I bought this thing in hopes that it would increase the humidity in my otherwise desert-dry house. It’s worked like a charm. Time will tell whether I will need to hassle with the pad—I have extreme natural chemicals in my well water. The cooler itself is a beautiful example of simplicity in design. You have direct access to the water if you want, or you can hook up a garden hose for continuous refill. So far it has wildly exceeded my expectations. My multi=thousand dollar fancy swamp cooler is sitting idle while this little cooler does its almost silent thing. I suppose that it’s fighting my heating system some, but the effect is pretty small. Color me a happy camper.