn't comfortable with using additives riddled with warning labels then I'd recommend you look elsewhere