V5100N

Please note, this is for the V5100N humidifier, not the V5100

** Email from manufacturer as follows :-

"The V5100N is a new revision to the V5100. It works in the same way, it just has a slightly more "modern" look to it."

I didn't think I would need to test my own opinion so soon but with my daughter croopy and my son getting a tight 'crooplike' cough I needed two humidifiers.

I figured I wouldn't need to buy another since we had the old one albeit without it's wick. Then the one I thought we had thrown out magically appeared from my wifes hidden store of 'objects we will never need again but we still keep in case.....'

I tried the old funnel one in my sons room and it sounded like a washing machine, 'Daddy, how about we put that one in my sisters room?', such compassion in an eight year old.

This one I believe, is now firmly in the trash, seems I can't be sure of that. So I went out to buy a wick for the older one. To cut a long story short I returned with a new 5100N and $52 lighter.

One final point, in the process I've noticed that all three, no make that four now humidifiers are made by Kaz. I guess Vick put their name on them.

That's it, no more updates as I hope to have a few years out of both these units.

**************

Well, this is the first review I've written and I wanted it to be useful. When we first started using humidifiers the first one we bought was the 'Wick' type. It had a paper filter that sat in the water and allowed air to pass through it. Not a bad idea but we found that the filter started growing mold after a few months, so you ended up buying another wick and we eventually said, 'to heck with this' That one is still sitting in the cupboard without a wick.

The next type was the Vicks unit that had a spinning nozzle that spins the water up through a funnel shaped nozzle and vaporized it. Not a bad design and it worked but we always had to put down a layer of towels and over time the screws rusted to the point where I didn't want to use it anymore (why didn't they use stainless screws?) We threw that one out.

Finally I went out and bought the Vick V5100N. We have had this ultrasonic humidifier now for about a year and a half and I'm still happy with it. We sit it right on the kids floor with no towel down. Make sure it's away from the bed as the mist will get the bed side wet. However it's been easy to clean, easy to fill and there is as yet no sign of anything amiss. I read somewhere that the unit started smelling for one user. We fill it with filtered water from a britta to make sure there is nothing to cause any smell, after all, how can it smell if the only thing you put in it is cold water?

The one thing I have noticed, if it's not placed just so there is sometimes a quiet vibration from the fan, I was thinking if this gets annoying I'll put a small bead of silicon round the edge of the base unit.

Finally the one downside is that it uses a replaceable filter but since we already use filtered water we haven't replaced it yet.