Read Before Buying a Canopy Humidifier
Something about me is that I will always opt for the product with the most attractive aesthetic. If the branding is clean and minimal, the website is bright and attractive, the product looks like it could be from the future and the Instagram grid is cute, it’s been added to cart.
Another thing about me is that I’m almost always willing to pay more to avoid maintenance and inconvenience, such as regular cleaning. To me, it’s worth it. I want products that do what they say, without me having to think about it.
Alas, this is how I arrived at purchasing the Canopy humidifier. Now, before any purchase, I google “name of product review” and read from various different sources to form an opinion.
The Clean Eating Couple “absolutely loves” the Canopy, calling it “amazing” and “totally worth it.”
The Daily Beast calls the Canopy a literal “godsend”, saying it got rid of facial dryness and dry eyes and boldly claims it’s “definitely worth every penny”.
PureWow rated the Canopy humidifier a 91 out of 100 and called it “one of the best humidifiers on the market.”
After reading those rave reviews, wouldn’t you have purchased the Canopy too? I admit, I didn’t read as many reviews on the Canopy site, or on Sephora’s site, where it’s also sold. I may have been wise to do so as those glowing reviews above leave a lot out.
Before you spend $150 on this much-hyped humidifier, please read the following to make an educated purchasing decision:
canopy is hilariously loud
If you sleep well on airplanes, you’re going to love this. The medium speed was loud enough that I had to ask, “what?” more than usual next to my husband in bed. The highest setting will ensure that a firework can go off outside your window and you’ll sleep right through it.
I don’t mind a white noise situation and I’m able to sleep well with the medium setting. However, with it currently being -1 degree, I’d ideally be running this on the highest setting, but there’s no way I could do so with that level of noise.
It turns itself on like a ghost
Even when I turn it off in the morning, I come back up to the bedroom and it’s mysteriously on again? I don’t want it running in a room I won’t be in until later that evening. The only way I can fully prevent it from running is by unplugging it.
The water tank is small
I don’t have an issue refilling this every night before bed, however, it’s not quite empty in the morning after running at least 8 hours on the medium setting, therefore, how much humidity is even getting added to the air from this small tank?
this humidifier doesn’t humidify enough
In 3 hours, this increased the humidity in our bedroom by a whole 4%, around 1.3% per hour.
The highest humidity we were able to reach was 30%, up from 24%. Did I really pay $150 to increase the already scarily low humidity in our room by 6%? Looks like I did.
I noticed that the humidity reached 31% in our bedroom after a hot shower in the adjoining master bath, so I’d compare the Canopy’s potential to that of steamy shower. Again…for $150.
30% humidity is barely half of the recommended 60% for the 20 degree temps outside.
I’ve seen some reviewers suggest 2 units for a bedroom. If I had 2 of these, running on medium speed, I would honestly be afraid of what I couldn’t hear.
Because the humidifier doesn’t emit mist, but instead, humidified air, it’s like running a fan that outputs cold air. Perfect for Iowa winters.
You can’t return it
If you take nothing else from this review, let it be this. I wish I’d read the Canopy return policy before purchasing from their site. If you open it, use it, and don’t like it, you’re screwed. They state that to return it, “your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unused and in its original packaging.” This return policy tells me that they know damn well it’s a disappointing product that’s getting returned once people try it.
If you still want to throw the dice and try the Canopy, I strongly suggest purchasing from the Sephora website so that you could actually return it. While you’re there, I’d urge you to read those reviews as they are far more objective than what you’re seeing via google search, or even the Canopy website, where they can easily delete negative ones.
zero Customer support
I was very dumb and naive, and instead of buying just one Canopy humidifier, I assumed I’d love it so much that I bought 2. 2! Luckily, I didn’t open one of them. I immediately emailed to request a return label. At the time of writing, 5 days have passed and no response.
I sent them a DM on Instagram. I received no response.
So I left a comment on their latest Instagram post and they deleted it.
