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Whistle Stopper - Water Distiller, Countertop, White Enamel
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List Price: $159.99
Our Price: $129.00
Your Save: $ 30.99 ( 19% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Megahome
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Health and Beauty
Brand: MegaHome
Color: White
EAN: 0471986196009
Feature: One-year Warrantee
Label: Megahome
Manufacturer: Megahome
Model: MH943
Publisher: Megahome
Studio: Megahome
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Features
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One-year Warrantee
4 gallons per day output.
Safety Shut-Off
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: XLNT Unit - Had 19 months - Owners Try This Longer Life Trick
Comment: This unit is reliable and well made. For the last 18 months it runs nearly 24/7 as I use distilled water for everything. I was concerned about the fan being the weak link - but it has been as reliable as can be so far.
As far as the second weak link - the internal circuit breaker - below is how to get around setting it off every gallon.
It is designed so that it only turns off when it runs out of water and gets hot. I figured the internal breaker may eventually burn out from this. So I looked for a "countdown" timer. You can find these around Christmas - they are designed to turn off your holiday lights after X number of hours.
I found one and set it for 5 hours - it turns the unit off when about 1/2 inch of water is left inside. Much easier to clean when the residue isn't burned onto the bottom and the internal circuit breaker never needs to trip.
This distiller is a great investment - if it broke I would immediately buy another.
I put it in a part of your house that needs some heat - it is essentially a 500 watt heater as the fan dissipates the heat to turn the steam into water. Heats up a cold room quite nicely.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellant Machine . . .
Comment: I set the Distiller up in my bedroom. It is also a white noise generator & helps warm my room when I take nap ! (very relaxing). . .The water tastes great ! I fill it with 1 gallon of tap water but pull the plug when it produces 3/4 gallon of disstilled water. I don't want to risk problems of overheating etc. Try one, you'll like it too. . . . freon . . .
Customer Rating:
Summary: Valuable investment
Comment: I have had this distiller for over 2 years now and it works as good as the day I took it out of the box. I live in an area where the water is very hard - I need to clean the distiller every 2-3 gallons. However, like many others have mentioned - it's a small price to pay to keep all of that gunk out of our bodies.
I bought my distiller for 2 reasons - to have better drinking water for my family and also to reduce the waste of the amount of plastic I was using in buying distilled water from the store. This distiller has worked above and beyond my expectations.
As for the fan - it is about as loud as a floor fan used for cooling. However, I "make" my water at night. The distiller is in the kitchen when it runs. If I try to listen for it, I can hear it. But as soon as I fall asleep - no one would know it is even there...and by morning we have a fresh gallon of water made. I have 3 noisy things in my kitchen - my dishwasher, my laundry washer and dryer - the distiller is by far, the quietest (and my other machines are fairly new "quiet" models).
The only downside, again as others have mentioned, is the on switch is only an on switch. The machine turns itself off when it is done; if you want to turn it off before then, you have to unplug it. I suppose a timer would be nice so that you can have the distiller turn off before all of the water boils off - this would help reduce the need for cleaning. But you can buy a timer at Home Depot and set it to stop at 4 1/2 hours...hmmmm, I have a timer...I am going to try that tonight!
Customer Rating:
Summary: You can use a Glass Ice tea bottle
Comment: I used a 1 Gallon Ice tea Jar and cut out a hole on the top with a hot knife to fit the filter attachment. It does not fit flush against the distiller but its close enough and I use a dish cloth to slightly prop it.
I have been doing it this way for a month at 1 gallon a day so far it works great , no leaks or problems.
Pro: Not noisy at all , water tastes good, a ton of sediment left at
the bottom so I can see its doing its job
Cons: The filter attachment is quite flimsy and it gets quite hot
Customer Rating:
Summary: After 12 Months of Use...
Comment: I have this distiller from a different manufacturer and it includes both "auto shut off" AS WELL AS a built in circuit breaker for close to the same price. Given the high voltage of this appliance, and the high likelihood that you're going to forget to turn it off on occasion... ...not to mention the high likelihood of blowing a fuse (very common with the cheaper distillers and its expensive / time consuming to replace)... I would highly suggest making sure that any distiller that you buy includes auto shut-off and an automatically resetting circuit breaker.
Additional "auto shut off" benefits and considerations:
* You can leave the machine to distill water before you go to bed.
* You can leave the machine to operate prior to leaving for work or before leaving for several hours day.
* You will want "quiet time" when you just don't want to hear this machine running, so the ability to run the machine and then leave is important. I actually plan my water batches around when I know I'm about to leave the house or go to bed.
Extra features aside...
Pro's:
* this distiller makes a gallon of water every several hours.
* the finished water is better than water from the grocery store, because the grocery store water is filled with leeching plastic (the store bought distilled water enters the plastic jugs at a high temp and thus the leeching plastic taste).
* If you need a low cost water distillation option, this general sized model is your best bet.
* distilling tap water is a lot easier than lugging bottles of store bought water... ...water which may or may not be as pure as advertised.
