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pixoneyeuk · 7 months ago

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Unveiling the Ultimate Product Review Website

Before we delve into the process of selecting a product review website, let's first understand the importance of product reviews in making informed purchasing decisions. In a world where countless products are vying for our attention, it can be overwhelming to make the right choice. That's where product reviews come in. For more information visit Pixoneye.

Product reviews provide valuable insights from real customers who have already used or experienced the product. They offer an unbiased perspective, helping us gauge the pros and cons of a particular product before making a purchase. By reading product reviews, we can learn about the product's quality, performance, durability, and overall value for money.

Moreover, product reviews also help us uncover any potential issues or flaws that the manufacturer may not disclose. This information can be crucial in avoiding products that are prone to malfunction or do not meet our specific needs. In short, product reviews empower consumers by providing them with the necessary information to make informed decisions.

Types of product review websites

Now that we understand the importance of product reviews, let's explore the different types of product review websites available. Depending on your preferences and requirements, you can choose from various types of websites that cater to different needs.

User-generated product review websites: These platforms allow everyday consumers to share their experiences and opinions about products. Websites like Amazon, Yelp, or TripAdvisor fall into this category. They provide a vast range of product reviews from diverse perspectives and can be a great resource for gauging the general consensus on a particular product.

Expert-led product review websites: These websites are run by industry experts who specialize in reviewing products within a specific niche. They conduct thorough testing, research, and analysis to provide detailed and comprehensive reviews. Examples include websites like Consumer Reports or Wirecutter. These websites often have a team of experts who are knowledgeable in their respective fields and can provide highly credible and reliable information.

Comparison websites for product reviews: These websites focus on comparing multiple products within a category to help consumers make informed choices. They typically provide side-by-side comparisons, highlighting the features, specifications, and prices of different products. Websites such as CNET or PCMagazine are popular examples of comparison websites that provide detailed comparisons and rankings.

Niche-specific product review websites: These websites cater to specific niches or industries. They focus on reviewing products within a particular category, such as beauty, sports equipment, or home appliances. Niche-specific review websites often have a dedicated community of users who are passionate about that particular niche. They provide detailed insights and recommendations based on their expertise and experience.

Factors to consider when choosing a product review website

Now that we have explored the different types of product review websites, let's discuss the key factors to consider when choosing the best website for your needs. By evaluating these factors, you can ensure that you are relying on a trustworthy and reliable source of information.

Credibility and expertise of the reviewers: It is crucial to assess the credibility and expertise of the reviewers on a product review website. Look for websites that have a transparent process for selecting and vetting their reviewers. Check if the reviewers have relevant qualifications, experience, or certifications in the field they are reviewing. This will help you determine if the reviews are coming from knowledgeable individuals who can provide accurate and insightful information.

Transparency and disclosure: Transparency is another vital factor to consider when choosing a product review website. The website should clearly disclose any affiliations, partnerships, or sponsorships they have with manufacturers or brands. This ensures that the reviews are unbiased and not influenced by external factors. Look for websites that have clear disclosure policies and adhere to ethical standards.

User-friendly features and interface: A good product review website should have a user-friendly interface that allows you to navigate easily and find the information you need. Look for websites that provide search filters, sorting options, and clear categorization of products. Additionally, consider if the website offers user-generated ratings and comments, as this can provide additional insights from fellow consumers.

Quality and depth of reviews: Assess the quality and depth of the reviews on the website. Look for detailed and comprehensive reviews that cover various aspects of the product, such as performance, features, durability, and value for money. Avoid websites that provide vague or superficial reviews that lack substance. A good product review website should provide in-depth analysis and evaluation of the products.

Reputation and user feedback: Research the reputation of the product review website and read user feedback or testimonials. Look for websites that have a positive reputation and are trusted by a large number of users. Consider if the website has won any awards or accolades, as this can be an indicator of their credibility and reliability.

By considering these factors, you can narrow down your options and choose a product review website that aligns with your preferences and requirements.

How to navigate and utilize product review websites effectively

Now that you have identified the factors to consider and explored popular product review websites, let's discuss how to navigate and utilize these websites effectively. By following these tips, you can make the most out of product review platforms and ensure that you are getting the information you need.

Define your needs and priorities: Before diving into product reviews, clearly define your needs and priorities. Consider what features or specifications are essential to you, as well as your budget and intended use of the product. This will help you filter the reviews and focus on the products that meet your specific requirements.

Read multiple reviews: Don't rely solely on a single review for your purchasing decision. Read multiple reviews from different sources to get a comprehensive understanding of the product. Look for common themes or patterns in the reviews, as this can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of the product.

Consider the context: When reading product reviews, consider the context in which they were written. Some products may receive negative reviews due to misuse or unrealistic expectations. On the other hand, positive reviews may be influenced by personal preferences or biases. By considering the context, you can filter out irrelevant or biased information.

Engage with the community: Many product review websites provide opportunities for users to engage with the community and ask questions. Take advantage of this feature by asking specific questions or seeking clarification from other users. This can provide valuable insights and help you make a more informed decision.

Contribute your own reviews: If you have experience with a product, consider contributing your own review to the website. By sharing your insights and opinions, you can contribute to the community and help others make informed decisions. Remember to provide detailed and honest feedback to ensure the usefulness of your review.

By following these tips, you can effectively navigate and utilize product review websites to make informed purchasing decisions.

Conclusion: Finding the right product review website for your needs

In conclusion, choosing the right product review website is crucial for making informed purchasing decisions. By considering the factors discussed in this guide, such as credibility of the reviewers, transparency, user-friendly features, and quality of reviews, you can select a website that aligns with your preferences and requirements.

Remember to explore different types of product review websites, such as user-generated platforms, expert-led websites, comparison websites, and niche-specific platforms. Each type offers unique features and strengths that cater to different needs.

Utilize the tips provided to navigate and utilize product review websites effectively. By defining your needs, reading multiple reviews, considering the context, engaging with the community, and contributing your own reviews, you can make the most out of these platforms and confidently make informed purchasing decisions.

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ruth-foote · 1 year ago

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From Emergencies to Entertainment: How a Good Portable Power Station Can Come in Handy".

Introduction

In today's world, where we rely heavily on technology for our daily lives, being without power can be a major inconvenience. Whether it's a power outage, a camping trip, or a road trip, having a reliable source of power can make all the difference. That's where portable power stations come in. In this article, we will discuss how a good portable power station can be useful in a variety of situations, ranging from emergencies to entertainment.

What is a portable power station?

A portable power station is a device that is designed to provide power to electronic devices and appliances when you're in a remote location or during a power outage. It works by storing power in an internal battery that can be charged via an AC outlet or solar panel. Portable power stations come in a range of sizes and capacities, and they can power devices ranging from smartphones and laptops to refrigerators and power tools.

Why choose a portable power station?

Portable power stations offer several advantages over traditional generators. First of all, they are much more portable and lightweight, making them easy to transport and store. They are also much quieter and produce zero emissions, making them ideal for use in campsites and other outdoor locations.

Furthermore, portable power stations do not require gasoline or oil to run, which means they are much more environmentally friendly and cost-effective in the long run. Finally, portable power stations are much more versatile than traditional generators, as they can power a wider range of devices and appliances, including sensitive electronics such as laptops and smartphones.

Emergency situations

One of the main reasons people invest in a portable power station is for emergency situations. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes can disrupt power grids, leaving people without electricity for days or even weeks. In these situations, having a reliable source of power can be a lifesaver, allowing you to charge your phone, power up medical devices, and keep food and medications refrigerated.

Camping trips

Another common use for portable power stations is during camping trips. Whether you're looking to power up a portable stove, charge your phone, or run a small fan, a portable power station can provide you with all the power you need without the need for noisy and bulky generators. Plus, they are much more eco-friendly, which is always a plus when enjoying the great outdoors.

Entertainment

Portable power stations can also be a great addition to your entertainment setup. Whether you're planning an outdoor movie night or want to power up a DJ booth at a party, a portable power station can provide you with the power you need to keep the music going. Plus, with the ability to charge your phone, tablet, and other devices, you can keep the party going well into the night without worrying about being left without power.

Conclusion

A good portable power station can be a real game-changer in a variety of situations. From emergency situations to camping trips and entertainment setups, having a reliable source of power can make all the difference. So if you're looking for a portable power station, make sure you do your research and choose one that meets your needs and budget. With the right portable power station, you'll never have to go without power again!

Sources

https://www.greenmatters.com/p/best-portable-power-stations

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-portable-power-station/

Article by None Do you think something's wrong? Click me to try best portable power stations.

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whatchamagadget · 7 years ago

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The Best Emergency Preparedness Supplies

Though the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all provide emergency-supply checklists, those lists can be intimidating in their breadth and their specificity. In reality, for the most part you can assemble an emergency kit out of stuff you’d use anyway and may already own. There’s never a bad time to prepare for a crisis by stocking up on gear and organizing it so you know exactly where it is when you need it most. We did 120 hours of research and tested nearly 100 different products to come up with 31 products that will be indispensable in case of a natural disaster—and helpful in everyday life, too.

#Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World

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ryantate · 4 years ago

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The Tyranny of News

For centuries the cost of distributing information polarized publishing between books, which were comprehensive and timeless, and newspapers, which were essentially diffs of information in books. Centuries ago, as today, understanding a newspaper was impossible without a lot of background knowledge, although back then you were more likely to have this context, your leisure options and reading choices being quite constrained.

The cost of printing and distribution, and in particular the cost of books, constrained the availability of material that might bridge this gap and educate readers about topics that were both vital and complex — information that was a bit timely and a bit deep, with a medium shelf life, neither entirely fresh nor perfectly comprehensive. This sort of information, with the potential to quickly educate the citizenry, particularly as society grew ever more complicated, tended to get published only when there was a particularly strong political or commercial imperative to justify the cost. Revolutionary era pamphleteers, door to door encyclopedia salesmen, and independent product guides like the Whole Earth Catalog come to mind.

