REASONS TO BUY
Easy to clean
Self-regulating evaporative humidifying
REASONS TO AVOID
Requires replacement filters
Filter can get moldy if left unattended for too long
Honeywell HCM-350 Review
This is a good choice if you appreciate the simplicity of evaporative humidifying
Credit: Honeywell
RELATED: The Best Humidifiers of 2024
Our Verdict
With a good balance between performance and price, the Honeywell HCM-350 is a decent choice if you want a valuable appliance designed for a slightly larger bedroom. However, it comes with the caveat of needing a replacement filter every six months, which drives up its long-term operating costs to higher than other premium models in our review of the best humidifiers. So you have to choose between low upfront costs and super easy cleanup or higher upfront costs that are canceled out in the long run but without the super easy clean-up.
Editor's Note: We updated this review for the Honeywell HCM-350 on April 21, 2022, with more information from our in-depth testing process, an unbiased take on value, and direct comparisons to other products that may better suit your needs and budget.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
Humidifying Performance
The Honeywell HCM-350 earned a decent score in our humidifying testing, putting it squarely in the middle of the test lineup. It brought our 150 square foot testing room to 45% humidity in just 34 minutes, almost twice as fast as some other models. It also reached a maximum humidity of 58.9%.
This machine doesn't have a self-regulating humidistat, but it has the advantage of being evaporative rather than sonic. It essentially uses a fan to blow air over a wet sponge. Water will naturally stop evaporating from the sponge once the humidity gets too high, so you don't have to worry about over humidification. However, you need to replace that wet sponge 'filter' every six months to maintain optimum performance and cleanliness.
The HCM-350 uses a fan to blow air over a wet wick. this evaporative style is slightly louder, but also naturally regulates humidification.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Ease of Cleaning
Easy cleaning is where the Honeywell HCM-350 shines. The water tank has a large 3.5-inch opening that makes for easy scrubbing access, and many of the components are dishwasher safe. It is the only model we've encountered that allows you to wash some of the harder-to-clean bits in the dishwasher.
The manual suggests a 15-minute soak in a vinegar solution. It took us a standard 15 minutes to get everything clean, not including the soak. It didn't earn a perfect score because of the filter/wick it uses for evaporative humidifying. If you're not diligent with cleaning and completely drying out the humidifier when it won't be in use, the wick can easily get moldy. If that happens, you just have to buy a new wick for less than $10, as it's nearly impossible to clean.
The HCM-350's base can go into the dishwasher, just make sure you dry out the wick if you're not going to use it for a while.
User Friendliness
The Honeywell HCM-350 felt fairly intuitive and simple to use and earned an above-average score in our user friendliness testing. Its interface is a single knob that adjusts the fan's speed that blows air over the wick.
The water tank is quite large, so you probably won't be able to fill it directly from the sink, but the large 3.5-inch opening makes refilling mess-free. The tank also has a nice handle and is easily removed from the machine.
The Honeywell HCM-350 didn't get a higher user-friendliness score because of a few oddities related to its evaporative humidifying method. First off, it makes more noise than any other models in our humidifiers review. It's not loud and just sounds like a small fan, but if you're looking for something quiet, this isn't the machine for you. We also found that it made a weird clicking noise when set on its highest setting, which was annoying.
The HCM-350's simple controls.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Operating Cost
This is the bane of the Honeywell HCM-350. Its fairly low list price saved it from getting a terrible score, but those replacement filters every six months will add up.
It also uses a fan instead of a sonic agitator, which uses more electricity than many models (0.02kWh per hour, to be exact).
This led to an estimated lifetime cost of $203. This is higher than the estimated lifetime cost of most other models.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Should You Buy the Honeywell HCM-350?
The Honeywell HCM-350 is a good humidifier that can handle medium to large-sized bedrooms and has the advantage of evaporative humidifying that naturally adjusts based on the room's humidity. However, that evaporative style also requires replacement filters, making this model cost more than average in the long term.
What Other Humidifiers Should You Consider?
Perhaps the more apt comparison of the Honeywell HCM-350 is to the award-winning Levoit LV600HH. Though the Levoit costs much more upfront, it is less expensive in the long run. You'll get much better performance if you can justify spending more money now instead of later. But if you're shopping for a full-size humidifier on a tight budget, consider the price point Levoit Classic 200.
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Max Mutter and Steven Tata
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