Crane Adorable 2.1 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier, Penguin Shape
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List Price: Our Price: $29.95 You Save: $10.04 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Crane Adorable 2.1 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier, Penguin Shape
Customer Review: So frustrated!!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I was so excited when I came across these humidifiers. They were so cute and I wanted them for my kids bedrooms. I started by buying the frog and the cow.
The frog always worked better than the cow - great mist, but both were more than satisfactory.
This satisfaction lasted THREE days. I put them on at night and for some reason on the third night, when I went in to check the kids, the frog was leaking all over the nightstand. Further investigation showed that the body of the water tank had come away a little from the rest of the frogs body and was leaking. I had some silicon handy so I quickly patched this up and it seemed that all was well.
Night FOUR the cow sprung a leak. He developed cracks down the length of his body - where the water tank is - leaking everywhere. He was a lost cause so I very sadly packed him up and returned him.
My son was so disappointed that I decided to replace the cow with the Penguin - I know - can you believe I went back for more?? I just thought these were so cute that I desperately wanted to get one that worked!
To cut a long sad story short - the Penguin lasted 3 hours - as soon as I filled him up he sprung leaks out of his power switch and front button - water poured everywhere. I couldn't believe it. My husband is furious and I have to say i am really disappointed too.
I was seriously starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me but I assure you I was fastidious in following the instructions with the Penguin and he was our biggest tragedy!
The frog is semi surviving. I can only half full the water tank and then he works.
I noticed on the other review mention of the switch version versus the no switch version. I had two switch ones and one no switch - all pretty much failed equally.
I am frustrated that these are not working and that the reviews are so high - as people like me purchase based on these. Fingers crossed I get my refunds.
Sorry folks but it is what it is. If you give them a try - keep the boxes a week and look out for leaks.
UPDATE
19 July - frog is now dead too.
Customer Review: Fantastic! Own two, neither has failed.
Summary: 5 Stars
What prompted us to get this smaller humidifier was that our sub-1y old vick's UV tower humidifier just stopped putting out any humidity. Cool air, yes, but certainly not humidified. And it didn't matter how new the filter was. So we bought the elephant model of this humidifier for our 21mo old son, as he had a horrible dry cough that kept him up most of the night. The shape of the snout was spectacular at pushing air into the room out of the cubby that we put it into (an ikea 6x6 cubby shelf thingy). Within an hour the room was fully humidified and our son, for the first time in weeks, slept through the night. We, on the other hand, suffered with dry throats and horrible head pain for the lack of humidity in our bedroom. Plus, we have to sleep with the house heat on for our son's sake, which further dried us out. We decided to get the penguin, since the position of the beak and where the moist air would come out would spread into the room as opposed to up into the ceiling (like the frog and duck do, based on what we saw with the display models). Again, in less than an hour, our bedroom is fully humid and the joint humidity between the two rooms in flowing into the living room, making this a much more comfortable space.
I love that the unit is so small yet a full tank can last ~2d, depending on the setting. The adjustable setting and quiet operation are a HUGE plus! While it may seem pricey compared to the fancier humidifiers, I'd definitely buy more of these if we needed to. Totally worth the $35 price tag.
The only 'con' is the potential for a new user to think the unit is broken (as we initially thought with the penguin). As it turned out, the floater ball that acts as a sensor in the reservoir tank (that is filled when the 1gal tank is plugged into the base) needs to be jostled or otherwise manipulated to actually float. This wasn't tricky at all and didn't require much force or innovation. Just fill the reservoir with a little bit of water (a cup or so) and rock back and forth until the floater actuates. It's because of this that I wonder if the 1- or 2-star raters are disappointed with the unit.
Customer Review: One word..... Cheap
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this product because of what I heard about ultrasonic humidifiers being better then the old steam humidifiers.. this unit was cute and pretty inexpensive.
After a few days of usage I noticed that my baby's room was hazy especially when his night light was turned on. After a few more days the CD player we have in there stopped reading the disc due to the white dust that had covered everything in the room and even inside of the cd player.
