Vornado - Evap40 Evaporative Humidifier

I have this Vornado one. https://a.co/d/4VhiHtu I’ve been happy with it for my 900 sqft apartment. I like that it has simple knobs and switches; no fancy electronics to fail. It replaced an older Vornado model that lasted 7 years before the motor failed.

I considered both brands before settling on the Vornado because I had great experiences with their customer service with my previous humidifier. But functionally, the Aircare seems just as dead-simple in design as the Vornado. And yes, the Vornado is ugly as hell. It also makes sort of loud glug-glug noises as water drains from the tanks into the lower tray, but that’s sort of a universal issue with this style of humidifier.

As others have said, evaporative humidifiers are more effective and last longer. And the wicks can be reused indefinitely if you soak them once a week in a vinegar/water solution. I have two sets of wicks, so the one not in use is always soaking, and I swap them once a week. Look for an evaporative model that has simple controls. They’re basically just a fan and a container. Avoid models that have a lot of complicated sensors and electronics. I have this one from Vornado and it’s been great: https://www.vornado.com/shop/made-in-usa/humidifiers-assembled-in-usa/evap40-evaporative-humidifier

I had a couple vornado evap40s in my old house in Vegas. Was the biggest model I could find with easy to fill tanks. They worked just fine until I moved and gave them away.  A whole house aprilaire 600 will be much better if you own a house. An ultrasonic model works well if you have very low TDS water, or RO water to fill it with. 

I'd suggest you read the Amazon reviews on the EV3 before pulling the trigger. I tried an EVAP40 and found it to be poorly made and not very well designed. I'm on my 3rd season with a Levoit 6000s next to my wood stove and couldn't be happier. I know it's pricier than the Vornado but you save on filters since, if cared for properly, they'll last the entire season. The Vornado wicks need to be replaced monthly.

Vornado Evap 40 - no white dust everywhere. One upstairs and one downstairs, easily gets me up to 40 - 45 %. Wicks need changing about every 4-5 weeks with the hard water. Would prob last longer with distilled though.

If you want a warm mist humidifier than I really like the new DREO 2-gallon (8L) humidifier. I can change the setting on my phone with the app, it really is a warm mist and holds 2 gallons of water, so I don't worry about running out when I am in the office. I have it on the auto setting and haven't had any issues. This does need to be cleaned regularly with vinegar due to scaling from minerals in the water. If you don't want or need the warm mist that I like the vornado Evaporative Humidifier evap 40. It works, holds 2 gallons of water. Just change the wick filter every few weeks and I am good to go.

Vornado EVAP40 cleans pretty easy

Well, they're all going to be plastic because they have unique shapes and it's not really worth making it out of metal. What's more important is the water you're using. High mineral content water will clog up humidifiers. Ultrasonics will spray any dissolved minerals in the mist (they work by using an ultrasonic thing to force up air droplets which then evaporate in the air) which can leave a white powdery residue nearby as the minerals have nowhere to go. Wick humidifiers evaporate on the wick, which needs replacement periodically just like an air filter. Any minerals in them will stay on the wick, which starts to degrade how well it performs. Both will require treatment to avoid bacteria growth unless using distilled water. Usually you can find a humidifier bacteriostat that you put in a few drops of with every tank. If you can use filtered water (like through a resin bed deionizer) plus a bacteriostat even a cheapo humidifier will last forever. I'm a fan of the Vornado EVAP40. It's big and fairly easy to refill, plus the wicks are cheap.

I have a Vortex Evap40 and am using Essick bacteriostatic solution about every 2-3 fill-ups. So far, so good.

I’ve been using that same Vornado for about 25 years and have no complaints.

I've used old Vornado Evap40 humidifier for few years, I NEVER had to clean anything with citric acid (it has no pumps of any kind), never had any mold issues either, only thing (other than filling its 2 tanks with water) I had to do is change its evaporative wicks which get clogged with minerals from water - you just throw these away after a couple of weeks or so (really depends on how "hard" or "soft" your water is, they may last longer if you use distilled water) and insert new ones. Vornado makes newer EV3 model right now, I haven't used it yet, but it seems to work on the same principle (wick sponge sitting in water) and now has more quiet and more efficient DC fan (Evap40 has AC fan which can get pretty loud).

I've had the evap40 for 3 winters now. It's enough to humidify the first floor of our house, around 1200sf although we do have another smaller one in our bedroom