I sent another DM, no response.
I’m $300 deep in Canopy humidifiers and I have a sinking feeling I’m never getting it back.
I’m not alone in my lack of response from Canopy if you go to their Instagram and read comments on recent posts, before they delete them.
I’ve since reported Canopy to the Better Business Bureau and filed a dispute with my credit card. I shudder to think the trouble people are having attempting to end a filter subscription, which thank god, I didn’t do.
the bottom line
This isn’t a $150 humidifier. I like the technology and the innovation behind it, but the execution is poor. Even if it worked well, the lack of customer service would be enough to dissuade most from purchasing.
I’m surprised to see that several reputable companies have partnered with Canopy. Laneige, The Skinny Confidential, The Sill. Do you guys know this is a grift?
The Canopy humidifier doesn’t do what it should, how it should, it feels cheap but isn’t and the complete lack of customer service is inexcusable.
UPDATE
On 2/7/23, I filed a dispute with my credit card company. 3 days later, on 2/10/23, someone finally responded to me via email and provided the return label, after nearly 2 weeks.
As of 2/20/23, I was refunded in full for both Canopy humidifiers, despite using one. I believe my return and refund were finally processed due to the credit card dispute. Discover is amazing. I also believe it was processed because I simply would not let up and continued to contact them.
On 2/26/23, a Canopy Director of Customer Experience emailed me in response to this blog post. Her email was apologetic and she wanted to make sure I understood the humidifier’s features that I was frustrated with.
I assured Paige that the customer service was far more concerning than the actual device itself. Granted, if the device itself met or exceeded expectations, I never would have been in the customer service mess to begin with. As I told Paige, I sincerely hope my experience informs their customer service processes and results in improvements for future customers.
NEXT UP
I ended up purchasing this Levoit OasisMist via Amazon because I had 31,850 reviews to read from and Amazon’s return policy can’t be beat.
So far, it’s been whisper quiet, easy to refill, no leaks and I love that I can turn it on or off via an app. You can save a little on the non-app enabled versions too.
I found this article from The Spruce to be super helpful and was encouraged to see several Levoit models featured.
Coli Nartee
02/02/2023 at 10:30 PMSpot On! My daughter had the same experience and said that customer service was literally nil! It sounds like this company is trying to cut their losses by not honoring returns or responding to customer concerns! Shame on them!
Jeannie
04/08/2023 at 9:15 PMThought I was the only one until I decided to look up “does canopy actually humidify”? The air does not feel any different and It feels very dry when I wake up. I don’t know why I spent all this money to have basically the same humidity level 🙄
Ivy Boyd
04/09/2023 at 7:08 PMNot just you, Jeannie! I hope you found this post validating. Thank you for reading!
Micky
02/11/2023 at 7:05 PMAMEN!! You literally just said everything I’ve been thinking in the last couple of months! I bought one a while back for the same reasons as you – low maintenance, convenience. I wondered almost from the beginning what it was actually doing. I couldn’t get mine to turn off either so I’d just unplug it every morning. I’d never had a humidifier before and I thought I should be noticing some effects…nope. I have really dry nasal passages and hoped this humidifier would help – it didn’t. I only use purified water so my filter lasted a long time. So glad I ended up canceling the subscription because of that because it sounds like people are having trouble stopping it. My real issue came after I put a new filter in a couple months ago. Even after running all night, my filter is BONE DRY. It may be damp around the bottom where it sits in water but that’s it. This wasn’t what happened with my first filter. I finally emailed customer service and when they (finally) responded, they didn’t actually address my question. I tried a couple more times to communicate with them & they’ve since stopped responding. What a piece of garbage.