My apt is a 3rd floor walk-up so this appliance is a godsend.
* This distiller will pull the fluoride out of your water.
* I have noticed that after rain storms and on hot weather days... ...the residue and stench left behind after a batch of water increases severalfold. This confirms what I have always suspected... That my city water authority increases the chemical additives of the city water when bacteria growth is more likely. This machine will give you added piece of mind that you're removing most of the toxins that were never meant for regular human consumption.
Con's:
* the distiller can be loud at times. I would place the noise level somewhere between "louder than an electric fan" but "quieter than a window a/c unit." The first several months was LOUD, as in this buzzing noise and my neighbors below could hear it. It's easy to get used to though, and I have noticed that the noise goes down after several months of use.
* the distiller puts out some serious heat which can be good or bad depending on your needs. I find myself turning on the a/c at times because of the heat from the distiller.
* for a single individual or a couple, this distiller CAN be sufficient. But know that if you insist on using distilled water for everything - everything as in coffee, tea, boiling water for cooking, soaking veggies, and then drinking water - you're going to be running a machine of this size constantly. I'm single and I use distilled water for everything, and I drink a lot of water during the day. I run the machine no less than 3-4 times /day. If you're not as neurotic about using distilled water for everything, you'll probably do better than I do.
How the above point translates to a potential "con"...
* constantly rinsing out and refilling the unit can be tedious. You don't need to deep clean the unit each and every time you use it, but you should rinse it with hot water in between batches of water.
* I noticed that my electric bill went up considerably after the first month of use. It's hard to say exactly how this impacted the electric bill because my electric co is deregulating and passing the cost increases onto customers... But this is a 500w-1000w appliance (depending on the model you buy), and if it's running 12-24 hours /day you're naturally going to see an increase. KEEPING THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND, I still find this to be a value in that I know where my water is coming from... ...I'm not going to the store constantly (no pressure to go out when the weather is bad), I'm removing the fluoride out of my water, I'm not paying more for water that contains leeching plastic,
and I'm not having to lug jugs of water up to my 3rd floor apt.
* The plastic bottle is most likely #7 polycarbonate... ...the same plastic at the center of the BPA health concerns that you see all over the news. Further, the freshly distilled water hits the plastic container at a warm temperature. Warm water and BPA plastic is the worst combination and almost always leads to leeching issues.
* My $20 solution? I don't use the plastic bottle at all. Instead, I use a large, round glass bowl from Anchor Hocking ($5 at Wal-Mart). The water drips into the round bowl, and if I want to cover the top I can just use plastic wrap. I then move the finished water one of my several glass sun tea pitchers which I then move to the fridge ($2-$5/each depending on the season). If you want something more stylish, you can find glass containers at Crate & Barrel or even shell out the $100 for the glass bottle. But don't let the BPA water jug stop you from using this appliance.
Additional Considerations:
* the coffee maker cleaner crystals work very well for cleaning the stainless steel tank.
* I use wet cutips to clean the coils on the above half of the unit. A mini-pc vac would be the best way to clean the upper coils.
* Check the measurements of this appliance and compare them to the measurements of your planned location for the unit. The appliance is often larger than most people expect, and it doesn't fit under a lot of people's hanging cabinets (on the counter, under the cabinets). The appliance needs several inches above to ventilate properly.
* If you have small children, you'll want to place this appliance and the cord attached to it well out of reach of children. If the appliance were to tip over the water inside would easily scald adults and children alike.
* Many of the knock-off / no-name brand distillers are not NSF certified, they lack the UL stamp, and their warranties are iffy at best. Many of them are shipped from China, and the instructions are very likely written in bad Engrish (which can be fun if you're in the right mood).
I bought my full featured "Love Model 4" distiller for $150 total, knowing very well that if it breaks I might be out of luck. I highly suggest doing google searches using the words "complaints" and then also the name of the supplier and the model number. That way you know in advance your potential risk. For example, I did a google search on my distiller supplier, and I saw a laundry list of complaints relative to returns and warranty services... ...but at least I knew about the risk in advance, and I hedged the risk accordingly by purchasing my machine on Ebay or Amazon ( for the added seller protections), and I bought it with a credit card that includes built in warranty protections, etc.
I think a good rule of thumb is that a low cost, knock off distiller is a good risk (but use a credit card with a warranty if you can)... But if you're spending $300-$1000 or more, you'll definitely want something with a guaranteed warranty, an actual invoice, and the ability to have the appliance serviced. I plan to buy a large, auto refilling / auto cleaning model when I finish grad school, and knowing that I'll be spending $1000 or more... ...I won't take the chance of buying something without a brand name, a brand name warranty, and low cost service options.
Your homeowners / renters insurance might have a clause requiring you to only operate NSF or UL certified appliances, so keep this in mind as well.
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Editorial Reviews:
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This distiller produces 4 gallons of pure water per day. Manual filling is easy and safe. Included with distiller are all parts and supplies to get started: collection bottle, cords, filters, and residue cleaner. Easy to follow directions.
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