For some reason, 25 years into the age of widespread internet use, we have only begun to disrupt this paradigm. In fact, news has proliferated online, and in this medium tends to provide little to no additional background information as compared to print, offering an occasional hyperlink that provides precious little additional context, and mostly contemporaneous context at that (that is, news articles tend to link to other news articles or to press releases or the like). Many of the new information forms that have emerged online only serve to heighten the importance of news or even more ephemeral information: Aggregators like Reddit (adding only importance ranking and brief comments), social networks like Twitter and Facebook (heavy on opinion and personal moments), and the democratic cinema of YouTube (tending toward the viral and off-kilter). Books, meanwhile, seem to have changed very little online, although their digitization has made them more conveniently available, and, arguably, slightly widened the number of authors of which a given reader avails herself.

This state of affairs is odd, given that the web was created by a scientist with the specific complaint that “keeping a book up to date becomes impractical,” in particular when organiziing “general information about [nuclear] accelerators and experiments,” which would seem to envision a platform that accomplishes quite a bit more than circulating newspaper articles.

But if you’re attentive you can start to see examples of how the web can foster new forms of information that go further than news in educating citizens, providing a deeper understanding on a range of topics before, or in the absence of, relevant books. To wit:

Wikipedia - A resource that is both criminally underfunded and routinely underestimated but which nevertheless dominates both the Google results and reader mindshare for any given topic. Why? Because it takes the time to go deeper (and thus more educational) than news; because it organizes by topic rather than by what recently happened; and because it has relentlessly honed a useful system for harnessing the work of a distributed team of volunteers (the sort of work news organizations would be wise to engage in more often).

StackOverflow - A network of sites that has brought about nothing short of a revolution in how software engineering knowledge is exchanged. The site was consciously designed (per the podcast made by its creators as they created it) to foster knowledge with a considerable shelf life, information that for months or years would surface on Google to help programmers looking for solutions to their challenges. The system of software, rules, and human moderators used to make this happen is so consciously attuned to this goal that it is routinely criticized for being so strict as to border on unwelcoming. And at times the site fails to keep pace with the rapidly churning world of software libraries that have become central to applied computer science. But no one has argued that StackOverflow failed to achieve its primary goal. Its business model, the last time I checked, revolved around helping tech companies hire engineers.

Wirecutter - A site that creates product guides with a shelf life of approximately one year and which has changed how many people buy things online. Wirecutter has become so widely used and imitated that it’s easy to forget that this format had to be invented, and invented at that by Brian Lam, who as editor of Gizmodo had overseen the production of a great many reviews with much narrower scope and a much shorter shelf life. After he retired from Gizmodo to Hawaii he made a site with a much more laid back pace and, relatedly, with more depth and educational value per article.

I think we are going to see more sites that fit this general mold — medium shelf life, between books and articles; greater depth and educational value than news articles, but less than books; relying more on expertise and less on reporting. This is the part of the web, and of publishing, and of the digital world, that really excites me right now. It is where we as a society are going to heal some real systemic weaknesses and build some real strengths. And how we will finally end the tyranny of news.

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maylamdavientumlr · 5 years ago

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heaterbuy-blog · 6 years ago

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The Best Space Heaters for 2019

Why you should trust us

We’ve been covering space heaters for more than five years now, and in that time we’ve considered more than 120 different space heaters and tested nearly 50 of them. We’ve interviewed experts on heating, including Joel Hawk, principal engineer manager at UL; Linda Hotz, category director at De’Longhi Home Comfort; a team of representatives from Vornado; and Gary McCall, former fire advisor to the Office of the Fire Commissioner for British Columbia’s Vancouver Island Region.

In years past we relied on the testing expertise of physicist Jim Shapiro, who tested heaters at his home in the high desert of Colorado and also served as an expert source during our research. For our 2017 and 2018 updates, we focused more on real-world testing, running the heaters under controlled conditions in cramped apartments in Boston and New York.

We pored through independent testing data and scientific research from Good Housekeeping, the U.S. Fire Administration (PDF), the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, and the National Fire Protection Association. The single most important takeaway from this research is that space heaters are one of the leading causes of house fires in the US. As such, we placed heightened importance on each heater’s safety measures and track record.

Sabrina Imbler, who wrote the 2018 update to this guide, covers heating and cooling for Wirecutter. Tyler Wells Lynch, who wrote the 2017 update to this guide, has written about appliances for about six years, first at Reviewed.com and now as a staff writer for Wirecutter. Séamus Bellamy wrote this guide from 2011 through 2016.

Who this is for

Space heaters can be a handy supplement to a building-wide heating system, especially if your home has a room that receives less heat and needs a boost during cold weather. But realistically, most space heaters struggle to raise room temperatures by more than a few degrees. Plus, they’re not the most electrically efficient way to heat a space, and they’re not meant to stand in for any central or baseboard heating system. Space heaters are most effective when you place them 5 or 6 feet away from your body, such as when you’re hanging out on the couch or doing work at your desk. Because space heaters are a high-wattage, heat-generating appliance, they can pose a risk when used improperly. We cover what kinds of situations space heaters aren’t suited for in our section on space heater care, maintenance, and safety.

How we picked

We’ve updated this guide annually over the past five years, so this time around we went into testing with considerable knowledge of the features that set a great space heater apart from the rest. We started by researching all the new space heaters for sale, popular competitors we hadn’t had a chance to test yet, and previously tested models that deserved a second look. We did not consider outdoor heaters or any models that required a serious level of installation or setup, such as baseboard heaters—all of the competitors here simply plug into a standard wall outlet. We also dismissed infrared heaters categorically, because those models are less popular and less safe than other types.

A compact space heater with a fan is one of the safest, least expensive electric heater types that can warm an entire room and still tuck below a desk or table. Compact heaters come in a few subtypes. Most, including the Lasko 754200 and Honeywell UberHeat, have a ceramic-plate heating element, which is a relatively safe design where the heater reduces current to various parts of the element if it reaches a certain temperature, to avoid overheating. Other compact heaters, including the Vornado VH200 and Vornado MVH, instead use an open-coil heating element. These designs put out more heat but aren’t self-regulating, so the casing and grill can get hotter to the touch, which can be a safety risk.

Oil-filled radiators are also popular. They operate in near silence because they don’t employ fans, and they retain heat after powering down. Unlike fan-based heaters, radiators work by heating up a reserve of diathermic oil that transfers heat to the machine’s metal fins. In turn, the hot metal fins radiate heat into the air, which then spreads silently throughout the room via convection. Radiators are also bigger, heavier, pricier, and often slower than compact heaters.

Most heaters we’ve tested in the past do a fine job of emitting heat, but we’ve found a world of difference in what it’s like to use and live with these heaters over time. Some heaters that heat well are infuriatingly difficult to clean, have nonsensical interfaces, or sound like wasps while they run. Others are easy to clean, intuitive to use, and silent, in addition to being effective heaters. So we took careful notes on how it felt to rely on and work alongside these heaters. We also placed great weight on customer reviews, especially those from people who have owned a given space heater for an extended period of time. We pored through reviews at the sites of Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot, hunting for any patterns of defects or longevity issues.

With all this in mind, we prioritized the following features and performance criteria:

Adequate safety features: We considered only heaters that offer overheat protection, which automatically shuts the unit off if it begins to overheat. We preferred heaters with a tip-over kill switch, which automatically powers down the heater if it tips over. We also looked for heaters with a stamp from a recognized independent testing laboratory, such as Intertek (whose seal often appears as “ETL”) or UL (Underwriters Laboratories), to confirm that the heater passed a battery of safety tests.

A 1,500-watt output: The vast majority of heaters meet this requirement, regardless of size or type. Since watts measure power, a higher wattage results in a higher heat output. Some models draw only 750 watts, but they aren’t necessarily cheaper, and they’ll struggle to make a difference on a bitterly cold day.

Fast to heat up: The sooner a space heater can defrost a room, the better. Oil-filled radiators take over an hour to reach maximum temperatures, whereas most ceramic heaters start pumping out hot air almost immediately.

Quiet operation: We’ve yet to find an egregiously loud space heater, but some we’ve tested have made enough noise that we’ve found ourselves talking over the heater, which is unpleasant. And whatever noise a heater does emit, however quiet, should ideally be a steady hum—no clicking or erratic whirrs.

A (relatively) cool exterior: Any heater that is too hot to the touch is a safety risk, and that risk increases with the temperature. Most have plastic housings that won’t even reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but their front grilles can get hotter. We docked any model whose grille got consistently hotter than 160 °F, which is the point at which one second of contact burns skin.

Intuitive controls: Most heaters have a thermostat and at least two heat settings generally marked at a high setting (1,500 watts) and a low setting (750 watts). The thermostat manages the heat output, allowing you to find a middle ground between the heat settings. Although digital controls look high-end, years of testing have convinced us that analog controls are more durable and intuitive.

Compact size: The heater should be small enough to work well without taking up too much space, as well as to store easily in a closet in the off-season.

Not ugly: Although no space heater is beautiful, many are quite unattractive. Since space heaters are often highly visible in a room, we tried to find nicer-looking options that wouldn’t be an eyesore for the entire winter.

Carrying handle: You need to have a way to move an in-use or recently turned off heater without burning your hands.

Fan-only option: A heater with a fan-only option can conveniently double as a fan for the warmer months.

Last, if you think you might need a new heater, don’t wait for the cold weather to hit. Retailers usually stock space heaters seasonally, so prices and availability can fluctuate over the colder months. For example, the cost of the Lasko 754200 doubled overnight at a number of outlets during the polar vortex of 2014—and sold out at many retailers. Most of them didn’t have new units available until early spring.

How we tested

We tested 13 space heaters in an apartment in Queens, New York, over a week in September 2018, measuring the change in room temperature each heater created. Although we drew our conclusions from a mix of observations, including our temperature measurements, we didn’t rely on those readings alone—the goal was not to attempt to create lab-like conditions but rather to see how each heater operated, how its heat felt, and what it would be like to live with over the winter. When we did rely on temperature measurements, we focused on the overall change in the temperature, de-emphasizing the beginning and final numbers on the thermometer, which varied due to slight inconsistencies in the starting temperature of the test room.

