I was going to return this item but checked out other prices and this does work well, Its a beautiful design, has auto shut off, and goes through a beautiful light cycle. It stays on and mists for several hours; around 6 hrs I believe. The only real reason I was going to return it was because the essential oils it comes with are crap! Very low grade :( So bummed about that. They smell terrible. I do like the humidifier/diffuser though. So i'll just hand out the essential oils as x-mas gifts, lol, and keep the Kamida 500ml humidifier/diffuser. :)