Honeywell CL201AE 745CFM 454 sq. ft. Indoor Evaporative Air Cooler with Remote Control, Silver

I've never had any issue with the 2 Honeywells I bought 3 years ago. I don't know about the other reviews. But, "if" you look at the 2 photos of Nathan Patton. He has the cooler WAY over filled. The top of the bobber shouldn't be over the top fill line. He has the thing pegged. Go figure!

I bought one of these back in 2017 and I recently bought another one since my older one has started spitting water from mineral build-up over the years plus it is a little beat up from frequent moving around and heavy-duty use. Don't expect this unit to last forever, but we got a great 6 years of very HEAVY use out of it with very few complaints. Buy some good liquid algaecide to keep the tank from growing pond scum. Also, keep 2 or 3 cleaned out milk 1-gallon containers of water chilling in the fridge at all times if you want it to work efficiently. You may even want to buy a small countertop ice maker, so you don't have to buy ice but if you have a silicone baker's pan for mini quick bread loaves, that is the perfect size bar of ice for this machine. Just freeze them up and put them in bags. You want that ice to be harder than the kind you get from a countertop machine these days. We stick with the ice mini-loaves we make in our freezer. 6 to 8 bars really amp up the cooling if you begin with very cold water from the fridge. It takes 3 cold gallons to fill the thing up first time and remember to add the algaecide after the first gallon so the next 2 gallons you pour in the side opening will mix it around well.

Mind you, a window unit AC is always the best option but in my new Condo, we aren't allowed to install them, so I am leaning back on this Honeywell, which has served me so well in the past. Adding ice to the ice compartment in addition to using ice-cold water really helps. We do have central AC, but the building isn't good at maintaining it, so we use this unit a lot. It keeps us comfortable when we need it, but we'd need a second one if the Central AC is still broken come summer.

UPDATE Jan 26th'20223: Our buildings AC has been borked since Thanksgiving and this unit has saved my sanity! I am so glad we bought the new one. I was able to clean up the old one tolerably well, so it doesn't spit water, using one of the CLR formulas, but the new one was already in use. We'll save the old one for a friend in need this summer. If you aren't allowed window units, this might be right for you. Read on.

If you want this Unit to cool the bedroom before sleeping, make sure to aim the back of the machine OUT the door because you cannot create cold without creating some heat, even with an Evaporative Cooler like this one. This machine has kept us tolerably cool even with 3 large southern facing windows. Thermal curtains can only do so much. On days of extreme humidity, the machine will not work as well as it does when the humidity is lower than 50% but by using cold water and ice, it takes the edge off enough that you aren't snapping at your spouse! Be prepared to make your own ice as I described because storebought ice is too expensive to make this Unit a lower cost option. Also, store-bought ice is usually crushed or has hollow centers which makes it melt super-fast. The method I describe above saves you about $8 to 14 a day in ice purchases.

This thing has wheels and can be easily moved from room to room, which is very helpful. Make sure you keep the screens clean. I use a small brass brush such as you would use to clean suede shoes. Just don't brush too hard. Be sure to add the recommended amount of liquid algaecide each time you fill or refill the tank with cold water because otherwise algae will FORM in the tank. That's a very yuck thing to have to clean. Use the Algaecide every time you fill it up and when you aren't using it, drain the water out in the bathtub or shower and let it dry out to prevent algae build up. I needed to give the tank a good clean every other month when I was using it every day and night but once I learned to add the algaecide with every tank-up and every time I added a gallon of water, I only had to clean it twice a season.

Remember, it WILL raise the humidity in the room where you use it. If you are already in a humid environment, this may not be the best choice for you. We are in Los Angeles and so that is not much of a problem. Still, don't use it in a room with fine art on the walls or textile wall hangings made of wool. We did that once and damp wool STINKS. We just moved the wall hanging to another room and stored the art in a humidity-controlled storage unit. It could ruin posters, paper, fine books etc., with constant use. They don't call these things "swamp coolers" for nuthin' LOL.

I don't recommend adding any essential oils or fragrance to the water because this is a MACHINE, and you will never get that stuff out of the working parts. Also, you don't want anything other than the water and/or approved algaecides or hard water build-up preventatives in your tank. Keep it simple. If you want scent, get one of those wax warmers that you can plug in. I've done the candle routine and it stains your ceiling with soot as bad as a fireplace. Wax melts make better sense. Just don't put any fragrance in the tank! It is tempting but ultimately very unwise.

As I mentioned b...

A good product with a factory defect. This item holds max 1 1/2 gallon of water ignore the max & mini displayed on the front because it was wrongly placed & water will pour out from the sides, I only figured this out because my husband is a ac mechanic and noticed this defect. Now I don't have to return.😁

It seems like a good quality unit so far. The dog just lays in front of it and chills. It uses a lot of water, maybe 3 or 4 gallons a day. It is good for the drier air in Colorado and I expect it will help with my power bill. I hope it lasts for years to come. I think it was a good value for the money spent.

I've written several comments about portable evaporative coolers because most of them are junk. They may work mechanically but are just too small to be effective. This is the exception. Its not made exclusively by or for Honeywell. Its been around a long time. I bought my first one at Home Depot about 15 years ago and and it was branded Mastercool, who was the first to make a single inlet cooler with celdek pad. I have since seen at least four more brands on it. This version is almost identical except they added a mode and sleep button and a more visible water level indicator. Like the original, the remote is almost useless unless you're close enough to see the led,s on top of the unit and if you can you can just reach over and use the buttons manually.

Because its effectiness is tied directly to your relative humidity it won't work in most parts of the country and you can't cool even a small room unless its backed up to an open window because it needs a steady supply of new dry air.

They're great if you know when, where and how to use them. Anybody that gave this cooler a bad review didn't.

I just read a bunch of reviews and several complaints about leaking. It CAN'T leak unless it's overfilled. The sight glass is to see the float, not the water level. If you see water in the sight glass you've probably put about a gallon TOO much water in it and water will be gushing out the bottom seam that is actually the TOP of the tank. If you turn it on at that point it will spit water out the louvers.

Also about the media. It is not a filter. It is a special product that absorbs water easily and the honeycomb pattern allows good air flow. It is the evaporation of the water from the pad that does the cooling. The more the better but any solids in the water will be left behind and will cake on the pad and eventually turn it into a brick. I use only soft water in mine and I give it an acid bath with Limeaway or CLR at the end of the season before I put it away. A crusted up pad won't work. You either have to clean it or replace it.

I've been using evaporative coolers for almost 70 years and relied on them exclusively until about 20 years ago so I've learned just about all there is to know about them.