For our tests, we placed each space heater at the same location in a 200-square-foot bedroom with typical furniture and a large rug over a hardwood floor. We closed the windows and door and shut off the forced-air ventilation during each test. We placed two Lascar data loggers 3 feet and 6 feet away from the heater. We ran each heater for an hour while the Lascar loggers took a reading every five minutes. Our subjective observations about the way the heat felt—whether it was room-filling warmth or a blast of hot air directly in front of the heater—led us to view the 6-foot measurements as a better representation of the machines’ performance.

To measure how hot the actual heater felt without burning our fingertips, we used an infrared thermometer gun to take readings (on ceramic heaters) of both the plastic casing and the grille covering the main heating element. For radiators, we took readings of the radiator fins and the plastic control panel. We also measured the noise each heater emitted, taking readings with a decibel meter from distances of 3 feet and 6 feet at waist height. We noted both dBA and dBC weightings—the former cuts off the lower and higher frequencies that most people can’t hear, and the latter picks up higher frequencies.

In addition to this objective data, we took extensive notes on how warm each heater made us feel. We fiddled with dials and buttons, tested timers and automatic thermostats to confirm that they worked, and turned off the room lights to note whether the space heaters’ LED displays were intrusively bright. We also measured the wattage each heater drew, but we found that most used nearly the same amount of power.

Our pick: Vornado VH200

Our pick

The Vornado VH200 is the best space heater for cold people because in our tests it warmed an entire room faster and more evenly than every other heater we tried. Both in 20-minute and 60-minute intervals, it caused a greater temperature increase than any of its competitors, and its heat just felt better, generating a room-filling ambient warmth as opposed to a hot current of air directly in front. The VH200 offers a combination of key safety features that many cheaper heaters lack, including overheat protection, a tip-over switch, and UL certification. The VH200 is also quieter than every other fan-based heater we tested, emitting a soft whir that’s barely noticeable even on high. We found the heater’s analog dials easy to handle and intuitive to master, and we appreciated that this model offers a medium heat setting, whereas most heaters have only low and high. And although it’s not particularly attractive, it’s definitely not ugly—a big win in a crowded field of unappealing design. Even its negative owner reviews are less of a red flag than those of some competitors, with responsive customer service from the manufacturer that you rarely see among other brands.

The Vornado VH200, as well as other Vornado models we tested, proved significantly more effective than most other space heaters in our evaluation. After running on high for 20 minutes, the VH200 raised the temperature by 3 Fahrenheit degrees at 6 feet away, and after an hour, raised it by 5.5 Fahrenheit degrees, more than any other heater (except for our runner-up, another Vornado). This result easily tops the temperature increases we measured on all competitors, including on our other picks.

Space heater change in temperature (℉)Total change, 20 minut…Total change, 60 minut…Vornado VH200Vornado MVHLasko 754200Honeywell UberHeatDe'Longhi TRD40615T0123456Change in temperature (degrees F)Total change, 20 minutesTotal change, 60 minutes

Vornado VH20035.5

Vornado MVH2.55.5

Lasko 7542002.54.5

Honeywell UberHeat13

De'Longhi TRD40615T12.5

The Vornado models raised the temperature in a test space more quickly and by a greater overall amount than other heaters we tested.

In spite of the hotter temperature readings, the heat billowing from the VH200 also felt significantly more comfortable to sit beside than that of the other heaters we tested. That’s because its fan design—what Vornado calls a “circulator”—distributed a gentle, even heat to every corner of the room, similar to what we observed in our testing of Vornado room fans. The result: an all-encompassing and diffuse heat that felt natural, not forced. The ceramic-plate models we tested (our Lasko and Honeywell also-great picks), by contrast, delivered a narrow beam of heated air that made sweat trickle down our necks when we sat directly in the line of fire.

The Vornado VH200 has every safety feature we look for in a heater. Its thermal cutoff function ensures that the machine automatically switches off in the event it overheats, and its tip-over switch cuts off power automatically in the event it gets knocked over—many less expensive heaters, including one of our also-great picks, don’t offer these features. The VH200’s plastic casing also remained relatively cool, never exceeding 94 °F. And the grille covering the heating element never topped 140 °F, making the VH200’s grille one of the coolest we tested. Although space heater safety largely depends on using the heater correctly, these features are reassuring.

Despite its abundant heating ability, the VH200 operated with a quiet murmur that we didn’t find distracting or unpleasant. We recorded a decibel level of 39 dBA at a distance of 3 feet and 35 dBA at 6 feet at its highest setting, a level that’s quieter than a fan on its lowest setting. And if you use the VH200 at any fan setting below 4, the fan switches off and the machine emits a near-silent heat. But even on high, the Vornado VH200 is significantly quieter than the Lasko 754200, which recorded decibel measurements of 48 dBA at a distance of 3 feet and 43 dBA at 6 feet. This Vornado model is not as quiet as a radiator, but then again, no other kind of space heater is.

The VH200 has a slim, lightweight design that’s easy to tuck below a desk or in a corner. It’s also pleasantly pear-shaped (bottom-heavy heaters are harder to tip over). It’s certainly bigger than most of the personal heaters we tested, such as the Lasko or Honeywell, but it’s dwarfed by any radiator. Weighing about 3.5 pounds, it’s still only about the size of a coffee maker.

We found the controls on the VH200 simple, straightforward, and durable. The heater offers three power settings—one more than the usual low and high—and a thermostat dial with seven settings. Disappointingly, it has no fan-only mode, which is a bummer considering that room fans are Vornado’s primary area of expertise. It has a red LED light that remains on when the heater is on but turns off when the heater is powered down but still plugged in. We preferred this to the Lasko 754200’s crimson indicator light, which blared bright even when the heater was turned off.

The VH200 also contains an internal thermostat with seven settings that can automatically turn on and off to maintain temperature. To use the thermostat, turn the dial slowly counterclockwise after the room reaches your desired comfort level, and when the heat cycles off, stop turning the dial. For example, if the thermostat is set to 7, you turn the dial down slowly, and the heat cycles off when you reach the 3 setting, you should keep the dial set to 3. The heater should then automatically restart when the room drops below that desired temperature. The automatic thermostat worked successfully in our testing, though we did not measure its accuracy to the degree.

Finally, the VH200 comes with an impressive five-year warranty, two more years of coverage than the Lasko and Honeywell warranties offer. In our research into owner reviews of the VH200, we noticed that Vornado representatives responded to most of the negative Amazon reviews of the VH200 and offered to replace broken or malfunctioning fans; reviews were also updated to reflect positive experiences with Vornado customer service.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Both the Vornado VH200 and the nearly identical Vornado MVH have relatively mediocre reviews on Amazon. At this writing, the VH200 has an overall rating of 3.5 stars (out of five) across more than 20 customer reviews, and the MVH has 3.6 stars (out of five) across more than 1,640 reviews. Neither rating is stellar, but we didn’t find any popularly reviewed space heaters (meaning those with at least 100 reviews) with a rating higher than four out of five stars. We combed through the three-, two-, and one-star reviews for the VH200 and MVH to compare them against negative reviews of other heaters we tested, including the Lasko, Honeywell, and De’Longhi models that make up the rest of our recommendations. All of the space heaters we seriously considered had a smattering of negative reviews, and in comparison, we thought the Vornado VH200’s negative reviews were not as bad as those of the other fans we liked. Many of the negative reviews of the VH200 complain that the fan did not put out as much heat as the buyer desired—a fair complaint, but we believe they would be more disappointed with almost any other heater, as the VH200 was one of the most powerful heaters we tested.

What really sets the Vornado models’ negative reviews apart is that Vornado representatives actually tend to reply to negative reviews and offer customer support, which is a rare sight on critical reviews for other brands. The most popular negative reviews of the Vornado MVH complain that the machine broke within a few months, and almost every one of those reviews received a response from a Vornado representative. In contrast, we could not find any instance where Lasko offered assistance to customers who had posted negative reviews, and the few people who did attempt to go through Lasko customer service left somewhat disappointed. The VH200 also comes with a five-year warranty, the longest coverage of any space heater we tested.

The VH200 is more than twice as expensive as other portable ceramic heating options, such as the Lasko and the Honeywell. But we believe it’s worth the expense due to its pleasant, even heat and the fact that it can raise the temperature of a room so much more effectively than the other models we tested.

Vornado has recalled another space heater, one that looks quite similar to our pick, in response to more than a dozen reports of overheating and catching fire. The model affected by the recall, the VH101, is about 7.2 inches deep, 7.8 inches wide, and 7.10 inches high. Our pick is a bit bigger, at about 10.4 inches deep, 9.2 inches wide, and 10.6 inches high. If you have a small Vornado heater, check the model number, and if you have the VH101, Vornado will give you a full refund or replace the product—possibly with that model’s replacement, the VH202. The larger Vornado we recommend, the VH200, has improved safety features that the recalled VH101 lacked, according to a Vornado spokesperson: V-0 Resin, a flame-extinguishing plastic; UL 3122 Wire Jacketing, a high-temperature, high-voltage silicone/fiberglass jacketing; and a change in the soldering of the heater’s electronics.

Runner-up: Vornado MVH

Runner-up

The VH200 is also available in slightly tweaked design called the Vornado MVH, which we recommend as a runner-up pick. Vornado confirmed to us that these two models are functionally identical to each other, just with different-colored housing, and that the company has no plans to discontinue either model in the future. We slightly prefer the VH200 because its shimmery tan plastic casing stayed around 10 degrees cooler than the MVH’s black plastic casing, but we don’t think this difference is significant enough to temper our enthusiasm for the MVH. We’ve linked to the VH200 throughout this guide for now because it’s much easier to find. But if you come across the MVH for a better price, go for it.

Also great: Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater

Also great

The Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater is a small, budget option if you’re looking to warm just your body—not the room as a whole—while you’re sitting on the couch, say, or in the office. It was our top pick for years, but after our latest round of testing we decided to change our pick to a more powerful, quieter, more comfortable competitor. This Lasko model lacks a tip-over switch, a reassuring and basic safety feature that automatically powers down the machine if it falls over. Also, unlike the Vornado VH200’s soothing, ambient heat, the 754200’s heat feels more like that of a supersized hair dryer—and if you sit close enough, it sounds like one too. But at the size of a hot water kettle, the 754200 is smaller than the VH200 and therefore easier to store or tuck away. Although this model isn’t much to look at, it’s one of the cheapest heaters of its size and type, and it’s usually available for a good price.

