Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier Review # 2

Despite the mixed reviews for this Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier, I went and got one. I had also bought a Slant/Fin GF-211D a couple weeks earlier. Since I only wanted to keep one, I ran a few of my own tests.

I set up the Humidifiers in different rooms of approx. the same size on the same floor. Both were set to max humidity on HI. Several hours later I came back. The first test was inconclusive, although, it seemed the Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier room was slightly more humid. What made the test difficult was that the warm mist on the Air-O-Swiss was not nearly as warm as on the Slant/Fin (which only uses warm mist). So I switched rooms and ran the test again. This time when I came back, the Air-O-Swiss room was like a SWAMP! It was seriously humid in there! The Slant/Fin room, however, felt about the same as before. As a result, I kept the Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier.

Some people have complained about white dust. At my parents' house (which has slightly harder water) the white dust was very slight and took several days to even notice. At my apartment (which has softer water) their is no white dust at all. So, if you have hard water that might be an issue, but there are other options such as using distilled water.

As mentioned above, the warm mist is not that warm. It's warmer than the cool mist, but don't expect it to make your room any warmer.

The relatively low maintenance is also a plus. The Slant/Fin needed cleaning every few days, but the Air-O-Swiss can go for a few weeks and even then it doesn't seem that unclean.

Overall I think this is a great humidifier. It humidifies over 800 sq ft (according to the manual) and seems to cover my two-bedroom apartment just fine. In terms of helping asthma/sinuses, the Slant/Fin might be better, but in terms of pure humidity, the Air-O-Swiss is the best!