Vicks Warm Steam Vaporizer & Humidifier 1.5 Gallon Tank for Small and Medium Rooms, Night Light, Works with VapoPads and VapoSteam

Budget friendly, easy to use and effective. Bought it for my cats with upper respiratory viral infection. This little vaporizer produces a lot of warm steam in a 12’ x 12’ room that helps relieve their sinus congestion and red dry eyes. I give them a 4 hours steam treatment in the late morning and then again in the evening starting at bed time. This little machine has auto shut off when water in the chamber is below the minimum level. The machine operates for about 4 hours with a maximum fill level. It does make very audible bubbling noise during the first 5 minutes, then it quit down to a soft bubbling sound that’s very soothing for sleep. The little green “night light” is very dim and unobtrusive. After each use, I empty out the remaining water; the water will contain specks of black grits; I believe they are the by product sediments of minerals. I rinse out the water chamber with water then, soak it with a vinegar and water solution and sit the cooled heating unit in this solution for 10 minutes. Final rinse and shake with plain water until no more vinegar odor or black specks. Wipe the water chamber and outside of heating unit dry, sit them out to air out before refilling for the next application. Add 1/8 teaspoon of plain salt (no iodine or any additive) into the water chamber, this helps increase the warm steam out put. I opened the windows a bit and turned on a small fan to air out the room for a few hours to dry out. I’m very happy with this effective, nothing fancy and easy to use little machine.

This is a must-have in our house during cold and flu season. It’s very easy to use, heats up quickly, and puts out a nice warm steam that helps keep the air more comfortable, especially at night. The tank is a great size, so you’re not constantly refilling it, and the unit is simple to clean and maintain. It’s been especially helpful during the dry winter months when everyone seems to get stuffy. Overall, this is a reliable vaporizer/humidifier and I would definitely recommend it for families.

Works better and lasts longer than any other. I have the sensitive sinus problems, so I need a humidifier running constantly. This Vicks one lasts me at least half a year with 24/7 use. I just replaced it again. And I will continue to order this one ever 6-8 months. People without constant sinus issues who are only using it intermittently for sickness or extreme dry weather would probably see years of use out of it! I can not recommend this one enough -- it really is super-top-notch!

I bought this 1.5 gal vicks vaporizer last year. Ok with noise and heat. I tried using Vicks vaporizer pads in slots. Two days no vaporizer smell and padsnot dissolving. So I added vaporizer to tray. That works great. I hope vicks will respond because I just ordered a second unit for bedroom for winter. Thanks. Value wise best one yet.

They produce hot steam, and you can put the extra vapo-steam menthol liquid in the water if you want to clear you sinuses. This vaporizer takes static out of the air and plumps up your skin. Especially important in winter when it's dry from artificial heat. I would not be caught without one of these. They last for years. I bought this one as a gift for a friend- not very glam, but it's just a must-have, and it's easy & lightweight to take anywhere (when empty, of course). If you live somewhere with hard water (like southern California)- please try to use distilled or at least filtered water in this. With hard water, you will see plack crusty buildup in the container when you goto change or add more water. That can clog the steam recepticale, so try to get it all out. If it does get clogged & stops steaming well, a pinch of salt in the water will get it going!

Great value and works perfectly. Larger than expected. Silent. Easy to use. Comes with a vapor pack and humidifies room quickly. Looks good. Easy to fill.

Swamp type humidifiers never heat the water and are prone to dumping bacteria and mold into the air. Plus, the filter/wick tend to be expensive and need replacement fairly often. Ultrasonic humidifiers are also prone to dumping bacteria and mold into the air. But they're far worse because they dump all water minerals into the air. A hard working ultrasonic humidifier will coat the entire room, if not the whole house, with a powdery layer of minerals everywhere. This is especially not good for any electronics, let alone breathing in all that stuff. As bad as a swamp humidifier is, ultrasonics are even worse for both your electronics, and your lungs. Boiler type of humidifiers kill any and all bacteria and mold by boiling them. It also does not put any minerals into the air. But the process is rather energy intensive. So this humidifier tends to use a lot of electricity. It's also very noisy. And, of course, there is a small chance of getting burned by the hot mist, if you're extremely not careful. And then there is the matter of this particular type of humidifier relying on the amount of minerals in the water to conduct electricity. Thus, the rate of vaporization depends on the mineral content - the more minerals in the water, the faster it vaporizes. This is both good and bad. It's good that you can increase the rate by not rinsing out the reservoir. It's bad because the reservoir can run out within just a few hours. This is why I took a 5 gallon bucket and shaped a torus out of thick styrofoam to fit it. I ditched the reservoir and inserted this humidifier into the torus. Now it floats on top of the water in the bucket. Now I have a 5 gallon reservoir that will last many hours. I still need to add water - but only about once a day... maybe a bit more often on really dry days. It's still noisy and uses a lot of electricity. And it only lasts about one winter. So I buy a new one every year. The bucket and the stryofoam has lasted many years. The point being, I can now dump over 5 gallons of water into the air every day with minimal maintenance. And buying a new one of these humidifiers every year is roughly the equivalent of a new filter for a swamp humidifier - or less. Often much, much less. And the humidity is bacteria, virus, mold, and mineral free - just how I like the air I breathe. All while having to add nothing to the water. And I'm not having to dust my entire house every few days. I keep looking, but comparable hot steam systems seem to cost over $200 - sometimes WELL over $200. And their electricity costs are probably about the same. So this "redneck 5 gal. humidifier" I made only costs less than $20 per year (so far). Comparable systems would have to last over 10 years to justify their costs over this simple humidifier.

I have had it a week, does good job for a medium size bedroom. It does make a gurgling sound that may bother a light sleeper, but my previous one had a fan that ran. One gripe, it likes being full. When half full (half empty?) it doesn’t make much steam. So the effective capacity more like 0.75 gal. I have to top it off daily. It already has some scaling floating around so I suspect I will need to clean it often.