The Lasko 754200 is faster at heating up small spaces than most space heaters we’ve tried. As is the case with all ceramic heaters, the warmth comes almost immediately, as the 754200 creates warm jets of air in a matter of minutes. After running on high for an hour, the Lasko raised the temperature of our room from 6 feet away by 4.5 Fahrenheit degrees, a performance close to that of our Vornado picks. But in our gut-check test, its heat did not feel evenly distributed throughout the room. Instead, we felt a concentrated stream of heat in front of the heater and cooler patches of air in areas around and behind the heater—although we could best reap the rewards of the heater by sitting directly in front of it, that position got uncomfortably hot, yet we felt chilly in the far corners of the room.

But the Lasko 754200’s biggest failing is its lack of a tip-over kill switch, which is a pretty standard safety feature for portable space heaters. (The model is ETL certified.) A tip-over switch automatically powers down a heater that’s been knocked over—and this Lasko model’s upright stance is not the most stable. In contrast, we found the squat, pyramidal Vornado heaters much harder to knock over.

Reminder: If you are using this (or any) space heater in a home with pets or small children, do not leave it accessible while unattended. Tipped-over heaters tend to overheat. Fortunately, the Lasko 754200 does come with overheat protection, which cuts power to certain areas of the heating element if they get too hot.

However, it’s also relatively cool to the touch. In our tests, the outer plastic casing never topped 85 °F, and the grille, which is situated directly in front of the ceramic plate and receives the brunt of the output, topped out at 153 °F—still hot enough to burn your skin but cooler than the grilles of most other ceramic models we tested.

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iairhumidifiers-blog · 6 years ago

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The Best Humidifier for 2019

Why you should trust us

John Holecek is a former NOAA researcher and has studied atmospheric physics and chemistry in places from the continental US to the Arctic to the remote island nation of the Maldives. He is a longtime Wirecutter collaborator. For this guide, he weather-sealed his home office and installed an air conditioner to maintain stable initial conditions. He evaluated the humidifiers with two portable temperature and humidity data loggers, and used a laboratory-grade particle counter to size up the air washers (read more in How we tested).

Tim Heffernan is a Wirecutter writer and editor, and has conducted extensive real-world testing of air and water purifiers for our guides. For this guide, he tested nine humidifiers in his New York City apartment during the winter heating season, using the same data loggers.

Who this is for

If you are bothered by any of the symptoms caused by dry air, such as dry sinuses, nosebleeds, cracked and sore lips, or shocks from static electricity, the air in your home is likely too dry. In most of the US, this is primarily a winter problem, especially in homes with forced-air heating systems, which can drive indoor humidity as low as 10 percent, making it literally desertlike. However, dry air can also be an issue even if you have steam or under-floor heating, because cold winter air generally has less moisture than warm summer air.

Using a portable humidifier, such as the ones we researched here, is the cheapest and easiest way to humidify your home without needing to deal with an HVAC contractor. If you get one, you should keep the relative humidity levels in your home somewhere between 30 and 60 percent, which will alleviate the symptoms listed above while discouraging mold and mildew growth in your home. If you want to test your air before buying a humidifier, you can get a hygrometer on Amazon for about $10.

However, humidifying your home involves more than just buying a machine and keeping it filled with water. If you don’t take care to maintain your humidifier properly (see Health risks of a dirty humidifier), it can do more harm than good. Most humidifiers require regular maintenance, including a thorough cleaning at least once a week. There are exceptions, like our upgrade pick. But be honest with yourself: Are you ready to be a “humidifier parent”? If you know you’re not up for regular cleaning and maintenance, you may end up with a breeding ground for germs.

How we picked

This is the fifth iteration of this guide, so we went into it with considerable knowledge of what makes for a good humidifier, in terms of technology and design.

The truth is, most of the 21 machines we have tested over the years have performed adequately—but we’ve found huge differences in ergonomics, ease of cleaning and filling, quality of construction, and user interface. Because you generally have to interact with a humidifier daily—to refill the tank, sometimes more than once, and then restart and reset it—these factors always weigh heavily in our choice of which machines to pick for testing.

So do owner reviews and other testers’ findings. So as always, this time around we researched popular models on Amazon (paying attention to both positive and negative reviews), consulted AllergyBuyersClub.com, Top Ten Reviews, ConsumerSearch, and Best Buy, and read the comments from our previous guide for feedback and suggestions from our readers.

We focused on portable humidifiers because you can easily add one to any home or apartment and move it around as needed. We restricted our search to models rated to cover between 200 and 700 square feet: The low end of that scale is more than enough coverage for an average bedroom (which is primarily where these machines see use), and the high end is plenty for even the largest open spaces in most homes. Though you can find large console units theoretically capable of humidifying an entire home, the humidity levels will vary considerably with distance from the machine and room to room (even with all the doors open, which isn’t always practical), so we believe having a few, smaller humidifiers is the better option.

We largely limited our search to the two most common types of portable humidifier. They both employ simple, proven, effective mechanisms, and are extremely energy efficient.

Ultrasonic humidifiers use a rapidly vibrating diaphragm to launch microscopic droplets of water into the air, where they quickly evaporate and become water vapor—the source of humidity. These machines are generally very quiet (though they do emit an audible, mechanical hum), and cleaning them is simple, typically a matter of rinsing the tank and wiping down the internals every few days or weekly.

However, because they throw liquid water (not gaseous water vapor) into the air, minerals in the water can settle on surrounding surfaces as a fine white dust as the mist evaporates. Also, ultrasonic humidifiers must stand on top of a dresser, table, or shelf: The droplets need a bit of time to evaporate as they fall downward, or they will puddle on the floor.

Ultrasonic models can also overhumidify the air in a room, to the point that moisture condenses on floors, rugs, and furniture near the machine. And in the long term, overhumidification can promote the growth of mold and mildew in homes. For these reasons, we heavily favored ultrasonic models with built-in humidistats, which shut the machine off when the air reaches the desired humidity.

Lastly, if there’s no water in the tank to absorb the vibrations of the diaphragm, ultrasonic humidifiers can actually break themselves—so we looked only at models that had an auto-off when the tank ran dry.

Evaporative humidifiers use the natural process of evaporation to add moisture to the air. A fan draws air through a wet wick or filter, humidifying it before blowing it back out into the room. This technique has the big advantage of automatically preventing overhumidification: The evaporative process slows as the air gets wetter. That means evaporative humidifiers won’t produce condensation on floors and other surfaces and are unlikely to create conditions that promote mold and mildew.

On top of that, the evaporative process means any minerals in the water supply stay behind on the wick—so there’s no issue of white dust. Mechanically, evaporative humidifiers are robust and virtually failproof: They’re essentially room fans—and they emit the same, soft “white noise” that many people find soothing. Finally, they can operate without causing themselves any damage even if the tank runs dry.

Maintenance of evaporative models, however, is slightly fussier than for ultrasonic designs: The wicks need regular replacing (every one to three months) as they clog with minerals, and because the wet wicks can potentially be a breeding ground for mold and bacteria, you really need to do a thorough cleaning of the tank and internals at least once a week. We favored models that made these tasks easy and inexpensive.

We also considered two other types of humidifier. Warm-mist humidifiers work by heating water into steam. As you might guess, this approach is not terribly energy efficient, and the hot parts may present a burn risk. However, some people like the slight warmth that these models add to the air, so we tested a few popular models. Impeller humidifiers use a rapidly spinning disk to fling water against a diffuser plate that breaks the droplets into fine mist. They are quiet, but like the ultrasonic models they can produce a white dust. The moisture output is low, and the customer ratings we’ve seen on Amazon are so bad that we’ve skipped impeller humidifiers entirely in our testing.

After five iterations of this guide, we have placed 70 different humidifiers on our short list and tested 21. If you’d like to see our test plan in detail, it’s in a lower section called How we tested—that material normally appears at this point in a Wirecutter review, but it’s so extensive in this guide that we moved it after the discussion of our picks.

Our pick: Honeywell HCM-350

Our pick

The Honeywell HCM-350 Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier has been our pick since 2015. It’s affordable, simple, durable, and highly effective—in a real-world test in a dry, steam-heated New York City apartment, it raised the humidity by almost 25 percent, turning in one of the very best performances we measured. But equally important, it’s also extremely easy to live with. It’s compact, and it can sit on the floor or on a table or shelf. It emits no bright light or loud beeps to keep you up at night. And it runs quietly, making only a soft “white noise,” like a room fan. Moreover, it’s the easiest humidifier to clean and fill we’ve ever found—the relevant parts are dishwasher-safe—which is invaluable, since those are the two tasks you’ll be doing most often with any humidifier. Rated for spaces as large as 400 square feet, it’s big enough to humidify almost any bedroom or living room. As of winter 2018, we’ve pitted it against 20 competitors, and at least eight Wirecutter editors have used one long-term in their own homes, and it’s still easily our consensus winner.

The Honeywell HCM-350 performs the most important task of a humidifier—raising the amount of moisture in the air—exceptionally well. In our real-world New York City apartment test, it raised the humidity by 23.5 percent, from an uncomfortably dry 26 percent to a pleasant 49.5 percent. That put it within an insignificant 1.5 points of the very best performer, and right at the EPA’s recommended “sweet spot” of 50 percent (beneficial for skin and respiratory-tract dryness, but below the level that encourages mold and mildew). Moreover, the Honeywell humidified the air quickly, outperforming all our other picks over the first two hours of the test. If you come home to a dry house or apartment, the Honeywell will make it comfortable soon. Encouragingly, these results also accord with the findings of our earlier tests under controlled conditions (see How we tested for details).

