AOS 7017 Hydrostick

I bought an Air-O-Swiss humidifier when our first child was born and it got fairly regular use for her first two years. When our second was less than a year old, he had a severe respiratory infection (RSV) that lasted months and needed to have a humidifier running constantly. I noticed that the water was fouling very quickly inside the base of the humidifier. I tried better cleaning and even distilled water, but still wasn't happy with the results. The instructions with the humidifier said to replace the "ionic silver anti-bacterial stick" yearly, but, having seen my fair share of late-night infomercials, I thought that sounded like of marketing B.S. and didn't ever replace it. As a last resort, I decided to give this new one a try and was AMAZED at the difference it made. Instead of cleaning the entire humidifier every week (and being disgusted with how dirty it seemed after that short time), I started cleaning it every 3 weeks or so, and it was STILL cleaner that it used to be after a week! This thing is definitely worth the price!Later I even bought another one to put in the other cheap humidifier that we bought for those few times when both kids need them at the same time. This is an amazing little product!

We have an older Air-O-Swiss disc unit, that had the silver anode, and seems like these humidity guys are worse than US auto makers and just have to make an entirely new design every year. The silver anode is no longer available, so they can cut costs. We like the disc humidifier way better since you can wash the discs in the dishwasher, and no filters get all limey from our hard water. Just cool moist air comes out, and that's all we need, so getting parts like the hydrostick are nice, so we can keep from adding another unit to the landfill.

While I don't know what I would do without my AOS humidifier, I am extremely disappointed in the hydrostick which is a replacement for the silver stick. Not only is it a cheap bit of plastic, I doubt the value. The water used in the humidifier is from a reverse osmosis system but there is constantly residue since using this product, regardless of timely filter changes and regular cleaning. I really need a well functioning system since I live in the desert and have extremely dry eyes. Would be most grateful if you were to go back to the silver stick.

I've used their silver stick for years till they stopped selling it and along came the hydro stick. Now I see on Air O Swiss'es web site, they don't even sell the hydro anymore. Whats going on?! I thought that maybe having silver in water and breathing it caused medical issues. It would be nice if they say why this is going on. I love my Air O Swiss and use steamed distilled water for it. No white dust.

Bought an Air-O-Swiss humidifier based on the high reviews. It's a humidifier. I needed moisture in the dry furnace air so I bought it. Unfortunately it has pieces and parts that need to be replaced from time to time, and for us, sooner than later due to our exceptionally hard water in our area. This little stick is supposed to keep the water fresh and keep that mildew-y smell away. I honestly can't say if it does that. I honestly can't say if it does anything at all, and it isn't cheap. I found another ultrasonic humidifier at Menards for $40 that does NOT have lots of pieces and parts to replace and it works great. I wish I'd bought two of those and passed on the Air-O-Swiss. Not that the Air-O-Swiss doesn't do a good job, it's a nice unit. But if you don't want to have to keep buying more replacement parts, then you should probably pass on this particular humidifier. This stick? Do I really need it? Who knows.

I've had several cool-mist humudifies (sonic) and the problem they've -all- had, is unless I used distilled or filtered water is after a few days they all get this nasty pink/brown algae slime all over it. I've tried using those drop-in silver tank balls (They say it cleans for 30 days, but apparently it says it lasts for 3 tank fills. Which is about 3 gallons for my small-room humidifer, not worth the 6 bucks it costs, since a gallon of distilled water is only 86 cents....) And it never worked anyways.The hydrostick, however, lasted amazing 9 months (unfortunately someone left stagnant water in the unit- and tank in storage which wore out the hydrostick early). Now, I generally I runt he unit with the pre-heater running which apparently also helps inhibit growth, so in conjunction between that and the hydrostick, I've only had to clean the unit (with it running constantly though the winter) maybe twice the entire year (aside from the quick soap and rinse, between scrubbing)

This got a 4 because while I bought it, the manufacturer isn't very good at telling my why I need it and how it's different than the Demineral Granules. I do really like the Air-O-Swiss humidifier and together the components don't produce much if at all white dust and I believe this thing helps.

Silver stick is a good product and easy to place in the humidifier.Although not directly related to this item, I have to say that in my area the water has so much residue that I resorted to using distilled water in my humidifier otherwise (even using the silver stick and the demineralization cartridge and granules) it was nearly impossible to keep the humidifier clean. Once I started using distilled water (together with the silver stick) I don't need to use the demineralization cartridge anymore and the maintenance is practically zero (when refilling water, I usually also open and close the lid with a paper napkin in order to attempt to get the minimum amount possible of hand germs to the lid, as I said anything to avoid cleaning the humidifier).