Venta LW15 Original Humidifier Black - Filter-Free Evaporative Humidifier for Spaces up to 300 ft²

It has been over 5 years since my original purchase. I now own dozens of these either in my homes or in my laboratories or offices. I use the LW25's in guest rooms or smaller rooms and the LW45 (and now the new 6 series). I have to say the Venta is the best of all humidifiers, on all points. It has the most intelligent and easy disassembly of any humidifier I've owned, making cleaning it a simple breeze. It is quiet on high speed and pumps out a LOT of humidity. Every single component is EASILY replaceable and very inexpensive, direct from Venta Germany (with free shipping). No other humidifier on the market has every single component replaceable. NONE. Something breaks on ANY other humidifier...you must buy a whole new unit. These are pricey for what they offer and has rather simplistic technology... but they ARE effective and very quiet. If I was going to space on a long journey, you would want to take one of these. With the minimal amount of moving parts and components, this has a very low failure rate, and in the rare situation when it might fail, at least you're not at a total loss and can easily replace the failed component. However I have used mine 24/7/365 for over 5 years and JUST this year in 2019 I replaced a single motor in my LW25, for $30 direct from Venta. For me, dust levels around all of my robotic and computer equipment was a major focus of effectiveness. In my laboratories maintaining the precise humidity is critical for the specimens. I had purchased over 23 other humidifiers and none of them compared to the Venta. Some reviews complain about the grime or "white crust" in the humidifier after a few weeks. This is your poor quality hard water mixed with dust that the Venta has collected from cleaning your air. This is not some magical biological production from the Venta. Cmon people, simple science. You do not have to purchase the bacteriostatic agent from Venta (the cleaning fluid) although I recommend it because it is better for the plastic (less chemically abrasive) and reduces the amount of any algae or bacteria in the unit over time. If you are cheap you can always buy a $3 bag of pool shock (Calcium Hypochlorite) and mix half a TSP with 1 gallon of water. The $3 bag should make approximately 3500-4000 gallons, so as long as you store it properly, it will last you a lifetime. Apply 30ml of the Calcium Hypochlorite (pool shock) mixture to your (already filled with clean water) Venta. This will assist in bacterial reduction but it is more chemically abrasive than the Venta fluid. I have used this method in a couple of my laboratory units and this has not damaged them over several years, however if you dose too much of the Calcium Hypochlorite, the area will smell chlorinated like a pool/spa. Keeping the unit from any direct sunlight also helps tremendously in preventing any bacterial buildup. If you choose to not use anything at all, over time you will experience calcification on the inside, the dust being captured by the fans will eventually fall into the water reservoir and eventually the (over time) fishy smell of the algae and bacteria will attract fungus gnats. Real swampy ecosystem without cleaning. Just like any humidifier on the market. Except that this one is easily cleaned...and again, has all replaceable parts. For my home...With 1 LW45 Venta inside a 600sq ft room, there is a large difference in reduction of airborne dust and smells within 15 minutes. Sinuses feel much clearer with humidified air. This means no crusty boogers and a less likelihood of snoring. Specifically during Winter when the heater is running more, the humidity in the house plummets, causing dry nose and dry lips, the Venta units fix that. Simple science people. So for $400 you get cleaner air which is better for your skin and lungs and no crusty boogers or snoring from your spouse. I'd say that's $400 well spent. Only wish I'd have purchased the white one.

After encapsulating our crawlspace (to deal with radon, mold issues in the crawlspace), our house's humidity in the winter plunged from an average of 60% to 23% and dropping (we have instrumented the house for years, so we know this is exactly due to the encapsulation). The encapsulation solved the radon issue, cut our HVAC costs by 10-15%, but humidity of 23% is way, way too low and causing issues. After a bunch of research, settled on Venta both for the low noise, but also the alleged low power usage. We put a single unit in our 2680ft2 house, run it 16 hours/day on medium, and it keeps the house at 33% RH, which is fine for us. If we wanted it higher, we could run the unit longer, set the fan higher, or get a second unit, but 33% is in our happy zone. We have the on/off timing set via a home automation on/off wall plug, which happens to also measure power draw. The power usage: with the fan set on #2 (medium), is a measly 2.8W. Yes, you read that right: 2.8W. That's even less than an LED lightbulb. Crazy low. So if you want to increase humidity, AND not pay a fortune in electricity, nothing else I've heard of comes even close. Bonus cost savings is that we just dump tap water into it, and after two months, at least in our area, there is no scale buildup or anything funky going on.

