Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The reviews are all over the place on this distiller, but overall they are positive, so for the price point, I decided to give it a go. Background History (skip if you want to get to the nitty gritty) I previously owned the more expensive water distiller (the one that costs over $200 -- using the intials MH from here on out), which I purchased in Dec 2016. At that point in time that distiller came with a two year warranty. I had to get a new base unit in February 2018 because a hole former at the bottom of the unit and water spilled onto the countertop. By Sept 2019 a hole formed in the new base. (Because the new base was only under a one year warranty, I was forced into the market for a new distiller). MH now has a higher grade (commercial) stainless steel base unit on the market for over $300... I contacted the company to ascertain if I could get a discount for the better grade stainless steel in light of my experience with their units...but I never heard back. So my research began. I figured, if I get a good year out of a lower priced unit, then it would be worth my money. I landed on this little beauty ACTUAL REVIEW :-) External Design **** The design is similar to most distillers on the market. The only difference is the motor/fan part of this unit has a handle. This is Uber useful as sometimes the top suctions itself to the base making it difficult to get the top off. Another thing I like is that there's an on button and an off button. I ordered the silver and it is hard to keep clean/smudge free - but that's cosmetic. The outside of the unit does not get super hot to the touch. With the MH distiller, I had to wait half hour to an hour after distilling to remove the top for cleaning. This unit never gets too hot to handle. Internal Design ** Unlike MH water distiller (which has a solid smooth bottom), this water distiller has a channel around the circumference of the unit where water sits after the unit turns off. The raised portion (inner circle created by the channel) where the heating unit is, allows sediment that is left behind to get baked onto the surface. Taste ***** I cannot tell the difference between the water from this unit and that of MH......this coming from a water snob. I love water and I can taste the difference between the different brands. In one week, I've distilled over 12 gallons of water and the consistency of taste is superb. Clean up ** This is where this unit fails over the MH unit. Due to the raised portion inside the water chamber, sediment gets baked onto the surface. I put the unit through two cleaning cycles and is unable to get the baked on sediment to lift. This however, does not effect the taste of the water nor the performance of the unit. Time will tell if this cause problems in the future. The MH unit came clean every cleaning cycle. (see photo of internal sediment left behind after cleaning) Quantity of water **** MH distilles a gallon of water at a time. This distiller produces shy of a gallon. Collection Jar. I cannot give a honest review of the collection Jar, as I am still using the collection Jar from my MH unit. Sound **** One has to consider that this unit contains a fan and motor at the very top.....thus it will produce noise. The amount of noise created by this unit is comparable to that of the MH unit. It doesn't bother me. More like white noise . Cord/cordage ***** There are two cords that comes with this unit. One that goes from the base to the wall outlet. The second one goes from the motor/fan to the base unit. I love, love, love that this unit has a decent length motor cord. If you owned a MH distiller, you'd understand. The MH distiller cord was just the exact length to reach the plug-in. If the motor was not lined up correctly, the fan would not turn on. Literally every time I used the MH distiller, I had to finagle the top to get the fan to start. No finagling with this. Plug in, press start and go!!! Overall, I would definitely recommend this distiller. For the price point, it produces quality water, gallon after gallon. I'm only hoping to get a year out of this unit. If I get more, that that's a plus. If I get less, I'd definitely update this review. Thanks for taking the time to read this review. Happy drinking. *******Update 12/2019****** After using the unit for a couple of months, I just say this is well worth the investment. I'm extremely happy with the distiller and will be purchasing a back up unit. A few things to add to the original post. 1. This unit distills a third quicker than the MH unit, thus I'm able to distill more in less time. 2. I found that using a good quality citric acid is key to a proper cleaning. After running out of the cleaning solution that came with the unit, i started using citric acid (which is what I used to clean my MH distiller). EVERYTHING came up...... including the baked in grit that was stuck to the bottom (after multiple cleaning cycles with the "included" cleaning solution). On the fence about this distiller.....jump off and buy it!!!! Upgrading from a four star to five star review.