I distill water and also use filters - both brita and zero water. This distiller has already paid for itself vs the cost of filtering the same amount of water. So now it's all savings. Even if it breaks tomorrow it's a good deal - but it will probably last quite awhile. The $350 distillers that this thing is copying are probably better, but for 5X the money you need to use them forever to break even. I can't tell a difference between what this machine does and the expensive models, and I've had two of the pricey ones.Update: it broke after six months. Still a good value in my opinion. Except creating unnecessary garbage. That's a downside.