This is common with ultrasonic humidifiers.. because they use ultrasonic waves, the water droplets that are created still have the minerals that are found in the tap water... thus causing the white dust. Some of the better humidifiers have a mineral trap but not this one.
We also noticed that our son started to have stuffy noses every morning which we would use nose drops to help clear. It wasn't until after we stopped using this unit did we realize it was caused by the white dust... and after doing some research we found that it is pretty common for people to get iratated from the dust.
The other major problem with this unit is that it is sooo cheaply made. The plastic in several areas is very thin.. you almost feel like you are going to break it every time you go to refill the tank. There are several areas that feel this way.
Lastly the unit is hard to clean.. since there is no mineral trap.. only after a week or so you will notice it getting really nasty inside with mineral build up and other bacteria.. the way it is constructed makes it hard to clean especially around the float switch.
It was cute but with the issues with the white dust and our son waking up every day with a runny, stuffy nose and feeling cheap and being hard to clean.. its just not worth it.. spend a little more and get something nice and more healthy.. we like the Vicks Germ Free Humidifier.. it has a UV light that cleans the water and a mineral trap to make the tap water just a little bit better. It may be twice the cost but it is worth it.
Customer Review: Tossed after a few months
Summary: 1 Stars
Never again. I consider myself to be a neat freak, and I'm very conscientious about cleaning and maintaining our daughter's humidifiers. In the case of this particular device I ended up buying bottle water from Lowes to assure the water coming out of the device was better than the average tap water in most municipal water systems. Still, I ended up cleaning the base (that holds the water prior to being humidified) every few days. Overtime the section that creates the mist deteriorated(black flaking) and the water in the base would become unsightely and looked like algea was growing on and around the black disc. It got to be such a chore to keep the water presentable (frankly it got to be so disgusting) that I finally tossed the device this past week and plan to buy another style, one that does not require a filter like our other model, or anything similar to this unit (i.e. HONEYWELL ENVIRACAIRE HWM910 Warm Moisture 2 Gallon Humidifier). On the other model (Graco 4 Gallon Humidifier) we end up replacing the filter (Graco Humidifier Replacement Filter for 4.0 Gallon) every 2-3 weeks because the filter starts to turn color and mildew. Keep in mind, all of this has been happening with bottled water, which is a pretty expensive option for running any sort of humidifier for a 1 to 3 yr old, as we have.
I am surprised more people aren't reporting the same problem we had with the CRANE humidifier. The product seems to have an inherent design flaw based upon our experience and we certainly don't have the time to change the water and clean the device more frequently than we had been doing, which was 2-3 times a week. Who has that kind of time when you're chasing a 1 and 3 yr old around the house!
Customer Review: Me gusta el penguino
Summary: 3 Stars
This little guy was a big hit in the family until Daddie hit it by accident and it shattered the hard plastic into a million pieces. Even though we got on our hands and knees to find the shards, we're still finding plastic remnants 1 month later (wide pine flooring...) However, during the 2.8 years we owned it, the kids got a big kick out of it (and they miss their aviarary centurian b/c we kept it out even when not in use.) It worked great, got the job done and if it leaked (and it did) it was due to user error and not the actual product. Play with the settings for your room size and how much vapor you need for the kiddos. After we used it the first time, I feared we might find mold growing on the twins, like little shitakes...Come the morn, their nursery was like Heathrow at 5:00 am. My best advice? Fill the thing and assemble in the bathroom -- then take to the room. After the husband filled it and let it rip full blast, condensated vapor took the finish right off the antique wooden table it was resting on ($$$ - directions say DO NOT use on wood -- I mean who has all plastic furniture?) Thereafter, I used it in a jelly roll pan. Voila, husband-proof. We're dealing with twins, so when there's an occasion to use this thing -- it means the troops are NOT happy or in good spirits. So fumbling around with the base synch-up and potential leakage in a dimly lit nursery, with wailing feverish twins, isn't a good idea. Wish Daddie hadn't broken this but, sigh, I've married me a manly man. It's ok, though, I'm keeping a running list of all the broken items and I'll be presenting a bill at our 25 anniversary or we can go on a 20 day tour of Italy, whatever's cheaper. Hint: Ciao Italia!