Govee Smart Humidifier and Smart Thermo-Hygrometer Review

[Ljutic]

There seemed to be some interest in this so I'll document my feelings/findings as I work with this.

https://i.postimg.cc/mkYK0YXG/51-Sp-Me0t-IHL-AC-SL1000-1.jpg

Specifics:
Humidifier model H7141
Hygro model H5075
Link to bundle item purchased at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Humidifier-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Temperature/dp/B09KH3Z52W


I picked this up as a two item bundle from Amazon several weeks ago. It's a really good value as a bundle. I've got many H5075 hygrometers here and really like them. I really didn't another, but the bundle discounts the hygro down to $4 from $12. Delivered July 9th. The humidifier reeked of plastic and container shipping so it's been unboxed and breathing for a few weeks to let it air. I'm probably going to miss the return window on this if it needs to go back, but it was too stinky to work with when delivered. Supposedly, a person can link these two items together and have the Hygro trigger the humidifier off and on at specific set points. I'll be testing that.

First up was a multi-day hygro calibration. It turned out to be one of the most accurate out of the box H5075s I've had. At the end of calibration I pushed the humidity down half a percent. It now reads 75.5% instead of 76%. I've had H5075s that needed 2 or 3 percent down adjustments so this one was really pretty accurate. Of note, I've never had a Govee hygrometer read too low. Every single one has read too high out of the box. This includes other Govee hygrometers of different models. At least it's a know bias.

Before someone asks, I do my own multi point calibrations. I usually start at 75% and will retest using 69%. My humidity source is always a new Boveda 60 gram pack that hasn't been recharged or messed with in any other way. My humidity control chamber is a no longer used Sherman travel humidor.

https://i.postimg.cc/j230RHkP/IMG-5947.png


That's it for part one. Once I get the humidifier wet and running, I'll post part two with how well the two components work together.

[Ljutic]

Another day passes and I've finished my second point calibration with a 69% Boveda pack that runs about 1% high. For the second point calibration, I'm fine with a value around 70% if the hygrometer was originally calibrated for 75% using a multi-day calibration. In the photo you can see where I stopped the 75% and started the 69%. The hygrometer leveled out at 70.1% after about 26 hours. So far so good on the hygrometer. I'll start working with the humidifier tomorrow.

https://i.postimg.cc/3Rd85cmQ/IMG-5950.png

[Ljutic]

While this really wasn't on the agenda for today, I believe my return period ends on 8/8/2022. If I had an out of box failure, I thought I should at least take advantage of that.

I thought it would be a little more complicated to pair the humidifier and hygrometer, but Govee has built in set up instructions as you pair the two components together that fills in the information gaps in their included documentation. One bad thing about Govee is they seem to scatter their information across multiple locations. The hardcopy manual doesn't have all the instructions that you discover within their app. Also, there is additional information on the Govee website that may, or may not, match what's included in the hard copy manual. In the end it was pretty easy to get things set up. We have our AC running down stairs so every time it kicks on it drops the humidity by 3 to 4%. It should be enough to cycle the humidifier on and off with my target humidity of 50%. We'll see how it goes.


https://i.postimg.cc/QC4t4yMP/IMG-5958.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/PxMNZxnd/IMG-5957.png

https://i.postimg.cc/SNGj9x8Z/IMG-5959.png

[Ljutic]

I've been playing with the Govee off and on all afternoon and I'm ready to sign off on it. It's working great once you figure out the poorly documented stuff. One really notable difference between this humidifier type versus evaporative with a fan and wick is how quietly it runs. I almost forgot to include this in the evaluation.

I kept playing with the settings and getting it all dialed in. This is a typical run cycle.

Photo 1: With a max humidity set point of 49%, the humidifier is off when humidity reads 50%.
https://i.postimg.cc/jdMkCy8Z/IMG-5960.png

Photo 2: After reaching -3% from your max set point (your minimum humidity trigger) the unit comes to life and starts making vapor.
https://i.postimg.cc/tRtcQKF0/IMG-5961.png

Photo 3: Upon reaching target humidity of 49%, the unit shuts off.
https://i.postimg.cc/HsYhp6tr/IMG-5962.png

Two crucial discoveries made during this afternoon that were not covered by Govee in their documentation. The biggest was the humidifier must be turned on when setting your max humidity target. You need to let the hygrometer reach the max humidity target and systemically shut down the humidifier. This leaves the humidifier in a stand by status. If you manually turn off the humidifier, it won't be triggered by the hygrometer. This isn't discussed anywhere in the documentation or on the website.

The other discovery was documented on the website, but not in the manual. The humidifier will not trigger on until the humidity is 3% or more below the target maximum humidity.