I tried very hard to like this given the cost and assertions made by the company about humidification and air purification. When this arrived 5 months ago and I opened up the packaging my immediate thought was seriously this cost this much?! I honestly have no idea how this is so expensive, but that's neither here nor there. I bought it lets hope it works. After the first night the water was indeed cloudy so clearly it was pulling in dust from the air that was getting filtered out so that's a positive. Unfortunately that's the only one. The container and the cylinder quickly become covered in a clear and orange slime after just a couple days use. I changed the water daily and would spend about 30 minutes each day cleaning the container (water reservoir) which is easy and the cylinder which is impossible. I would take the shower wand and put it on a jet setting using scalding hot water to blast away what was an endless supply of gunk every single day. Now if you want to go ahead and use the chemicals to clean this apparently it is pretty effective and virtually eliminates my complaint. However, when you read the warning label on the additive it states "Eye and Skin Irritant. Harmful if swallowed. Do not induce vomiting. Seek medical attention". Call me crazy, but the thought of taking something with this warning, pouring it into the airwasher and vaporizing it in a room where we sleep isn't something that I'm willing to do. It got to the point where I was pretty frustrated with this and I contacted the seller regarding a return. I was within the return window, but hadn't kept the packaging so I was told that there would be a 20% restocking fee for taking this back. I already spent 300 dollars on what turned out to be an oversized petri dish. I wasn't willing to spend 60 dollars just to get if off of my hands and get what ultimately ends up being a partial refund. So with that being the case, I wasn't willing to give up just yet. I continued to wash this on a daily basis only to see that the inner areas of the cylinder were getting more orange in color and an odor start to develop. I tried different ways to clean including vinegar and citric acid treatments (which doesn't thrill me either) which did help some, but over time it was slowly building up and just getting worse. From what I have been able to research, the chemical additive appears to be the only thing that seems to work, but again for me that just isn't an option. 5 months later I am finally waiving the white flag. Over the course of the past couple of weeks we have been waking up with soar throats and have had bad congestion. I pulled the plug and replaced it with a Honeywell HCM350B Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier. Haven't had these issues since. Coincidence? I don't think so. As far as the Honeywell, so far so good. Granted it has a filter that needs to be replaced from time to time, but it's a small price to pay for performance and health. The nicest thing about it is how easily it comes apart and it couldn't be easier to clean (including the water reservoir where you can reach inside and clean it... every other humidifier I have ever owned with a separate removable water reservoir didn't have an opening large enough to do this). Bottom line is if you don't mind using additives in your humidifier then maybe this is as great as it's billing. For anyone that isn't comfortable with using additives riddled with warning labels then I'd recommend you look elsewhere

Great Product. Terrible customer service. I have two of these. The power cord on the unit started to crack after about a year, redering it inoperable. I have contacted the company, with no response. Trying to get someone on the phone is impossible. Their chat said that the power cord is covered by the warranty, but I have to call and can't get through to anyone. I have filled out their contact form and sent emails but, so far, to no avail. Very pleased with the unit, and it does what it is supposed to but, if something goes wrong, dont' expect a quick response or resolution.