The Honeywell stands out for other, equally important reasons. Because it’s an evaporative humidifier, it emits gaseous water vapor, which means there is no risk of it creating puddles on your floor. Evaporation also leaves any minerals in the water behind, so you won’t see a layer of white dust around the machine. (Both of these concerns are a potential issue with ultrasonic humidifiers, including our pick for large spaces, the Levoit LV600HH, because those designs throw a mist of liquid water into the air instead of water vapor.) This means the Honeywell offers maximal options for placement: It can sit on the floor, behind a piece of furniture, or on a table or shelf. Ultrasonic models are more limited, as they have to reside on a table or shelf to allow enough time for the mist to evaporate before it falls onto a surface and makes a puddle. And because the evaporative process slows down the more humid the air gets, the HCM-350 is self-regulating: It can’t overhumidify a room the way ultrasonic models, which continuously pump water into the air, can.

Compared with our runner-up evaporative humidifier, the functionally similar SPT SU-9210, the Honeywell HCM-350 has a number of thoughtful design elements that make it much easier and more pleasant to use. Take the water tank: The Honeywell’s sits flat and stable on its top, allowing for hands-free filling (see the video below). The SPT’s tank rocks and wobbles, so you have to hold it while it fills. And look at the cap on the Honeywell’s tank—that “crossbar” allows you to get a really firm grip when opening or closing it. No other machine we tested has this feature; instead, they offer only ridges around the cap rim that get slippery when wet. (The other cap in our photo belongs to our ultrasonic pick, the Levoit LV600HH. The SPT SU-9210’s is much the same.)

Super-simple controls and a single tiny lightbulb make the Honeywell bedroom friendly. Photo: Michael Hession

The Honeywell HCM-350’s tank sits upright, letting you do other things while it’s filling up at the tap. Photo: Michael Hession

The Honeywell’s tank cap (left) has a crossbar that functions as a grip. It’s easier to open and close than typical caps (such as the Levoit LV600HH cap, right), whose smooth edges are slippery when wet. Photo: Michael Hession

Super-simple controls and a single tiny lightbulb make the Honeywell bedroom friendly. Photo: Michael Hession

The Honeywell HCM-350’s tank sits upright, letting you do other things while it’s filling up at the tap. Photo: Michael Hession

The Honeywell’s controls could not be simpler: It has just a basic toggle like that of a room fan, with off/high/medium/low icons. You can easily adjust the settings even in the dark, which is handy if, as is common, you plan to use a humidifier in the bedroom. The SPT model has four separate buttons for setting fan speed, the humidistat, and the timer, and they’re not backlit, so they’re a bit tricky to use in the dark. They also beep loudly with every push—frustrating in a quiet bedroom or a baby’s nursery. The Honeywell’s toggle is silent. And the SPT’s blue LED display and red power light glow brightly—enough to hinder sleep—and cannot be turned off while the machine is plugged in (not just while it’s on). The Honeywell has a single, small, unobtrusive green bulb to let you know it’s running.

The HCM-350’s ease of cleaning is far better than that of many competitors, beginning with the fact that all the parts that touch water (and are thus liable to accumulate bacterial, algal, or fungal growth) contain no electronics and are completely submersible in water for easy washing. The fill hole of the tank is large enough for almost anyone to reach inside for scrubbing (that’s 6-foot-1 writer Tim Heffernan’s hand in the photo below). And both the tank and the water tray are dishwasher safe (top rack only, no detergent). This is how it should be. Yet the HCM-350 stands in stark contrast to many humidifier models we’ve looked at, which contain electronics in the base and require you to clean them by hand. (Its most similar competitor in our test, the SPT SU-9210, lets you clean the tray, but not the tank, in the dishwasher.)

Cleaning the Honeywell takes only a couple of minutes, thanks to smart design that makes every step easy.

Because evaporative humidifiers use a fan to blow air across the damp wick, they make a small amount of noise—but it’s a neutral, even calming, white noise that few people find objectionable. If you like the sound of a room fan, you’ll be happy with the Honeywell. (Wirecutter designer Orr Shtuhl, who lives in New York City, said, “One thing I personally like is that the two lower settings are very quiet, and the strongest setting is loud enough to be used for white noise—I like to block out street noise at night.”) We measured its sound level on high at 48.9 decibels from a distance of 1 meter; that’s well under the 55 decibels it takes to begin interfering with a typical conversation. The noise drops to a barely noticeable 40.3 decibels if you set the fan speed to medium. That’s comparable to the sound from many ultrasonic models, which are often billed as “silent”—but which do, in fact, produce a mechanical hum that noise-sensitive people may find less pleasant than the white noise of the Honeywell.

Finally, for several Wirecutter editors and writers who own the Honeywell, this model has proven extremely durable over the long term. Mechanically it’s very simple, meaning it has very little inside that can break. And the tank is blow-molded from a single, continuous piece of plastic (like a milk jug). The one-piece design is much less likely to develop leaks over time than the two-piece (or more) fused-plastic designs found on many other models, including two of our other picks, the SPT SU-9210 and Levoit LV600HH, because it doesn’t have any seams that can come apart. It will likely outlast its three-year warranty—which is already generous compared with most models’ one-year warranties—and none of our staffers have ever had a problem with it.

Including the purchase price, the cost of new filters, and the cost of electricity, the Honeywell HCM-350 will set you back about $250 over the course of its three-year expected service life (assuming you’re running it 24 hours a day, six months of the year—you may well run it far less). That’s on the low end of machines we’ve looked at.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

At 1 gallon, the HCM-350’s tank is on the small side; if you run it 24/7, you’ll refill it at least once. Larger tanks can support a full 24 hours of operation.

In a design quirk common to evaporative humidifiers, the bottom tray of the Honeywell doesn’t physically attach to the upper housing, where the fan and tank are located; the latter just rests on the former. If you need to move the unit, you have to reach all the way to the floor and get your fingers under the tray—otherwise you’ll leave it behind.

Replacement filters are a simple drop-in affair. And Honeywell-made filters (versus third-party filters) are impregnated with an antimicrobial finish that, the company claims, virtually eliminates mold and bacteria growth. Regardless, depending on the hardness of your water, Honeywell recommends replacing the filter every one to three months. It’s normal for the filter to turn brown or slimy as the mineral deposits build up, and you can extend the life of the filter by flipping it top to bottom every time you refill the tank or rinse out the base. But once the filter becomes saturated with minerals, the wicking ability is impeded, resulting in a drop-off in humidifying ability (and water consumption). So if you notice that there’s more water left in the tank than you expect when you go to refill it, it’s probably time to replace or clean the filter.

In January 2016 we investigated several complaints from readers about replacement filters for the Honeywell HCM-350. The complaints noted poor fit and stated that the replacements were thinner than the originals, looked different, or did not perform satisfactorily. We spoke at length with a representative of Kaz, the manufacturer of the HCM-350. In addition to answering our questions, the representative sent photographs and a physical sample of the current-issue replacement filter. We also independently ordered a replacement filter from Amazon to be sure we were getting the same model that our readers would. Here’s what we learned:

Kaz, the manufacturer of the Honeywell humidifier, switched from a 1½-inch-thick filter to a ¾-inch-thick filter around 2011. If anyone recently received a humidifier with a 1½-inch-thick filter, it was (very) old stock.

Kaz phased out the outer blue Airwash layer on the ¾-inch filters in 2014. The Airwash filter reduced the humidifiers’ output. Other than this change, the filters are identical.

The replacement filters that Kaz sent us, the replacement we got from Amazon, and the original that we pulled out of our test model were all identical. The replacements we got from Kaz and from Amazon both fit our HCM-350 humidifier perfectly.

Kaz sells the same replacement filter under two different names, the Honeywell Filter A and the Honeywell HAC-504 series; they are identical. (The latest version in the series, updated for increased efficiency, is the HAC-504V1.) Many third-party manufacturers also sell replacement filters that they describe as “HAC-504 compatible,” but Honeywell cannot vouch for these filters’ performance. Our link is to a genuine Honeywell HAC-504V1. Or, to be absolutely certain, you can order directly from the manufacturer.

Long-term test notes

Wirecutter’s Michael Zhao and Kevin Purdy have each used a Honeywell HCM-350 for several winters.

Michael, who lives in a radiator-heated New York City apartment and uses the Honeywell in the bedroom, said, “It’s so easy to clean that I actually clean it. Which is pretty great.” Cleaning is really important—and ease of cleaning is one of our main reasons for recommending the HCM-350. Michael added, “It’s annoying that the fan collects dust, but I’ve found that the protective screen comes off cleanly if you give it a good tug with needle-nose pliers.” That allows him to wipe the fan off (and reinstall the screen) without much fuss. After moving from an apartment with a standard 8-foot ceiling to one with 12-foot ceilings—a big jump in volume though not area, as both rooms are about 150 square feet—Michael noted an apparent drop-off in absolute humidification but also saw that the unit was still effective at reducing the symptoms of dry air, such as waking with a dry throat. Additionally, he owns a cat, and he has found that the wick collects pet hair; a weekly vacuuming (a two-minute job) clears that up.

Kevin and his wife live in a forced-air-heated Victorian house in Buffalo, New York; it gets very dry in the winter, and they also use their Honeywell HCM-350 in the bedroom. Kevin admits to being “an anti-hypochondriac” and “on the far left end of maintenance,” meaning he doesn’t clean his unit with any sense of urgency. He has generally given the Honeywell’s reservoir a scrub with dish soap once a week, and not cleaned the base plate or the filter with any regularity. He also has let water sit in the reservoir for days at a time. He adds: “I have not had anything bad happen to me.” Fine, but honestly, he should follow manufacturer guidelines for any humidifier, or else risk serious illness; in the case of the Honeywell, that maintenance includes a weekly scrub of the tank and tray and a rinsing of the wick. As for the HCM-350’s performance, Kevin said: “It works really well, and it doesn’t look terribly ugly in our bedroom. It hides in a corner and does the job.”

