The star rating is relative to value for the money. There are better units out there, but they cost 3-4 times as much. Next, if your climate is such that you are over 30% relative humidity, which is just about everything east of the Rockies, this won't work for you. It works best in the Desert Southwest unless it's Monsoon Season. The humidity will be well over 30% It is meant for small spaces, not whole houses. It does a good job on a 400 sq ft or less room. I had this along on a recent RV fishing trip and we dry camped for a while. My generator is light duty and not enough power for the trailer air conditioner, so I ran this off a combination of an inverter then generator when my battery level came down and even though it was 95+ degrees (with 8% relative humidity), the trailer (26 ft box) kept below 80 degrees. Today the high temp in the California High Desert is going to be about 103 (about 10% relative humidity) , I am using it with the oscillation feature to keep cool air blowing on me while I am working on my truck making the process bearable in my hot garage.As for the leaking that others complained about, I have only had the issue if I had it off-level as I did on the fishing trip I mentioned. If you take the screw out of the screen, lift it up, you will see how the water flows down the pad. If the unit is leaning slightly back, it's possible the water can transfer from the pad to the plastic case and then leak out. You may think your floor is level, but I can put a level to a lot of floors and it will show off level. Solution is to just put something under the rear wheels to elevate the rear of the unit a little, then gravity will do the rest.If you have been using hard water, the holes may plug up in the trough at the top of the pad, so you'll need to clean those holes periodically.Replacement pads you can get at your local hardware / home improvement store, you'll have to cut them to size. If the water pump fails, it's just a simple fountain pump you can buy at the same place. I use a surge protector because it does have electronics and a power surge from the grid can blow it out.Lastly, you can't use it in a closed up house or room. You have to have two windows open at least on opposite sides of the room for some air flow. If you don't, then all you will do is build up humidity in the room, and it will quit being effective. If the wind isn't blowing to provide a natural air flow, then I will use one of those window fans pointed out in a window in another part of the house.In short, it more than meets my expectations for a unit of this price. If you have larger expectations, then you should go to your local Home Depot and shop their units that cost $500 or more and blow much more air.That's my opinion, I hope it helps. Cheers!!!!