Kyvol - HD3 1.2 Gal. Ultrasonic Humidifier - White

Love this humidifier, it works well and looks great in my home. The control dial is pretty precise, and it remains virtually silent. It'll last up to a few days on lower settings. Refilling is pretty easy, but you might get a few drops of water from the process, as with most of these. It's well-built, works well, solid purchase.

Disclaimer: I am a member of Best Buy’s Technical Insider Network, TIN for short. Reviewers in this invitation-only program are provided products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased reviews. ------- Initial Impressions: The HD3 is quiet. I have run the HD3 both in my home office and my bedroom. The unit’s ultrasonic membrane is audible but not overwhelmingly slow in a quiet space. This is especially important to me when sleeping. Prior to the HD3, we were using a ultrasonic humidifier that is commonly got from the local pharmacy. This common humidifier makes a lot of noise, doubles as a night light, and gurgles every few minutes as air enters the reservoir. The HD3, in contrast, has a low intensity indicator light, hums quietly, and dampens the gurgling sound of air entering the reservoir. It is quiet enough not to disturb my sleep. The design is compact, has an adult style that should fit into any environment, and has a good size reservoir. The HD3 also does an excellent job pumping out the moisture. Where I’m from, the environment quickly dries up to 20% or less humidity in the winter which leads to dry skin, dehydration, congestion, and a feeling of chill in the air. A humidifier adds back into the air what the air is trying to extract from me in the dry, winter air. Setup and handling: Setup was a little more complicated than I first expected. First, I am not used to having filters on my humidifiers. There is an air filter at the bottom of the unit. This is a rough, black, spongy material that captures large particles such as pet hair. The second filter is part of the access cap. There is a large, bulbous chamber full of small round pebbles. This second filter is to help control odors. My water does not have an odor so I cannot attest to how effective it is at eliminating odors. This may change if I do not clean and care for the unit properly. Next, the reservoir lifts easily from the body. And this is where you can tell the engineers were forced to make some compromises. First, you should remove the nozzle. There is a depression one side of the reservoir that allows you to get a finger under the nozzle to lift if out. Unfortunately, the physics do not quite for out. To properly remove the nozzle, you will need to put one finger in the lip and another in the mouth of nozzle. Then lift to remove. You could also just put your finger in the lip of the nozzle and lift. There is a handle hidden under the nozzle for easy lifting from the base and transport. The is not cheap plastic but it does not feel like it is sturdy enough support the weight of a full reservoir. I recommend holding the handle with one hand and holding the bottom of the reservoir with your other hand as you transport. Empty, the handle is fine. I would not risk it when the reservoir is full. I could be wrong but why chance it. The cap to the reservoir is on the bottom of the reservoir. This is where the handle at the top gets in the way. Gravity wants to pull the free moving handle straight down when you flip over the unit. Be aware that you will need to purposely move the handle to a neutral position when placing it on a surface. It is not hard. Just something to be aware of. It becomes a pain if you have to manipulate the reservoir while filling, loosening a stubborn cap, or moving a full reservoir to a position where you can tighten the cap. Finally, filling the reservoir can be a bit of a challenge. There is a small handle at the bottom of the reservoir allowing you a place to hold the reservoir while filling it. This is a “U” shaped bracket that is glued, off center, to the bottom of the reservoir. I also do not trust that this handle will work over the long run to support the weight of a full reservoir. My recommendation here is to also use two hands. The handle is useful for fine movement while the other hand supports the actual weight of the reservoir. If, you have big hands then you may find the small handle useless. It is packed around the engineering needed to operate the reservoir. The handle cannot be larger due the constraints implied by the HD3 body. These are some of the engineering compromises I hinted at earlier. These are not bad things and do not impede the use or operation of the unit. I only point these out because these design decisions do make the reservoir slightly more difficult to manipulate than a other reservoir designs I have used. User’s Manual: Everything you need to operate the unit is in the user’s manual. There is no reason, in my opinion and experience, for you to go online to learn more about this product. The manual does a good job of showing, pictorially and with minimal text, what you should and should not do to operate the HD3 properly. Overall, I think the User’s manual is very accessible for English readers. The pictures are good enough for non-English readers to get the idea of how to use the unit. I think Kyvol should include Spanish instructions at the very least. Operation: Operation is a super easy. You have two controls: power cord and control knob. Plug it in and turn the nob to your desired misting intensity. The unit easily ran for 24 hours at 50%. I did not feel I needed more than this. I also felt that the HD3 at 50% was equal to any other humidifier I have owned running at 100%. At 100% the HD3 vapor exhaust is substantial. The idea is to control the room’s humidity and not drown the room. I found that 50% was enough to make the room comfortable. The heat in the room felt more comfortable and even. My congestion significantly eased up. And I felt less parched. Now, any humidifier will accomplish this goal so there is nothing magical on these points. What sets this part from my other humidifiers is the volume of moisture this can put into the air compared with my other humidifiers. No method of measure is not scientific. I judged by the density and volume of mist I could see from the top of my units. What it does not have or do: The HD3 is not Wi-Fi enabled, Bluetooth, Smart home capable without assistance, have a phone app, capable of talking to you, on/off timers, play music, track air quality metrics, or any of the other Internet-of-Things capabilities that seem to be making their way into everything today. The HD3 turns water into vapor and delivers that vapor to your oppressive working or living space during the dry months of winter. And that is perfectly fine by me. If you are someone who needs a perfectly calibrated environment, then the HD3 is not for you. Final thoughts: Overall, I like the HD3 and I am glad I was given the opportunity to review this. The HD3 solved one major issue for me, sleep. It is quiet enough for me to allow to run all night without interruption. The gurgling sound of water entering the reservoir is not as loud or as other hydroponic humidifiers I have owned. Granted, the sound does increase in volume as the tank empties just like other ultrasonic humidifiers. This until also does not act like a night light for my room. This is a big plus for me. I want my room dark. Finally, the unit does not look like something that should be in a nursery or hospital room. That means I can easily work this into the décor of a professional space or common room. The HD3 may not be perfect. But it does a fine job for what it was designed for.