Runner-up: SPT SU-9210

Runner-up

If the Honeywell HCM-350 is out of stock, consider the SPT SU-9210 Digital Evaporative Humidifier, which also performed extremely well in our testing. As an evaporative humidifier, the SU-9210 has the same inherent benefits over ultrasonic models as the HCM-350: a lack of white dust and puddling, and a general inability to overhumidify. And it has a number of features that some people might appreciate and that the Honeywell lacks, including an accurate humidistat and a timer mode. But it’s not nearly as easy to clean as our top pick and has a number of maddening design flaws, which ultimately make it much more difficult to live with. We can recommend it only if the Honeywell is totally unavailable and you need a humidifier immediately.

As far as quantitative testing goes, the SPT model performed very well, scoring (like all our picks) at the top of our real-world tests in a dry, steam-heated New York apartment. When we tested the humidistat’s accuracy, it nailed the 55 percent target (see How we tested for complete test results). Its estimated operating cost of about $200 makes it about $40 cheaper than the Honeywell over the course of three years.

But the SU-9210 provides a significantly worse overall experience. The hand-wash-only tank is made of several plastic pieces fused together, and we worry about it leaking over time. It also tends to tip over while you’re filling it, so you have to stand there holding it steady. The SPT’s display is brightly lit and can never be shut off, making it hard to use in a bedroom or nursery, and it also beeps loudly upon every button push, which compounds the problem.

If the Honeywell HCM-350 is sold out and you need an evaporative humidifier immediately or temporarily, the SPT SU-9210 is an acceptable substitute. For long-term livability, however, the Honeywell is a much better choice.

Upgrade pick: Levoit LV600HH

Upgrade pick

The Levoit LV600HH Hybrid Ultrasonic Humidifier is a beautifully designed, powerful ultrasonic humidifier, and it’s our pick for large spaces (like a living room–dining room) and exceptionally dry homes (wood-heated or forced-air). Its 6-liter/1.5-gallon tank can go for more than 24 hours between refills, meaning fewer trips to the sink (we got 27 hours, on medium, running nonstop, in a steam-heated New York City apartment). Its accurate humidistat maintains the humidity at your desired level. And it’s easy to live with: It’s very quiet, cleaning the tank is simple, and, in a thoughtful touch, the lighted display can be shut off—so it won’t disrupt anyone’s sleep. Among its downsides—as with all ultrasonic humidifiers—it has to stand above the floor to minimize the risk of puddling, and it can create a layer of white dust on surfaces if your water supply contains a lot of minerals. And its base unit is fussier to clean than it needs to be, owing to a design with lots of nooks and crannies. Overall, the Levoit is an exceptional humidifier, but it’s more powerful than most people need, and it’s usually a bit more expensive than our top pick.

The Levoit consistently placed at or near the top in our real-world test in overall humidification (see How we tested), and its humidistat, unlike on many models we have tested, proved accurate, tracking within five points of what the data loggers registered. That means you can set a target humidity and the machine will turn itself on and off to keep the air at that level. That said, we don’t consider a humidistat necessary on every humidifier—evaporative models, like the top-pick Honeywell HCM-350, naturally stabilize the humidity at a comfortable level.

The Levoit’s large tank (1.5 gallons) means the machine can run for a long time between refills—Levoit claims 30-plus hours, and we got 27 hours with the machine running continuously on medium. Our top pick, the Honeywell, with a 1-gallon tank, typically requires at least one refill during a 24-hour period. Combined with the powerful ultrasonic mechanism, this tank capacity makes the Levoit a better choice for very large rooms or very dry homes; generally, wood-heated and forced-air-heated homes are drier than those with steam heat.

We really appreciated a number of design features on the Levoit, such as a tank that lies flat while you’re filling it (letting you do something else in the meantime—a 1.5-gallon tank takes a while to top up). The tank’s fill hole is also large enough that you can reach inside for a thorough cleaning.

It also has a fill hole you can fully reach inside, for ease of cleaning. Photo: Michael Hession

The Levoit’s display can shut off—a thoughtful touch that makes it bedroom and nursery friendly. Video: Michael Hession

Like the Honeywell HCM-350, the Levoit LV600HH has a sit-flat tank that lets you do other tasks while it’s filling. Photo: Michael Hession

It also has a fill hole you can fully reach inside, for ease of cleaning. Photo: Michael Hession

The Levoit’s display can shut off—a thoughtful touch that makes it bedroom and nursery friendly. Video: Michael Hession

Best of all, the Levoit lets you shut off the bright display at night (you hold down the Auto button for a few seconds). That makes it far nicer to use in a bedroom or nursery than most machines (though our top pick is also sleep friendly, with just a tiny, dim bulb indicating that it’s on).

The LV600HH, even among the ultrasonics we’ve tested, is extremely quiet: We measured 35.2 decibels at 1 meter (on low, medium, and high), versus about 40 on other ultrasonic machines. Nevertheless, in a quiet room you can hear it, and like all ultrasonic models it emits a mechanical hum that’s not as restful as the white noise that evaporative humidifiers, like our top pick, produce.

Several of the Levoit’s few drawbacks are common to all ultrasonic humidifiers: It has to sit on a table or shelf, to give the mist time to evaporate before puddling on the floor; hard water can produce a white dust settling on surfaces near the machine; and it can potentially overhumidify a room. (In this regard, we don’t like that the Levoit’s Auto setting targets a humidity of 68 percent—that’s well above the 60 percent threshold for promoting mold and mildew. To be on the safe side, manually set the target humidity to 60 percent or below.)

One downside specific to the Levoit LV600HH is the complex water channel and chimney in the base unit, which both have a number of tight nooks and crannies where gunk can accumulate. Cleaning them isn’t difficult—a small brush really helps—but it’s needlessly fussy. We hope Levoit will emulate the simple, cranny-free design of the Honeywell HCM-350 in future iterations. The Levoit is also usually a bit more expensive up front than the Honeywell, but because it has no parts that need regular replacing, its long-term cost may actually be a bit lower.

But the Levoit’s strengths are many, and in truth it was a contender for our top pick. We stayed with the Honeywell for a few reasons, chief among them that model’s proven durability and exceptionally user-friendly design. Again, at least eight Wirecutter staffers have owned a Honeywell HCM-350, sometimes for years, and we’ve never had one break down. And it’s simply the easiest humidifier we’ve ever found to clean and refill. Compared with many competitors, the Levoit LV600HH earns a solid A- in those respects—but the Honeywell gets an A+. And the Honeywell is powerful enough for most people’s needs, as it’s effective in spaces of up to 400 square feet, far larger than most bedrooms and living rooms.

After three weeks of running the Levoit, guide author Tim Heffernan noted a few more minor flaws. The hum it emitted, though quiet, was readily noticeable if the machine was sitting on a bedside table, and both he and his wife (who can sleep through almost anything) found it distracting. That necessitated placing the humidifier across the room, which meant bringing in a chair to place it on—not ideal in a cramped bedroom. On a day when the natural humidity was relatively high, the Levoit created a damp spot on the floor, because the mist didn’t have enough time to evaporate before it settled. The moisture wasn’t enough to cause damage, but evaporative humidifiers like the Honeywell don’t have this problem at all. The Levoit tank’s cap is slippery and hard to open when wet—which it always is when you pull the tank off the machine to refill it. Using a towel to grip the cap helps, but that’s an extra step; a toothier texture on its rim would eliminate the problem.

One last thing: The Levoit offers a warm-mist function. It works fine, but because warm mist is energy intensive, involves hot parts that can potentially cause a burn (see Some general words of caution), and doesn’t actually humidify any better than other methods, we recommend not using it.

Also great: Venta LW25

Also great

The Venta LW25 Airwasher performed extremely well in our tests and is impressively energy efficient, but it’s worthy of its high price tag only if you are willing to pay a lot more money up front for lower power consumption and less-frequent refills and cleanings. Though your typical humidifier requires thorough cleaning (wiping down all surfaces and descaling with vinegar) at least once a week, Venta recommends simply rinsing the LW25’s wet parts every 10 to 14 days and relying on a proprietary chemical mixture to keep the funk down. A two-week supply (3.5 ounces) is included with the LW25, and the replacement bottle holds 35 ounces, so it’s good for more than four months of use. Additional bottles will run you about $20.

The Venta works by drawing air over a set of slowly rotating disks. It draws just 7 watts on high (about one-sixth of a typical evaporative humidifier like our top pick), yet it’s extremely effective at humidifying, consistently performing at the top in our real-world test. We speculate that this result might be due to the water additives you use with it: quaternary ammonium chlorides (see our section on health risks for more on these) and a “water softening agent,” which increase the wet surface area for improved evaporation, disinfect the water, and reduce mineral buildup. However, despite the machine’s extreme efficiency and big, 2-gallon tank, Venta still recommends that you top it off every day in order to maintain maximum humidifying efficiency—it works best when full.

We were not impressed with its “air washing” abilities. To test whether this machine was comparable to an actual air purifier, we used a laboratory-quality benchtop optical particle counter that measured particles in the 0.5- to 20-micron range to measure airborne-particle concentrations before and after three hours of testing. Background particle concentrations ranged from 65 to 200 particles per cubic centimeter. At the end of the testing period, the Venta lowered the particle concentration from a starting concentration of 180 particles per cubic centimeter to a final concentration of 9, which sounds impressive until you consider that our top pick, the Honeywell HCM-350, which makes no claims of air purification, got the number down to 14 in a similar test. For reference, a HEPA-certified air purifier would bring the number down to virtually zero in less than half an hour.

The Venta LW25 is compact at 12 by 12 by 13 inches and 8.5 pounds, and it’s definitely a better choice than the other air washer we looked at, made by Winix, which cost $20 more, had a more complicated user interface, and used 0.58 gallon per day (nearly three times as much as the Venta). The Winix also used an inferior disk design that required the disks to be inserted only one way; the cover was similarly unidirectional. The Venta’s symmetric design avoids those drawbacks.

Despite its high sticker price and the moderately high cost of the chemicals (about $40 per year), the overall price tag of the Venta LW25 spread out over a three-year operating life is relatively low. At about $425 total (sticker price plus maintenance costs), it’s the second most expensive pick here, but an impossibly low electricity cost of just $15 makes it more affordable than you might expect.