I'm keeping an eye open for any leaks or other unexpected issues. The unit is supposed to send out an alert for low water. I'll watch for that too, but it could be days away from triggering. So far, this kit is a steal at the sub $70 price point.

I don't do Alexa or Google Assistant. I run everything through the Govee App on my Iphone. If you have Alexa or GA set up, this may be even more effective for your humidification needs.

One last call out I just happened to notice. The maximum target humidity is limited to 70%. Reading through the trouble shooting tips, I believe humidifiers of this type may suffer from water vapor not fully evaporating at higher humidity levels. This is something I'm going to pay very close attention to when I decide to move this into my walk in.

[SoCal gunner]

While this really wasn't on the agenda for today, I believe my return period ends on 8/8/2022. If I had an out of box failure, I thought I should at least take advantage of that.

I thought it would be a little more complicated to pair the humidifier and hygrometer, but Govee has built in set up instructions as you pair the two components together that fills in the information gaps in their included documentation. One bad thing about Govee is they seem to scatter their information across multiple locations. The hardcopy manual doesn't have all the instructions that you discover within their app. Also, there is additional information on the Govee website that may, or may not, match what's included in the hard copy manual. In the end it was pretty easy to get things set up. We have our AC running down stairs so every time it kicks on it drops the humidity by 3 to 4%. It should be enough to cycle the humidifier on and off with my target humidity of 50%. We'll see how it goes.


https://i.postimg.cc/QC4t4yMP/IMG-5958.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/PxMNZxnd/IMG-5957.png

https://i.postimg.cc/SNGj9x8Z/IMG-5959.pngI promise I'll go back and read all that, but I got distracted by the cat.

Did you know we have Four Legged Friends thread?

[Ljutic]

I promise I'll go back and read all that, but I got distracted by the cat.

Did you know we have Four Legged Friends thread?

I didn't know that. I'll have to look for it.

[Ljutic]

I'm ready to wrap this up as my low water alert tripped this morning. I've got it set up for a push notification to my phone. It came through just like all other push notifications I have set up for hygrometers that fall outside their min and max thresholds. I'm sure I could set up a duplicate alert on the hygrometer for lower than specified humidity that would also let me know the humidifier wasn't keeping up with required humidity. Double coverage for the low water condition.

One of the key advantages to this humidifier for me is top fill. Just lift off the top plate and add water. No need to remove the tank. So much easier than removing, upending, filling, and replacing a bottom fill tank.

https://i.postimg.cc/J0f09B5N/IMG-5963.png

https://i.postimg.cc/kG6D1yKM/IMG-5964.png


I've still got a little plastic smell in the vapor. It's less than it was before so I'll run through a gallon of water and give it a rinse before I pop this into the walk in.

If you have any questions that I didn't cover, just post them below and I'll do my best to answer.

[SoCal gunner]

Sounds promising. I don't see the cap of 70% as an issue. You can probably zero in on your ideal target inside the 3% activation trigger.

Come back and give us an update in a month, if you would.

[Ljutic]

Well here's your next update. Things have only improved since my last post.

One thing I always struggled with using the Govee automation system was full hands off automation that linked humidifier, fans, and the thermometer/hygrometer. I could get the fans and humidifier to all be on, or off, at the same time by triggering a command from my phone. Triggering that command required that I read a phone notification from the hygrometer telling me the walk in humidity had fallen out of the target range of 63% to 66%. That is until I brought in the Smart Humidifier. While this may seem like a Rube Goldberg kludge, it's actually quite elegant and logical.

Everything starts with the hygrometer paired with the humidifier.

Trigger 1: Humidity drops to 63% or less. Action - the humidifier turns on.
Trigger 2: Humidifier turns on. Action - Govee two outlet Smart Plug turns on. This Smart Plug controls two Honeywell 6" fans blowing upward.
Trigger 3: Humidity reaches 66%. Action - The humidifier turns off.
Trigger 4: Humidifier turns off. Action - Goveee two outlet Smart Plug turns off. (These are the fans)

Try as I might, I could never pair a Smart Plug with a Hygrometer. It's almost like the people at Govee had no idea anyone would ever want to do this. The Smart Humidifier ended up being a central component that brought everything together. Now it's finally time to get this thing in the humidor and see how she runs. Look for another update in a month or so.

[Ljutic]

I don't see the cap of 70% as an issue. You can probably zero in on your ideal target inside the 3% activation trigger.



Actually, I thought up a work around for this hard limit of 70% for those that need a higher humidity level. While posting on the Govee Reddit helping others get their automation figured out, someone mentioned needing a higher than 70% humidity level for their plants. While I have not done it, I'm thinking you can just adjust the hygrometer calibration down 5% so it thinks 75% is 70%. This should allow the gardener to maintain a humidity level between 72 and 75% while the hygrometer thinks it's 67 to 70%.

