Lasko 1128 Evaporative Recirculating Humidifier, 9-Gallon

The humidifier arrived just ahead of the winter storm. I knew that the furnace would be running non-stop for days and normally this causes me sinus misery and extremely dry skin. We started using the unit immediately and it has been in use for several days straight. I had also purchased a hygrometer so that I could determine the humidity in the house and keep it regulated. We have maintained 45% humidity in the house throughout the prolonged use of the furnace and I couldn't be happier with this product. The unit is rather noisy if it is used on speeds 2 or 3, but I have learned that using it on speed 1 is much quieter and that by increasing the humidity control, it works fine at the lower speed. Also, the unit has wheels, so it can be moved to an area of the house where the noise is not an issue. We found that after running it for a day that the humidity throughout the house was raised, so it didn't really matter where we placed the unit, though we chose to place it in our great room which is in the center of the house and where we spend most of our waking hours. The tank size is great -- I usually add one container of water on average per day, which is not a problem. I would highly recommend this unit. Easy to use and great value.

Update 2/9/2016: So far so good. For 3200 sq ft, I've been running it on Low all winter (since Nov). It's kept the humidity in the house at or above 35% - which is my "no nose bleeds" target - even during the ice/snow in Jan in NC. I have labeled the speeds, in order of increasing speed/noise: Normal, WTF and OMG. I mean you can't comfortably be in the same same room as the unit or any room with an open adjacent door when it's turned on the highest speed (OMG). It's just ludicrously loud. Good news is, I haven't had to run it on that speed yet.As others suggested, I did slightly enlarge the waterfall holes using a 3/8" drill bit (the only size I had handy) before starting to use the unit. This seems to be secret to extended filter life as it lets more water pour over the filter wick to keep it evenly saturated.I've been running the Lasko 1128 non-stop (aside from when the humidistat automatically turns it off) with a capful of  BestAir 3BT-6 Original BT Humidifier Bacteriostatic Water Treatment 32 oz.  in every other tank since Nov 1st and the filter wick looks basically brand new. I have a water softener and a whole home charcoal+media filter on my city water.The filter photo is my in-use filter that came with the unit. It's been in service now for 102 days and thanks to the BestAir 3BT-6, it basically looks exactly like it did it when it came out of the box!- - -Original review: Pretty noisy but effective. I'd buy it again even though I know what I'm getting myself into. The noise of the unit comes from 2 places... 1) the waterfall action and 2) The rotary fan.The waterfall noise I don't mind so much. It sounds like I have one of those little desktop fountains now. The rotary fan noise level was somewhat unexpected. The unit really should have been re-engineered with a squirrel cage fan (which makes less noise to move the same volume of air).Another thing that surprised me was the size of the unit. The product photos are hard to judge scale from. If you put it in a corner, expect it to fill a 3' triangle of the corner. Luckily, I found a spot for it in my hallway where it fits reasonably well.To fill it from empty takes about 3 trips to the sink. Initially I had problems with my fill bottle leaking from where the bottom (where you fill it) screws onto the clear cylinder. That was fixed by completely unscrewing the bottom and adding a thin bead of silicone grease to the black seal gasket.My final surprise was how the fill indicator window works. I was expecting it to show the level of the water inside the unit. That's not how it works though. Instead, it's just an indicator that water is currently pumping through the system. Nice to know but not as helpful as it could be.

After reading all the reviews for humidifiers, I decided to buy two of these last year for our house which gets sooooooooo dry in the winter. I wanted one that works great and I could afford. This was what I chose. I wasn't disappointed.Pros:- I really like that it has three fan settings. When we had this downstairs where we watch tv it wasn't that noticeable when on the low setting yet kept the air decent. The one we had in the upstairs hall was nice and quiet even in medium. Yes, it made some noise but what do you expect from a fan?- The humidistat worked well to turn the unit off and on as needed. I noticed it kicked off more often when I had the fan on high.- The waterfall display helps me know when I am completely out of water.- I like how there is a pump that runs the water over the wick and doesn't rely on osmosis. I feel like it makes it more effective than other models I've had in the past.- We cleaned it up before summer and his fall it has started up just fine and works wonders. Seems like a quality unit!Cons:- It was a little larger than I envisioned when I got them. Nothing awful, just had to decide where they would go. I will include a photo that shows a relative size.- I wish it would shutoff when empty and light up so I know without having to check if it's out of water. Would also be good to have more clear plastic sides to be able to see the water level.- With a larger, dry home we had to fill both our units up both morning and evening. Sometimes needing three trips to the sink. Not awful but for older folks it may be important to not carry the water part that much.I would easily recommend this humidifier!