Vicks V750 Warm Mist Humidifier

The Vicks V750 Warm Mist Humidifier performed above average in our fall 2015 testing, raising the humidity levels from 60 to 82.5 percent over a three-hour period. It is clearly built to its budget price, with cheap-feeling plastic and wobbly assembly. But hey, it’s cheap. Compared with its sister model, the Honeywell HWM705B Filter Free Warm Moisture Humidifier, it is slightly more solid, and in our tests the outside got less hot.

The Vicks is compact (10½ by 12½ by 5¼ inches and a feathery 3½ pounds). It has a 1-gallon tank with a comfortable handle and a mixing chamber that draws room air in to mix with the hot steam, so the moisture exiting is warm, not hot. A medicine cup allows you to add medications or essential oils. Operation is simple, via a two-setting switch with an unobtrusive night-light indicating water status: green during operation, and red when it has shut off after emptying the tank. We tested the humidifier on high (1.9 gallons per day), where the 1-gallon tank needs to be refilled every 12 hours. It features an auto shutoff (as do all steam models we tested). One note of concern: We’ve seen several reports of leaks occurring at any time from a couple of weeks to a year after purchase, but those reports constitute less than 10 percent of the reviews. Still, to be safe, you could place the V750 on spacers inside a plastic tub to catch any sudden leaks.

Some general words of caution about warm mist

Warm-mist humidifiers work by heating water until it turns to steam. And that means they have the potential to cause burns—both from the hot water and steam and from the heating element. Because of that risk, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against their use in homes with children. (Note: The Stadler Form Fred, which we tested, was a particularly bad offender in this regard, as its silvery plastic steam tube became extremely hot when the unit was on.)

Warm-mist humidifiers are no better or worse than evaporatives or ultrasonics at humidifying the air. But they do use a lot more energy. True, warm-mist humidifiers slightly heat the room, meaning you could perhaps turn down the thermostat a pinch. The other humidifier types produce a very slight cooling of the air in the room, which you’ll need to heat again (via a furnace or other heating system).

But do warm-mist humidifiers actually offset their energy costs by lowering your heating bill? John Holecek did a calculation in 2015, and the answer is no. Assume the humidifier sees use for three years (for six months each year) and dispenses 4 liters of water per day of use. Assume the home is heated with natural gas. For energy costs, John used his local California rates of 18¢ per kWh for electricity and $1.20 per therm for gas. The efficiency of both the electric humidifier (range 65 to 80 percent) and the gas furnace was set at 80 percent (range 78 to 97 percent).

Warm-mist humidifiers are no better or worse than evaporatives or ultrasonics at humidifying the air.

By figuring out the energy needed to heat the water from room temperature to near boiling (334 joules), and adding the extra energy needed to vaporize it (2,260 joules), we know the total energy (2,594 joules) needed per gram of water. Using these assumptions, if you heat that water with the humidifier, you will spend a whopping $355 in electricity versus just $81 in natural gas to supply the same amount of heat to your air. On top of the other downsides, warm-mist humidifiers are a bum deal.

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uninterruptiblepowerreviews-blog · 6 years ago

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The Best Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for 2019: Reviews by Wirecutter

An uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, is basically a surge protector, a battery, and a power inverter (which turns the battery’s stored energy into usable power) wrapped into one unit. The size of the battery dictates how long it can provide power, while the inverter dictates how much power it can output at any one time—often listed as volt-amps (VA) but more easily discussed as watts (W).

A small, inexpensive UPS is great for anyone that wants their home Wi-Fi and Internet to stay online during shorter power outages or brownouts. Unlike traditional phone service that works without power, Internet and digital phone service requires a broadband modem, which may have only a small battery backup—adding a UPS could provide hours of uptime in case you need to reach emergency services.

Larger UPS units with extra power and features can help keep home offices and workstations running during business hours, or for at least long enough to save work and safely shut down vulnerable equipment. If you have a lot of important data on hard drives in a desktop computer or network-attached storage, you may need a UPS so you can prevent your drives from losing data in the event of a sudden power outage. In some cases, a UPS can provide crucial backup power to home medical equipment like CPAP machines for a limited time.

But powering your home theater for a movie marathon during a storm is going to be less feasible and less affordable. If you need long-term power, the capacity to keep appliances like refrigerators plugged in, or to light up your whole house, off-grid solutions like backup generators or professionally installed battery packs are the way to go.

How we picked and tested

We started by considering 93 models from three leading companies: APC, CyberPower, and Tripp Lite. We’ve tested uninterruptible power supplies and surge protectors from these companies in the past, and all the power-product companies have long histories and reputations as reliable. Since a UPS is designed to be used in an emergency, choosing from a reliable brand is crucial to avoid buyer’s remorse at the worst possible time.

To whittle down such a massive list of candidates, we considered the most important factors that go into a great UPS:

Power management: We insisted that any UPS we tested use line-interactive topology, or automatic voltage regulation (AVR), a more advanced form of power management than that used by less expensive “standby” UPS models. AVR means that when power from a wall outlet briefly dips or surges outside of a specified range, a small transformer in the UPS acts like a buffer to compensate without relying on the battery; the UPS switches to battery power only when the transformer can’t handle the variation. This reduces wear and tear on the battery during frequent brownout conditions, prolonging its overall life and providing more-reliable power to sensitive gear like hard drives. Since AVR is available without a huge price premium, it’s a sensible feature to have to get the most from a UPS in the long term.

A UPS without some type of AVR is generally referred to as a “standby” UPS. That’s because the battery is always on standby, ready to jump in anytime the voltage from the wall outlet fluctuates outside a small predetermined range. A standby UPS is fine for many applications, but the battery inside may need to be replaced sooner, and it may not correct voltage fluctuations as quickly as an AVR model. We dismissed any standby models without testing them.

Battery capacity: Most UPS batteries are small, sealed, lead-acid batteries, not so different from a car battery. That makes them much cheaper than the lithium-based batteries in smartphones and laptops, but it’s also why they’re heavier and store less energy.

Manufacturers often publish run-time ratings that outline how long a UPS can keep various wattages running. Since most ratings are based on ideal conditions, we tested our top candidates at two different loads, 50 W and 300 W, to see how they managed in real-world use. Our 50 W load was meant to simulate powering a cable modem and Wi-Fi router. Our 300 W load is closer to a full workstation, as it adds a modern desktop (around 150 W), a 27-inch monitor (88 W maximum), and network-attached storage hard drives (60 W maximum).

Since the batteries will likely start to hold less energy at the three-year mark (and may hold noticeably less energy after the five years) most models we considered have replaceable batteries to extend the life of the UPS. Prices for name-brand replacements range from $30 to $60, and the process is simple enough for a novice to complete in just a couple minutes.

Power output: While battery capacity and runtime measure how long a UPS can supply power, the power output tells you how much it can power at any one time. Most models explicitly include their output in the name or model number in volt-amperes (VA). The smallest UPS models we found with the AVR feature we require output 650 VA, more than enough to run a modem and Wi-Fi router at home. For an upgrade pick, we looked for models with at least a 1,000 VA rating. VA ratings aren’t common in most people’s lives, but they’re power ratings along the same lines as the more-familiar watts (W). For a quick estimation when shopping, you can assume that a UPS’s wattage rating will be about 60 percent of its volt-amp rating. So a UPS rated for 685 VA can probably handle about 400 W. That’s plenty to keep a cable modem (25 W), Wi-Fi router (30 W), and laptop charger (65 W) up and running for a while.

Outlets: All outlets on a home UPS provide surge protection, limiting the amount of extra voltage that could reach and potentially damage anything plugged into them. But generally only half of the outlets will be connected to the battery backup in case of an outage—and are prominently marked as such. That’s why we focused on models that had at least eight outlets total, since you’ll have only four of them in a power outage. In most home offices, this shouldn’t cause a problem, but it does require some planning in terms of making sure the right things are plugged into the right outlets.

Power Quality: For each model we tested, we looked at the power output using a digital oscilloscope provided by Bitscope. This let us see how well the inverters in each UPS converted the DC energy stored into the battery into the AC power provided by the outlets. Specifically, the oscilloscope let us look at two aspects of power quality: which models introduced the least amount of electrical noise into the line, and how well the modified sine wave inverter in each model imitated the kind of power that comes out of a standard wall outlet. For our upgrade pick, we also required a pure sine wave inverter (see the next item).

Pure sine wave power: A modified sine wave (MSW) inverter turns the DC power stored in the battery into the AC power you need coming out of the outlets. Because MSW inverters are less expensive to make and work well for most devices, they’re the the most common type of inverter used in UPS units (including our top pick). But MSW inverters create only a close approximation of the kind of AC power that comes out of a wall outlet—it’s not quite the same. Most gadgets that charge with a power brick (including smartphones, tablets, and laptops) won’t care much, since the power brick does extra conversion anyway. But anything expecting AC power for moving parts like motors won’t work normally on an MSW inverter, and audio equipment can pick up buzzes of interference from them. And some home medical devices just won’t work with MSW power. In any of those cases, you need pure sine wave (PSW) inverters instead.

Pure sine wave inverters, and the UPS models that use them, replicate the smooth wave of power that comes from a wall outlet powered by a utility company. These inverters are more expensive to make and thus less common when it comes to inexpensive or occasional-use power sources. We’ve come across multiple online discussions discussing how to provide backup power for CPAP machines and whether MSW or PSW were better. We reached out to ResMed, makers of a variety of home respiratory care devices, to find out what they recommend. Amy Cook, the company’s marketing director, told us that many of the company’s newer products have power converters or even lithium-ion battery backups available. But if you plan on using a different power source, “older-generation PAPs (S8 and earlier) that are using modified sine wave inverters cannot power their respective humidifiers.” Given the importance, not to mention cost, of equipment like CPAP machines, we’d recommend you opt for a battery backup made by the same manufacturer, if available. If not, we prefer to stick to PSW inverters—like the one included in our upgrade pick—to avoid any problems.