BEST!! Humidifier. (I encourage you to read please) no Humidifier will keep 50% humidity at day 1 2 3 4 UNLESS you already have 40%. lets start off with the "downside".... it can take days or weeks to catch up with Humidifying the room. If you have wood, furniture (maybe even the walls are wood) and already low humidity, it has to also humidify your house/room, your furniture, before it can keep water in the air. (this is actually just how nature works no downsides!) the unit is extremely easy to clean. it comes apart into 4 parts, the bottom, the drum (filter) the fan/motor, the top. CONSISTENCY means YOU ABSOLUTELY can leave it ON all day, it will stay at around 50% on its own. uses almost no electricity. you use your own tap water! it holds about 2.5 or 3 gallons. it doesn't care if you have hard water. but you must buy the VENTA ADDITIVE solution. no water = auto shut off = no worries. The only reason this would get a bad review is, they didn't do research, they skipped school, they didn't have patience. you absolutely CAN use warm water to jump start your room/area it's just not necessary. If its bright, get electrical tape. tape over the lights. Brightness =gone. if it's hard to clean, they probably didnt take it completely apart, never cleaned it for months, never bought the additive, etc. You do not need to clean it every day. maybe every 2 weeks. it helps tremendously with breathing. i had nasal surgery. this is a life savor. easy. very little maintenance. very simple design. light weight (without water obviously) I don't think it gets any more simple.

I have been using humidifiers for over 60 years. I have a medical condition -- if I don't use humidifiers I get infections. It's that simple. So I use them faithfully. Over all these years, I have tried every kind of humidifier there is. The reality is that any machine that uses water the way a humidifier does takes some upkeep. When we had a house, we had a furnace humidifier -- the best money could buy. It was ineffective. So now I just rely on the Ventas. I prefer the smaller size as they are easier to handle overall. For about 1400-1500 square feet, I now have 5, though most folks could do with fewer I think. But the Venta air washers I have (started using in 2007) have been by far and away the best humidifiers and the easiest to maintain. They are clean, quiet, don't create mold or white dust, keep and your inside air much healthier. I have not been using them in the summer and the difference in the dirt on my furnace filter when I do not use them is significant. I rinse them out every 2 weeks and use the water additive. My thanks to the other Amazon reviewer who pointed out that the LW14 and 15 require only 1.75oz of additive -- not the 3.5 oz marked on the additive bottle. Once or twice a year, I clean them more thoroughly, first running them for a couple of hours with a mix of 3 cups white vinegar and 10 cups water. I take the fan out and clean the blades and clean the rest as best I can. There have been times I need to send them in for repair -- usually that loud squeaky noise they sometimes make. I suspect if you are handy you could fix them yourselves. In short, I highly recommend them. No humidifier is perfect, but these Ventas are absolutely the best I've found in 60+ years. Update: February 2018. I had been getting bad spring/summer colds each year so in 2017, I kept the Venta in my bedroom going all year, rather than just the winter months. No colds, no infections. These really work!

