Vornado Evap 2 Evaporative Humidifier

I really like the Vornado Evap2 Whole Room Evaporative Humidifier. My brother had a large Vornado model that lasted and lasted and this model looks like it's got the same solid build quality. While quite compact it does a great job humidifying my living room/kitchen area making the winter much more comfortable. The instruction booklet *is* worth reading for the best results. The Vornado is a *evaporative* humidifier - it pulls dry air through a wick (sometimes referred to as a filter) which is kept moist by water from the removable tank. Moisture is added to the air through natural evaporation and then gently blown into the room. I find the resulting humidification is better for me than other options like ultrasonic humidifiers. This is not like the cheaper and more common ultrasonic humidifiers. They eject a stream of visible vapor with a transducer. I have had poor luck with those and the ones I've had have frequently failed, even using distilled water to avoid mineral problems. As with any humidifier, plan on some maintenance of the Vornado. The MD1-0002 wicks used to transfer water into the air should be replaced periodically. How often depends and mine are still good after 3 months. Hard tap water may cause mineral deposits and in some environments mold or other nasty stuff might start growing eventually. It's easy to see and feel how the wicks are doing when removing the tank, so take a moment to check them and have a spare set on-hand for when they will be needed. The design is very well thought. The tank is easy to remove with one hand and the large opening in the bottom makes filling it very easy in the kitchen sink. I fill mine every morning integrating the tank fill with my morning routine. Replacing the full tank is just as easy. The controls are located on the top where air is blown out. They are intuitive to me but confirm operation with the instruction booklet. I keep mine on auto and let it take care of the details. The Evap2 can be placed on the floor or a table. Mine is on a small table. My thinking is keeping up off the floor will keep dust intrusion down. When I first set it up I went through 3 tanks in a little over 24h to get the humidity from bone-dry to comfortable. Since then I go through about 1 tank a day to maintain comfortable levels. I run mine on auto and I barely know it is there. If I ever need to run it on high the fan becomes and becomes noticeable, but the slower speeds are very quiet. I would not consider it having a loud noise level. even on high. Running the Vornado keeps my home much more comfortable. I didn't know how uncomfortable the dry winter air was until I humidified making this money very well spent. In conclusion, I'm VERY happy with the Vornado Evap2 humidifier. It does an excellent job quietly in a very compact form factor. I didn't know how uncomfortable I was until the Vornado humidified the air and made me feel much better. It's a case of getting what you pay for and Vornado delivers. That's a 5 star performance for me. UPDATE Jan 22, 2017: My Vornado is in it's second season of humidifying the dry winter air. So far it's worked perfectly and I'm very pleased. I cleaned it thoroughly and put in a fresh wick before firing it up this winter. Now at the 1 year point I'm still fully satisfied and mine has had not problems.