Extra features: A basic UPS doesn’t need a lot of features to do its job, but other features we considered include status displays that show battery charge and remaining runtime right on the unit and power-management software that lets you monitor and manage a UPS (over USB) from your computer. Neither feature is crucial for a UPS in most homes—the power goes out and you know you have limited network or computer time to do what you need to do. But a status display is a nice-to-have feature that can help calm power anxiety, and power management software that works on any operating system future-proofs changes in your setup so that your UPS can be just as useful years down the line as it is the first day you plug it in.

Every UPS from a reputable brand comes with some basic surge protection built in, which is good because you can’t plug your UPS into a surge protector or plug a surge protector into a UPS. Unfortunately, most affordable UPS units don’t offer much protection compared with a dedicated surge protector. In previous tests, electrical engineer Lee Johnson took apart our UPS samples to examine their guts. Based on his assessment, we found that our picks should protect your equipment about as well, if not for as long, as basic surge protectors we’ve tested before.

Our pick: CyberPower CP685AVR

Our pick

The CyberPower CP685AVR is our first choice for anyone who wants a UPS to keep their home network and modem online during short blackouts. Unlike competitors at similar prices, the CP685AVR can compensate for quick voltage sags and surges without switching to battery, which helps prolong the life of the battery and provide more-reliable power. The four battery-backed outlets can keep basic home networking gear running for about an hour, and all eight outlets have basic surge protection to fit plenty of equipment day to day. No setup is required for the UPS to do its job, but anyone who wants to monitor power consumption or manage shutdown settings can do so over USB with a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer—the closest competitors offer software only for Windows.

Most people are looking for a UPS to solve one of three problems in a blackout: powering a digital-phone modem for contacting emergency services and loved ones, preventing damage to something that needs to be properly shut down, or passing the time until the electricity comes back. The CP685AVR can keep a combination of a common broadband modem and Wi-Fi router (about 50 W) on for about an hour. The runtime decreases if you add devices to the other two battery-backed outlets. Even though power outages have increased in some parts of the US in recent years, they tend not to last too long (PDF), so a basic UPS should get you by in even the most unreliable regions.

When a UPS battery kicks in during a power outage, it offers better value the longer it can last.

The “AVR” in the model name CP685AVR stands for Automatic Voltage Regulation, one of the power-management features we required. Many inexpensive UPS models don’t include this option, leaving out the transformer and instead functioning as “standby” backups that can only switch to battery. Even APC, a leading competitor, doesn’t offer AVR in any models available for a similar price. The closest competitor that does is the Tripp Lite AVR650UM, which we tested our top pick against.

When a UPS battery does kick in during a power outage, it offers better value the longer it can last. When we tested the CP685AVR with a 50 W load meant to mimic the power requirements of a broadband modem and home Wi-Fi router, it lasted 57 minutes before shutting down. The Tripp Lite AVR 650UM managed only 38 minutes in the same test. Given the similar prices, that’s a lot more value packed into the CyberPower model.

The CyberPower CP685AVR and competing Tripp Lite models have similar maximum outputs, 390 W and 325 W, respectively. There are other similarities, too. They’re nearly identical in size, each with eight outlets. Though all eight outlets offer surge protection, only four on either model are backed up by battery power during a blackout. That’s a common arrangement, and the outlets are clearly marked, so you just have to make sure that your most important gear gets plugged into the right outlets.

The pure sine wave from a residential wall outlet.

Modified sine wave inverters, like the one in the CP685AVR, provide power that mostly works the same as power from a wall outlet but looks very different when examined.

The modified sine wave of the Tripp Lite TLAVR650UM.

The pure sine wave from a residential wall outlet.

Modified sine wave inverters, like the one in the CP685AVR, provide power that mostly works the same as power from a wall outlet but looks very different when examined.

None of the keep-your-network-up models we tested, including our top pick, do a particularly great job of imitating pure sine waves with their MSW inverters, though the CyberPower waveform looked closer to what we’ve come to expect when examining many MSW inverters on an oscilloscope. If you think you might fall prey to the side effects of MSW, check out our upgrade pick below, which produces PSW power instead.

There’s no status display on the CP685AVR, but it’s rare to find a UPS in this price range that has one along with the other features we think are crucial, including AVR and a long runtime. The only feedback you’ll get when the power goes out is a double beep every 30 seconds, and a more-continuous alarm when you have less than five minutes of power remaining. But if your UPS is going to live near a computer, you can see more detail by connecting to it via USB and downloading the free CyberPower Power Panel application. You can use this software to see the battery’s charge and the UPS status, monitor power consumption, change the alarm settings, and even customize certain events like having your computer safely shut down automatically when the power goes out. CyberPower, TrippLite, and APC all offer this type of software for Windows computers, but only CyberPower offers a Mac version.

CyberPower’s AVR Series has user reviews dating back almost 10 years. Although we’ve become wary of user-review averages for some product categories, most users have found the CyberPower offering to be a solid UPS, which is about what you’d expect for a utilitarian device. All three companies we considered for this category—CyberPower, APC, and TrippLite—offer a three-year warranty on any UPS.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The CyberPower CP685AVR is a simple UPS that focuses on providing power at a good price, but that means giving up some conveniences. In particular, it has only one button, which turns the unit on or off. That means there’s no way to mute the alarm that chirps when power goes off unless you attach it to a computer and use the free Power Panel application. Without a way to quiet it, the CP685AVR will chirp every 30 seconds when it’s providing power during an outage. It’s annoying, but a common design for basic UPS models like this one.

Runner-up: CyberPower CP800AVR

Runner-up

If our top pick is out of stock and you don’t need (or want to pay for) the extra output or pure sine wave power that sets our upgrade pick apart, get the CyberPower CP800AVR. It’s nearly identical to the CP685AVR, our top pick: It has the same automatic voltage regulation (AVR) power management we like, similar one-hour runtime when powering a modem and router during an outage, and even the same dimensions and design. The only difference is that the CP800AVR can deliver about 15 percent more power at any given moment during a blackout, which isn’t enough to make a huge difference in how you’d use it.

Since the CP800AVR uses the same size battery as our top pick, it’s no surprise that it lasted about as long in our testing. When fully charged, the UPS powered a 50 W load (similar to what you might need to power a broadband modem and Wi-Fi router) for an hour. As you plug in additional power-hungry equipment, that runtime will go down—all the way to just three minutes (PDF) when fully loaded.

For the CP800AVR, a full load is 450 W, compared to 390 W for our top pick. That’s a small difference, especially since ideal setups will only use half that maximum to help maintain battery life in the long run. That brings the 60 W difference down to a real-world difference of just 30 W—less than what most laptop chargers use. If you need more power during an outage, you’re better off with our upgrade pick, which is rated for 600 W and adds additional benefits like pure sine wave power, extra outlets, and a status display.

The CP800AVR shares the same design and outlets (eight, four with battery backup) as our top pick, the CP685AVR. It also similarly lacks a status display to monitor the battery level, but you can use the CyberPower Power Panel application on a Windows, Mac, or Linux PC connected via USB to monitor the UPS and make minor tweaks like silencing the alarm.

The pure sine wave from a residential wall outlet.

The CP800AVR uses a modified sine wave inverter to turn the DC power in the battery to a rough approximation of standard AC power.

The APC BR700G is a modified sine wave inverter as well, though it does a better job at smoothing out its peaks and valleys.

The pure sine wave from a residential wall outlet.

The CP800AVR uses a modified sine wave inverter to turn the DC power in the battery to a rough approximation of standard AC power.

As was the case with all of the more-affordable UPS models, our runner-up uses a modified sine wave inverter that will work fine for most electronics with a power brick—including phone chargers, laptops, routers, and modems—but may cause problems for sensitive electronics like audio gear or home medical equipment. When we showed the waveforms recorded from our two top picks to Lee Johnson, an electrical engineer with whom we frequently collaborate, he noted slight differences in the two and suggested that the CP800AVR may have some sort of extra filter before the outlet. But Johnson agreed that there’s no evidence that the slight difference would have an impact on most devices. If you’re concerned about that, you need a pure sine wave inverter like the one inside our upgrade pick.

Upgrade pick: CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD

Upgrade pick

If you need more power, more outlets, or to power sensitive electronics like audio or home medical equipment in a blackout, the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD is the best choice. It costs around twice the price of our top pick, but it can keep a desktop computer setup running long enough to shut down safely, includes an upgrade to pure sine wave (PSW) power, adds an LCD status display to the front and two more outlets to the back, and has an output roughly 50 percent higher when the power goes out. The battery is roughly the same size as our top pick’s, though, so it won’t last much longer when powering the same devices.

Like our top pick, and any of the pure sine wave models we considered, the CP1000PFCLCD uses automatic voltage regulation (AVR). By putting less wear and tear on the battery, AVR should help to extend the overall life. And when it is time for a replacement, name-brand batteries cost around $35 and take a few minutes to swap in without any tools.

The CP1000PFCLCD is smaller than many workstation UPS units, which means that its battery is smaller than what you get with some competitors and won’t keep you running much longer than our top pick given the same load—a 50 W router and modem combo should last around an hour. And while it can handle a desktop computer, display, and a few accessories, in our tests, it could power a 300 W load for only about eight minutes. That’s enough time to shut down computers and hard drives safely, but definitely not enough to keep you working through a bad storm. (The APC BR1000MS, which sells for a similar price, has a larger battery inside and is rated to last around 50 percent longer than our pick, but an annoying flaw kept us from recommending it.) In contrast, the largest CyberPower UPS in this line is rated for nearly twice the runtime of our pick, but at over $200, we’re not convinced it’s a good value or a necessity for most people. With 300 W of gear plugged in, the larger unit is rated to last only 19 minutes, 10 minutes longer than our pick’s rating. My own survey of popular CPAP machines showed that most use between 30 W and 100 W, depending on the settings. That’s a big range, but a CPAP in the middle of it would likely last around 45 minutes connected to our upgrade pick.

The more gear you have plugged in, the less runtime the battery will provide. The CP1000PFCLCD is rated to put out 600 W at any one time, but we never recommend running a UPS at a full load. Not only do you risk overloading it—causing the UPS to shut down, trip its breaker, or in severe cases damage it—but larger loads will wear out the overall battery life faster. Besides, if you put 600 W of gear on this model, the battery would conk out after just three or four minutes.

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