VicTsing 2L Cool Mist Review

The VicTsing 2L Cool Mistflls the niche of humidifying a small bedroom all night at a reasonable price quite well, but the Honeywell HUL520B fills that niche even better.

Performance Comparison

The VicTsing 2L Cool Mist's small size makes it less powerful than many other humidifiers, but it runs economically and is fairly easy to use and clean. This combination earned it a fairly good overall score when our tests were said and done.

Humidifying Performance

The VicTsing 2L Cool Mist was one of the weakest humidifiers we tested, relegating its usefulness mostly to smaller rooms. In our test it took the Cool Mist 2 hours and 35 minutes to our testing room from the low 30's to an ideal 45% humidity. This is something the slightly less expensive Honeywell HUL520B was able to accomplish in just 2 hours.

After we let the Cool Mist run for 3 hours it was able to almost catch up with the HUL520B, as Both of these machines pushed the testing room to a maximum humidity of 46% and 47%, respectively.

Another competitor of the Cool Mist, the $50 TaoTronics TT-AH002, hit 45% humidity after just after only 1 hour, and reached a maximum humidity of 59%. If you ask us, that's a lot more performance for just $10 more.

Ease of Cleaning

If you treat the Cool Mist's cleaning the way you would a normal humidifier, by doing a vinegar and water soak, followed by some rinsing and some scrubbing if need be, it is fairly easy to clean. The vinegar soak will clear up most of the mineral buildup, and the water tank has a reasonably large, 3.25" opening that allows you to get a brush inside if you do need to do some scrubbing. We did find that there were some areas where mold could buildup if given a chance, but we were able to get at those areas with a bottle brush when that occured. However, there is one big catch.

The Cool Mist's manual bosts that it is an anti-bacterial machine that keeps the water within the tank clean, and does not provide any specific instructions for a vinegar soak or something of the like. We found that the machine did start to show signs of mold after about a week of use without cleaning, so if you bought into the anti-bacterial claims you might be letting mold grow in the humidifier. This doesn't exactly make it harder to clean, but we docked its cleaning score for this as we feel the manual encourages lackluster cleaning practices that could lead to a big cleaning task later on (not to mention the dangers of dispersing mold in your home).

User Friendliness

The Cool Mist is fairly easy to use, but does lack some advanced features that can make the experience a bit better. It checks all the boxes, with a simple, single knob control, a large water tank opening for easy filling, a handle on that tank for easy transport, and an auto-off feature for when the tack runs out of water. What it lacks are bells and whistles like a remote control, the ability to set an off timer, and a humidistat that reacts to the ambient humidity in the room. However, these are all features that generally aren't offered on humidifiers in this price range. For those features you'll have to upgrade to something like the $120 Levoit LV600HH.

Operating Cost

Thanks to a low list price of $40 (and it often sells for less), economical use of electricity, and the absence of any filters or sponges that must be replaced, the Cool Mist costs very little to own and operate. In our tests it used just 0.01 kWh per hour of electricity, equating to an electricity cost of only $5.26 per year (assuming the national average for electricity costs and 12 hours/day of use). That equates to an estimated lifetime cost of just $66 for 5 years of use. This is quite cheap, but notably does fall a bit short of the $56 estimated lifetime cost of the slightly better performing Honeywell HUL520B. The significantly more powerful TaoTronics TT-AH001 also isn't too far off at $89.

Value

While the $40 VicTsing 2L Cool Mist is an economical and effective choice for those that need to humidify a small room, the $30 Honeywell HUL520B does a slightly better job at a slightly lower price, making it a better value overall.

Conclusion