Not efficient!

THE PRODUCT -Holmes HM5305-UC 3 Gallon Warm Mist Humidifier-Comes in a red box to differentiate it from Holmes Cool mist humidifiers that come in a blue box-Has two dials- one to control the humidity level, and another one to control the speed of the fan-Automatically switches off when the tank is empty [most Holmes warm mists have this convenient feature for safety] and has a light to indicate whether or not it has turned off-Has a power on/off light on top as well


THE PRICE 
$42 at Target [store] - was the best price I could find for this product at the time



THE GOOD 
-Warm mist humidifier- this is great for colder northeastern climates like ours [if it works]-No filters to replace-Has microban protection to ensure that bacteria do not grow in it
-Holmes brand- never had a problem with it before-Manual humidistat that allows you to control the humidity-No white dust on furniture or anywhere-Steam mist kills most bacteria that might be there and so is better in that respect compared with a filter-free cold mist



THE BAD 
-Needs frequent filling- this unit did not last us a whole night in a medium-to-large sized bedroom! It lasted just about 6hours on average.-It claims it is ideal for medium sized rooms upto 700sq feet...ummm...I don't think so! Our bedroom is definitely not 700sqft - its much smaller.-The fact that it has no filter means that you have to be more careful about not using very hard water in it- if you do, the heating element gets crusted with minerals and it is not efficient any more -Hardly produces any mist- we felt no different after using this for over a month! And this is with daily cleaning and scrubbing of the heating element etc.-Claims to run for 40 hours! No way! Agreed we had it on high most nights, but that was because it never worked well enough to be switched to low-Tank is inconvenient- while replacing it, you have to be sure to place it just right- it has these tiny, hardly noticeable holders on either sideof the base [walls] which need to be aligned perfectly for it to be stable-It bubbles and makes very loud boiling sounds all night- I am not a very light sleeper but found this really annoying- it is not constant like white noise, but is more erratic which makes it tough to get used to-No digital humidistat that reads room humidity-Looks cheap and clunky- considering I paid $42 for it, it could've looked nicer!-Not safe around children due to hot water, heating element etc.