Two failed units - I won't buy another of these

I had my first Honeywell HWM-450 4 Gallon Humidifier for over a year and it worked just fine. I kept the thermostat a little lower but the air seemed just as warm and was far more comfortable. At the end of the season we cleaned and stored our unit. This winter we fired it up again and all was fine for a few weeks then it appears the heating element burned out. Kaz said send it to Memphis with a $10 check and they will replace it in 4-6 weeks! So we figured we would buy another unit and thus have a spare when the first one was returned. We also found the filters at Home Depot. Bought it, set it up and it worked just fine for about 3 weeks. Then the same exact problem - turns on, lights up but no output. FYI the warranty on the newer unit was now 3 years vs the 5 years on the original unit bought in 2005.

So back it goes to Home Depot and now I must search for a reliable unit.