Bemis H12-300 Humidifier: Help Save Your Skin (and Plants) this Winter

Mom's little house (well, at about 1600 ft², it's small compared to the Great Formerly White Elephant on the Prairie) has a forced air gas furnace that's essentially a giant dehumidifier. She's too cheap to spring the $1000-plus that a built-in humidifier would cost, so for years she's depended on a clunky old console humidifier that some friends had given her. When that thing gave out at the beginning of the heating season, I helped her find a new - and more modern - unit. The one we picked out is a Bemis H12-300 Whole House Humidifier (built and sold by Essick Air). It's been a success, although not necessarily an unqualified success. Here's the tale of the tape.


The Bemis 12-300 Humidifier is a modern unit, very much so compared to her old one. That model was a "waterwheel" design: it had an expanded foam wick mounted on a rotating drum that ran through a pool of water at the bottom, and a fan to force dry air through the damp wick and out the top. It was noisy, had but one speed, and ran continuously when switched on.

The Bemis 12-300's more modern controls include a four-speed switch (off plus three fan speeds) and a variable humidistat. The humidistat continuously measures relative humidity, automatically switching off the unit when the ambient humidity reaches the current setting. Note, however, that the humidistat dial is marked only with little droplet icons instead of numbers. Besides fan-speed and humidity controls, the humidifier also has an LED light to warn that it's out of water. Instead of a rotating drum arrangement, modern humidifiers from Bemis have a large, box-like arrangement to wick water from the reservoir up to a horizontally-mounted fan at the top.

Filling the old-style humidifier meant filling a bucket (or a saucepan) with water at the sink and schlepping it to the console to dump it in. Mom's new humidifier, though, has a removable water bottle that one fills at the sink and then slips into the console. A clever little spring-loaded valve on the bottom allows water to escape when the bottle is in place but seals the cap (mostly) when you're carrying it. The humidifier has a capacity of five gallons, which equates to two full bottles (the bottle holds 2.5 gallons). The cap is replaceable - at a cost of about three dollars. The bottle has molded handles on both ends, so you can carry it from room to room without dripping water on the floor. A fill hose that slips on the end of your kitchen faucet is included in the box.


Physically, the Bemis 12-300 is a relatively compact, attractive unit. It measures 24" x 13.5" x 22" high, with high-impact plastic construction. The cabinet has a light, oak-grain finish with black accents. Controls are top-mounted beside the output grille, as is access to the (separate) compartment for the water bottle. The unit rests on four casters - assembly required.

Operation is simple: fill it with water, select a humidity setting and a fan speed, and step back to let the box work its magic. When the water level gets too low, the humidifier automatically shuts off and the "Refill" light comes on. The lowest setting on the fan pretty much lives up to the "whisper-quiet" claim, and is excellent for overnight use. On the high setting, it's about as loud as your average kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan.

Essick-Bemis claims that the humidifier can pump twelve gallons of water per day (presumably on the high setting) and humidify a 2500 ft² house. Whether or not the twelve gallons is correct I can't say, but I do know that it'll go through six or seven gallons in twenty-four hours on lower settings with a bone-dry house. The claim of 2500 ft² probably has an asterisk, especially in a house that has a forced-air furnace running. That situation kind of reminds me of the Stephen Wright comedy routine, wherein he asks, "What if you put a humidifier and a dehumidifier in a room and let them fight it out?" Placement of the humidifier is key to success: keep it close to the spaces where you'll spend most of your time and try to keep it away from the furnace's cold-air intake.

The two or three rooms closest to Mom's unit - the master bedroom and the family room where she spends most of her time - have shown a noticeable increase in humidity since the unit's been running. I imagine her houseplants (at least one of which is about as old as I am) are happier, but the back bedrooms are still pretty much what Ms scmrak would call "nose-boulder" territory. Don't expect this thing to humidify a whole house like a central unit that humidifies the air coming out of your furnace, and you'll be OK.


Some things you may want to remember:

• filling the bottle requires that you lift two and a half gallons up to the top of the unit (twenty-two inches off the floor) and slip it into the reservoir. The total weight is about twenty-two pounds, though I guess you don't have to fill it completely.
• It takes two full bottles to completely fill the water reservoir.
• It's a good idea to use a bacteriostat ( a bottle's included in the box when you buy it) in the water supply, and clean and de-scale the reservoir every year.
• Essick-Bemis advises owners to replace the filter/wick every season. Replacement wicks (part number 1045) are a bit pricey, at from fifteen to nineteen dollars depending on the store.
• For best results, follow the company's recommendation for placement - on an inside wall and not near a radiator or heating vent - and follow mine: don't put it near your cold air intake.


Overall: This is a humidifier that does most of what it says it will. The controls are modern and the design's attractive, and filling it is easier than the old waterwheel style humidifiers.