EVDC300 Energy Smart Evaporative Humidifier

Function: Our space is 1200 square feet, and we have this in our great room with high ceilings. Our previous humidifier was rated for 500 square feet, and barely kept our apartment at 27% humidity at 68 F. It also took 24 - 48 hours to raise the humidity a percentage or two. This one raised the humidity from 10% in about 8 hours, it's kept the humidity about 30 - 32% since, in the middle of winter with our heater running full blast. Many places recommend 40 - 50% humidity, but I notice a real difference around 30%. 5/5Water Refill: My unit is on a floor that isn't even, so one tank empties first. The tanks are 1 gallon each, and easy to pick up with a handle. I refill them in the bathtub. 5/5Cleaning: One thing I love is this unit is designed to be cleaned. The lid to the tanks is the entire bottom of the tank, which means the inside of the tanks are easy to reach and scrub out. The top of the unit with the fan lifts up out of the base, which makes cleaning the base easier (and everything is accessible to your scrub brush). 5/5I have read that wick-based humidifiers raise the humidity faster when the air is dryer, and slower when the air is already humid. This seems in line with my experience, and I don't really think it's too bad if it keeps things from getting too humid.Sound: This unit uses a fan to pull air in through a wick, which humidifies the room. The sound is similar to a box fan, which is a sound I find relaxing. There are also some "glug" sounds when air enters the tank. No points off for sound, but it's not silent, it might be better in a hallway outside your bedroom if you're sensitive to sound but want it nearby.Longevity: We've had the unit for over a month now, so no score here yet.Overall - I like the design, it looks nice, functions well, and was reasonably prices - so a win-win for us.

I have a window fan, and several other fans by Vornado. I myself am ALSO a huge fan (of Vornado), and I love supporting an American company. That being said...I can't help but feel like I'm being punked. Where's Ashton? Come out you silly goose.This product and the others like it (I tried the version with two tanks) that use this evaporative method...well, for me, they straight up do not deliver.It's louder than an ultrasonic.If you hate refilling tanks, you might actually like this, as it is so ineffective at humidifying our 10x12 bedroom, it takes a day and a half to run out.If you're lucky, you might get ~+10% RH, but you'll wish for more if it's super dry in your house. I live in Ohio and it's winter. Can't imagine how this would be any help in the southwest. I digress.I returned the two tank version a few weeks back because I thought it was broken, but now I'm just starting to think whole concept was rushed to market. I mean it looks cool and the science is logical, but it just doesn't work. And Vornado makes other great stuff. I'm so tired of returning stuff, the UPS store is a half hour away and you have to dry these things out first.I just bought a $40 Chinese humidifier by a company we all know won't exist in 2 weeks, but it raised the room RH by 15% in just 3 hours. And the cool thing is that I won't have to explain to every guest what the heck it's doing, because you can A) see it working and B) feel it working.

First let me explain why I’m 100% done with ultrasonic humidifiers now. Even though I’ve tried in-tank filter cartridges and filtered water, over time the ultrasonic humidifiers always end up creating a fine white white dust that sticks to everything— windows walls, ceiling fans, every nook and cranny of everything in your home. If you don’t believe me, run one for a couple weeks, then get a flashlight and take a closer look at everything in your home. Some don’t put out a noticeable amount of white dust at first, but over time, they all end up doing this, despite thorough and regular cleaning. Most people think of this as a relatively minor annoyance and don’t have problems with it, but I have severe asthma, and I’m telling you that stuff is BAD when you have asthma! I was gasping for breath, no matter how much medication I used, and it kept getting worse until I just stopped using mine and thoroughly cleaned the white dust. So I got rid of ours last year, since the expense and trouble of using distilled water in humidifiers running 24/7 during late fall, winter and spring isn’t worth it.At first I thought the ultrasonics were a great trade off to the evaporative humidifiers, but I slowly began to realize that:1. You always have to clean whatever type of humidifier you’re using, so there’s no benefit there, and 2. The cost of replacement wicks Is a pain in the wallet, but it’s less of a pain than cleaning every nook and cranny of your home every week, and 3. White dust is so bad for asthma that it’s just not worth playing around with.So after reading many different reviews, reading through online product manuals for various evaporative humidifiers, I settled on this one. And it’s AMAZING! Seriously. It’s very simple to break down for cleaning, there are no edges or corners inside that you can’t get to and wipe down, the clear water holder tank is super easy to fill because it’s FLAT on the top and bottom, and it’s pretty quiet! It’s obviously not as quiet as an ultrasonic humidifier, but it’s not a big deal. On low, it sounds like a quiet fan noise, and still puts out a good amount of humidity.I’ve been very pleased with Vornado fans— we have 4 of them in our home. And since an evaporative humidifier is basically just a fan, a container of water and a wick, the quality of a fan seems pretty important. And this one is great!The touch screen control is simple to operate, but keep in mind that if you press the button for ECO setting, then the humidifier will only work within a specified humidity range. If you want continuous humidification, just turn OFF the ECO mode, and press the + button until it reaches the highest humidity %, then one more press of the button will engage the CO, or continuous mode. It’s simple, but I think some people haven’t figured out how this works, since I read some reviews that complained that their humidifier would cut off at 60%, or would only operate within a certain range. This is by design! Just turn off the eco setting, and you’re good to go if you want it to run all the time.Seriously, this is the best humidifier I’ve ever owned in terms of ease of operation and cleaning. We purchased 2 of these, one for upstairs and one for downstairs use, and I’ve only been using one so far, since we don’t have the heat fully cranking quite yet. But winter is coming! So I’ll update my review if anything changes.