Stadler Formhumidifier Oskar, Energy-Saving Humidifier for Rooms up to 540 Square Feet, Evaporator with Automatic Switch-Off, Dimmable LEDs, Very Quiet, White, medium

I did a ton of research before I reluctantly bought the Oskar. Fortunately, I didn't read the reviews here on Amazon until I had already placed my order! I'm pretty sure I'd have been dissuaded from buying it had I read the horrible ones from the disappointed folks.First off, what the Oskar is not.It is not a "Cool Mist", AKA Ultrasonic humidifier, that sends a pulse through the water creating a very visible mist that spews into the air. I've owned a few cool-misters, and they all broke after a season or two. They also tended to leave a little bit of rain within a 3-5 foot radius around the device, severely limiting how much you could use it, or where you might place it.Second, it is not a traditional steam humidifier, that you might use to help soothe a cough or something along those lines. I've owned many of these through the years, they work fine, especially for when you have a terrible cough or something like that. Every one was ugly, and noisy. I think they both make the glug-glug sounds as everyone I've owned had a gravity fed water system that was cumbersome and messy. None of these devices lasted more than a couple seasons, and you definitely didn't want to leave them out with your decor!The Oskar is an evaporative humidifier. It doesn't use heat, or ultrasonic waves to distribute the moisture. Instead, it uses two honeycomb filters to absorb the water, and a fan to draw air across, and through them. This produces no visible steam! If you hold your hand over the top of it while it's running, your hand will not get wet! This may be disappointing at first, but when you see that you still have to fill it up twice a day, your realize that it's really pumping a lot of moisture into the air, all while sitting pretty, and silent, in the corner of your room.So far I have spilled zero drops of water with my Oskar. The Base is very sturdy, and somewhat weighty, zinc, I believe. on top of that sits the reservoir. If you don't over-fill it, the filters are in place, and the top is on, it should withstand some bumps, and not spill. Still, the fact that it doesn't spew steam everywhere means I can sit it on a wooden shelf, under a painting, and not worry that I'm going to bump it. Since you can fill it without taking the top off, I simply take my gallon of water right up to it, and fill it up. No spills.What I love most about it is that it doesn't over humidify. I can let it run constantly and my windows don't fog up. Theres no light misting all around on the floor.What I hate about it, is the cost of ownership. The filters are not supposed to last very long, and of course, It's pricey!

This product is great. Every year I end up purchasing a new humidifier and this is the first one I will not be quickly replacing.It’s nearly silent, eliminated my morning dry sinus/dry skin, and looks great. I also appreciate you can turn off all lights on the product, so it doesn’t annoy me when I sleep.It’s clear this product was not a copy/paste of basic humidifiers, but a thoughtfully designed product meant to be durable and effective - that includes appropriate materials, ease of use, size/design, and mechanical quality. Its great value for the money in my opinion.Usually I buy Dyson products, but I may switch to buying this companies products next time I have a need.

Love this little guy! Super quiet, easy to use, easy to clean. Doesn't give me quite the humidity I need but I live in Colorado where the humidity averages below 20%.Makes for pleasant summers but winters are hard on the respiratory system. Keeps my bedroom around 40% running wide open. Will be getting the larger model for the living room so hopefully that will help.I have extremely hard water so the filters are clogging up fast. Oskar is evaporating 2 gallons of water a day so I opted to purchase a table top water distiller for it and an in home oxygen concentrator. It will pay for itself in about 6 months. The filters are $20 for a set and distilled water is $1 a gallon. No brainer.Oskar is a medium weight plastic, sturdy, well built, attractive, looks like art. Would have to bump it pretty hard to make it spill. I found the controls easy to use not flimsy at all. The led's cast a dim and pleasant blue glow on the wall.The only cons are the price and it could have a couple more features. For $160 it should have all the bells and whistles the higher end ultrasonics do. But, evaporative humidifiers are hard to find and the absence of the white dust more than compensates for the high price for me.Update: after 4 months of continuous use the fan motor on my Oskar burned out. Not happy. I still love the unit, as it has performed it's function adequately. Not looking forward to dealing with the hassle of packing and shipping it for warranty work after 4 MONTHS use. A single season. I also have to pay for the shipping. If I hadn't paid 160.00 for it, I'd chuck it in the trash.An evaporative humidifier has one moving part. The fan. That's the only thing that has to work. Downgrading the rating to a one for now. If the manufacturer honors their warranty with a new unit, I'll reconsider that rating.