I'm still not sure what to think about this thing after using it for about a year. Does it humidify? It's questionable, maybe more like maintains the humidity levels from dropping too fast. Why do I say this? Because I don't see the humidity levels drop or spike when I'm not using or using the unit. I have a pretty fast reacting hygrometer which detects the changes in 30 minutes max. Does it clean air? For sure it does, simply because the water in the tub gets dirty. But how big of a radius does it really affect? I'm not sure, I have no proof either way. My nose never said "ohhhh this air feels so great" when I would walk inside the room where it's used. But I keep using it, in good part because it's so universally praised, and I paid for it. I had mine for close to a year. First few months you could keep it in the bedroom where we sleep. But then it developed this clickity/clackety noise, stuttering clicking sound. That made it not bedroom quiet. I tinkered with it a lot, read tips from Venta themselves, and various advice on the internet and this collection of reviews. It's successful for a few hours but the clicking always returns. So during day it's in our bedroom and during night in the living room. Usually on #2 setting. So while it's humidifying and air cleaning properties are just my subjective opinions, this noise is definitely a disappointment. My first big gripe is how Venta marketing makes you think it's low maintenance. OK how, compared to other humidifiers I guess? Still, how? It takes same amount of work adding water daily and cleaning if not more. My warm mist humidifier I'd add water daily and clean it once a season to get rid of calcium deposit. Venta takes adding water daily, cleaning every couple of weeks, and at least once a season I disassemble it to clean the fan housing. And the basic cleaning is not that quick either. You have to clean both the plastic cylinder and the tub. Depending on how dirty the air was, the tub needs to be rinsed or scrubbed. The cylinder is the worst part. I would soak it in vinegar and then run it under water from the shower with a very strong jet stream and the slimy gunk would fall off it the plastic cylinder for half hour. A lot of it. The cylinder would be completely coated with it. Well that was before I started using the water additive. Then I decided to give this additive a try. It works! For cleaning part at least, someone here noted how it became much more effective as a humidifier as they start using water additive. I haven't noticed a difference. At least nothing that would make me say "wow it's so much better now!" But with cleaning it helps big time. After a couple of weeks the plastic cylinder has barely any of that slimy gunky stuff. OK so that became quick and easy. But there's added cost. And you're dumping the additive to the water stream. I'm not a chemist but is this really that eco-friendly as other blurb of their marketing makes you think? Then there is a slight deception from Venta. Or maybe an honest mistake? When you buy a bottle of additive it gives a standard measure of 3.5oz per application. OK. But then I remembered, when I bought this thing it came with a sample. Well what do you know? On the sample bottle it says LW15-25 is using 1.75oz and LW45 is using 3.5oz. Does this bit of info exist of the 35oz bottle? Nah-ahh. Just says "One dose of Water Treatment Additive is 3.5 fl oz equal to one black marking on the left hand side of the label" Mistake or tricking the consumer to spend twice as much $ as they need? On the Venta site it says: 11 reasons people insist on Venta Airwashers Can never over-humidify: true but in a sarcastic-ironic way, not in a way "we'll bring a humidity where it should be but too much of it" No filters no trash: true but you're dumping water additive to back to the water supply Hygiene no more germs: I got sick twice this season while in the last ten years I either get sick once of not at all, but it's hard to be objective on this. Low maintenance: compared to my warm mist humidifier totally false as I mentioned in my review above Use very little power: true but is there any benefit compared to every other humidifier of similar capacity? So if you're doing the same job as every other guy how is that the advantage for you that you decide to market yourself with? Eco-friendly: same as No filters, no thrash line, you're dumping water additive back to the water supply stream, how is that Eco-friendly? Extremely simple to use: true but same can be said of just about every humidifier, OK this is getting repetitive. Very simple to clean: false, in my opinion, you have to clean the tub, the plastic cylinder and occasionally the fan housing Easy to fill with water: true...whatever Made in Germany: true and it's nice to see Germans keep their manufacturing in their country, the downside is the price at least 5 times and probably more of the humidifier of similar capacity Premium quality: true but just because I don't wanna come across as a nit picky thrasher of the Venta Airwasher, on the other hand what's so premium about it? It's plastic and none of it has a Rolls Royce feeling. It's impressively designed and put together but we're accustomed to see that from Germans, I mean they are truly the kings of industrial design. So there you have it, I hope I didn't just completely waste a couple of hours of my life and someone will actually read this. Cheers