I think I need another hobby, but this kind of stuff is fun for me.

[josh lucky 13]

I don't think anyone here needs more than 70 honestly I prefer mid 60s

[Ljutic]

https://i.postimg.cc/V6jmvSgV/IMG-6030.jpg

3% less than target humidity before the humidifier kicks on is really 2.1%. It makes it very easy to hold a 64% to 66% environment. Govee added delayed actions to their software this morning. Now the fans are set to run while the humidifier runs and continue to run for two minutes after it stops. Picture is a typical humidifier cycle. I forced this one to happen by using the AC and closing some doors that change the air flow throughout the basement.

I don't think you can get better performance than this from any fully-automated humidification system at this price point. I'm really impressed.

[Ljutic]

35 minutes later. It will probably stay in this range until tomorrow afternoon unless I start closing doors again and the AC kicks on.

https://i.postimg.cc/ydYCDHdM/IMG-6031.jpg

[Ljutic]

Lemme throw a quick update on here about Govee in general. A couple of months ago they released a new version of device firmware and phone app with what they call Distributed Gateway. It allows you to build your own Govee Device wireless network to link things together for automation. I've now got a Govee hygrometer networked with one of their wifi switched outlets. Hygro triggers the plug on when humidity exceeds 45% and shuts it off when humidity drops back to 40% or less. I've had a ball blowing into the hygrometer today to spike the humidity and turn on the light attached to the wifi switched outlet. With our heat running constantly thanks to this cold snap, humidity drops in a minute or two back under 40% and the light goes out.

Why is this important? You no longer need to buy a Govee humidifier. You can use any humidifier you want as long as it plugs into the wifi switched outlet. It was the last missing piece Govee needed to add to their software to make it as close to perfect as any I've worked with previously. The only downside I've run across is you have a hard limit of 10 devices in the Distributed Gateway at this time, but it's still a beta software product.

[Old Smokey]

Lemme throw a quick update on here about Govee in general. A couple of months ago they released a new version of device firmware and phone app with what they call Distributed Gateway. It allows you to build your own Govee Device wireless network to link things together for automation. I've now got a Govee hygrometer networked with one of their wifi switched outlets. Hygro triggers the plug on when humidity exceeds 45% and shuts it off when humidity drops back to 40% or less. I've had a ball blowing into the hygrometer today to spike the humidity and turn on the light attached to the wifi switched outlet. With our heat running constantly thanks to this cold snap, humidity drops in a minute or two back under 40% and the light goes out.

Why is this important? You no longer need to buy a Govee humidifier. You can use any humidifier you want as long as it plugs into the wifi switched outlet. It was the last missing piece Govee needed to add to their software to make it as close to perfect as any I've worked with previously. The only downside I've run across is you have a hard limit of 10 devices in the Distributed Gateway at this time, but it's still a beta software product.

Excellent post Bruce, thank you!

[Ljutic]

I made the cut for Govee's new DEHUMIDIFIER product tester. Imagine everything humidifier based, but ass backwards. Actually very similar to the humidifier to set up except the goal is less humidity. The more Govee I touch, the more I like the company and their products. I was running a Honewell smart dehumidifier in this space previously. Had issues with coil icing and they replaced the unit. Govee adds the ability to cycle the dehumidifer with an external (calibrated) hygrometer and phone app is much better than the Honeywell app.

https://i.postimg.cc/mkgNbZck/IMG-6267.png

https://i.postimg.cc/Fs1g8R5n/IMG-6268.png

[Ljutic]

Well heck. In the process of filling out my product evaluation survey, I was forced to spend a little more time in the Govee Savvy User Store. I've been a little annoyed that Govee has pretty much abandoned their first generation WiFi temp/humidity sensors. Sure, they were on the large side but mass data downloads to the phone app were nearly instantaneous connection and data download speed was so fast. Much faster to connect and download than their Bluetooth devices. Additionally, the battery life on these units is incredible. So much more battery life than the hygrometers with the LCD displays. I don't need the displays as everything gets viewed in their phone app.

Their newer Wifi sensors are smaller and I've been checking into them for some time. Price was prohibitive when you consider I still have 3 working gen 1 wifi sensors that I'm happy with. Through the Savvy user store I was able to buy this new generation Wifi sensor starter kit for less than half the amazon price by using some of my accumulated Savvy User points to buy the discount. Govee is pretty generous with their points gifts. They add up quickly just from adding new devices to my Govee network and making occasional posts to their Govee user community bulletin board.

Additional sensor packs are available to add 3, 6, or more sensors to the same wifi hub included in the starter kit below. I'll see how the first three work out before I add any more sensors.

https://i.postimg.cc/mkQFwHzP/71-Kp7dr-DW0-L-SL1500.jpg
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