Justin
02/23/2023 at 7:59 PMHi Ivy –
I saw your review and wanted to respond directly – I am a co-founder & CEO of Canopy, and as a team we take these types of reviews very seriously so wanted to pop in here
Firstly: really appreciate you taking a chance on Canopy, and very much disappointed that you had such a bad experience with the product & brand. That is not what we stand for at Canopy! So, please see response below to comment on each of your points:
1) LOUDNESS: Canopy can get relatively loud on its highest setting, but we’ve gotten feedback across the board both loving the low, white noise that Canopy provides to also thinking its too loud. Its been a very mixed bag, so hard to give you a better answer here but you can keep your Canopy on a lower setting to keep the noise down (the lowest fan speed is barely audible).
2) TURNING ON LIKE A GHOST: this is actually a feature! Our patent pending technology called Smart Persistent Airflow (SPA) uses sensors to control the fan speed, so that your Canopy is optimizing the humidity output based on conditions in your room. Additionally, this feature also helps to prevent any moisture from being left somewhere in your Canopy, which is how mold & mildew typically grow in humidifiers. So, the “auto on/off” feature is important for mold prevention.
3) SMALL TANK: we purposefully designed Canopy’s tank to be perfect for up to 500 square feet over a 12-24 hour period. We think the act of re-filling the tank each night as part of your nightly routine is a great bedtime ritual. In certain environments & settings, it can last up to 36 hours too.
4) LOW HUMIDIFICATION: Canopy uses Evaporative Humidification which drives humidification towards Optimal Relative Humidity (40-60%), rather than traditional Ultrasonic Humidification which can drive your environment to >60% (even up to 100% humidity which is not ideal for skin barrier health or overall environmental safety)
5) RETURNING CANOPY: I checked in with our Customer Experience team, and looks like you already returned your Canopy for a 100% refund. Our Return Policy is meant to ensure we can maintain efficient business operations, but glad we were able to work around our policy for your situation.
6) ZERO CUSTOMER SUPPORT: I’m so sorry to hear you had a negative experience with customer support. We are a small business & small team, so we sometimes do have a backlog of customers. We are working on improving this with more support staff and better self-serve options onsite, and definitely appreciate your feedback here.
Our Director of Customer Experience will be reaching out directly via email. We are disappointed you had such a negative experience with the product & brand, but hope our response & followup can help leave a better impression & taste in your mouth. I welcome any further feedback or action we can take to help change your mind about the product & brand: we are a small business, with a team that cares deeply about our customer’s experience, so very much appreciate the opportunity to rectify such a bad experience!
Justin
Canopy CEO
Ivy Boyd
02/26/2023 at 7:31 PMHi Justin. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond. I responded to Paige in Customer Experience via email. As I shared with her, I was far more disappointed in the poor customer service than the device itself. I have updated my review with an update, stating that I was refunded.
Emily
03/10/2023 at 9:56 AMWill the Canopy Humidifier make my room feel like a tropical paradise or just like a damp basement?
Ivy Boyd
03/10/2023 at 9:58 AMIn my experience, neither. It will feel just like it did before the humidifier. I would have taken damp basement honestly.🤣
Elenor
06/02/2023 at 8:38 AMThe Canopy Humidifier seems to be a standout option, with its sleek design and impressive features. Your description of its ability to deliver consistent humidity levels, as well as its quiet operation, makes it an appealing choice for those in need of a reliable humidifier.
Ivy Boyd
06/04/2023 at 6:03 PMNow, I kiiiinda feel like you didn’t read the actual review?
Heather
11/10/2023 at 9:55 AMHilarious. Thanks for the honest review – they are hard to come by these days!
Brandi
11/26/2023 at 6:55 AMDying. Someone missed the point. 😂 Thank you for this article! It’s the most sensible thing I’ve read. You just saved me $150. 🙌🏻
Lauren
11/18/2023 at 9:26 AMI regret the purchase as well. What it comes down to is, it just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. Mine is in a 300 sq ft room and not even getting it close to optimal humidity. My skin is still as dry as ever and it’s not even cold yet here in Southern California!
Anita Sfeir
11/20/2023 at 4:36 AM100% agree with everything.. wish I had read this review before purchasing