I've had the Venta LW25 for about 2.5 years now. It has been trouble free and works well humidifying the air and cleaning the air. You need to add the Venta water treatment, once every two weeks when you clean the unit. I simply "rinse" it out and use a paper towel or cloth to wipe it out. Once a season I use the Venta cleaner. It is a bit tough to remove mineral deposits, but otherwise it is very easy to fill, use, rinse. When you clean it after two weeks you can see the sludge in the bottom of the tank of debris it has pulled out of the air. For my house, which is forced hot air, a full tank usually lasts 40-48 hours unless it is extremely cold, then it lasts 24-36 hours. (other types noted below, even with larger tanks would be a max of 24 hours). We usually leave ours on the medium fan speed and it is a nice background noise. If it is really cold or if the unit ran out of water for a while, we use the high speed which still isn't too bad. I've used boiling water (dangerous & energy hog), cold air filter types (filters grow mold in a matter of weeks), and ultrasonic for years. I've been using various types of humidifiers for years (20-30 years) due to sinus and/or winter allergies. If I don't use a humidifier in winter, I also get bloody noses, which I haven't had since I've been using this unit, so that is a good sign that it is humidifying the air. I got tired of trying to clean the boiling water types and the energy bills. Looking at the cold air filter type, It can't be good to spread mold around the house and cleaning it was also troublesome and replacement filters are costly regardless of the brand. As for ultrasonic, they worked the best of the other three BUT they ruined several pieces of furniture and some wood flooring from their "white dust" mineral laden output. Granted the water in my area is mineral laden but I can't do much about that. I also found it to be a pain to clean it weekly, very tough to get into all the nooks in cranny's of the brands I've had. Of the three styles, I liked the Ultrasonic the most, but I can't live with the damage they have done. As for the Venta - it is much easier to refill, I use a pitcher, easier to clean than any of the other styles, and I have to fill it less often because the tank holds more water. Unlike other types, it automatically shuts off when it is out of water. YES it is more expensive than a lot of other humidifiers on the market, but in the end both my wife and I are very happy with the unit. Also, worth considering is there are no filters to replace, so if you do the calculations over a few seasons, the VENTA starts to look pretty competitive. You need to purchase the water treatment, which a bottle lasts most of the season, and the cleaner solution for use once or twice a season. For a season, these both cost less than one set of filters which typically last 2-4 weeks. The cold air filter type humidifiers are kinda like the Razor blade business, they often give a away or sell the handles cheaply, but they get you with the replacement heads (filters). All in all a great unit. Good size water tank for extended use, no filters to replace, comparably easy to clean. Obviously I'm a fan of the VENTA 25 units. I recently purchased the larger VENTA 45 for the living room!

I really need this product. It has been bought from Germany and sent via the US which is the only way I can do this. I am really unhappy that it isn't working. It had very good reviews and is exactly what I am looking for.

Great hunidification, the air cleaning works amazing as the water is definately getting very dirty, and the reservoir size is good as it last a one full day. Living in Canada in Kelowna in winter, which is dry. Took the humidity of a 900 square foot space from 21% to 42% in about 4 weeks. The surrounding area takes time to absorb and humidify so it does take time to get to the specified humidity but it does work very well. Great product!

Buscando humidificadores, la mejor experiencia me la ha dado Venta. He tenido dos; uno que dejo de funcionar poco más de diez años, después de 12 años de uso y el que lo reemplazó, ahora ya con 10 años de servicio. Este es ahora el tercero, más pequeño para mi oficina. En pocas horas logró aumentar la humedad para hacerla más confortable.

The Venta LW45 I received has a defective power adapter cord. The fan cycles on and off about every half second which causes the fan turn in a slow jerky motion. The blue power light and numeric speed indicator also flash intermittently. Pressing the speed button doesn’t change anything and pressing the power button won’t shut off the unit. Fortunately, I also have a smaller Venta unit (LW25) that works well. I swapped fans and the problem persisted, so then I swapped the power adapter cord and the problem disappeared -- the LW45 worked perfectly. It appears that a defective power adapter was cycling the power which caused the jerky fan operation. If the vendor quickly sends me a replacement power adapter that works, I will revise my rating. Dec. 29, 2018 Update: After contacting Venta Customer Service, a replacement power adapter was promptly shipped to me via FedEx. This power adapter worked properly and now my Venta LW45 works as it should. It runs quietly and provides the needed humidification to prevent itchy dry skin and static shock during our cold dry winters in Western Canada.

I deeply regret purchasing the Venta Humidifier Air Washer from this seller. It was marketed as a high-quality, long-lasting product—a worthwhile investment. However, it failed completely in less than a month of use. What’s worse? The seller outright ignored my requests for help. Despite being only slightly beyond the 30-day return window, they refused to address the issue, leaving me with an expensive, non-functional product. No repairs, no exchange, no refund—just silence. This level of negligence is unacceptable. If you value your money and expect even basic customer service, avoid this seller at all costs. I will escalate this further until they provide a resolution. Buyers, beware: you are on your own once they have your money.