Evap40 Evaporative Humidifier with Adjustable Humidistat, 4-Gallon Capacity for Large Room Coverage up to 1,000 sq ft, 3 Speed Settings, Easy to Clean Dual Tank

If you want a good reliable humidifier for your space this is the one to buy. I wanted an evaporative humidifier for a number of reasons: they don't produce a residue like the ultrasonic humidifiers and cool/warm mist humidifiers can. They won't over-humidify a space like the other types can -- air will only take on as much humidity as it can hold, and evaporation slows the closer the air gets its potential saturation level. And to ensure that over-humidification doesn't happen this humidifier also features a humidistat that will switch the unit off if the humidity exceeds the level where you set it. I bought my Vornado three years ago because it's such a simple design. The top fan unit, 2 water supply jugs, the reservoir pan, and wicks. Nothing fancy at all, just like the best evaporative humidifiers I've used in the past. As far as I'm concerned the simpler the design the less chance of something breaking. At the lowest two fan speeds the unit makes hardly any noise. Even the highest fan speed I don't think it is overly loud -- I sleep fine with it running in my bedroom. My recommendations for this humidifier: Purchase a humidity meter to monitor the levels in the room so you can better dial-in the Vornado's humidistat to your preference. Use distilled water. You don't have to, the humidifier works fine with regular tap water. But in the long run distilled water will give much better and consistent results. Have at least one if not two new wick sets sitting in reserve. That way when you have to replace them you can do so right away, then order another replacement. To combat/prevent bacterial growth -- use copper. Don't waste money on additives to combat bacteria. Copper works great as an antimicrobial and keeps bacterial growth in check (that is, zero). Preferably copper mesh (usually available through garden stores), but pennies will work fine (wash them clean before using them). The problem with pennies is, over time, the copper plating will get 'used up' and then it'll be the zinc core exposed to the water (this took about a year when I first used them). Zinc is supposedly antimicrobial as well, but I didn't want to chance it, and copper-less pennies look disgusting :) . I have a six-inch strip of copper mesh in each water jug. I have never had issues with bacterial growth in the jugs nor in the reservoir nor on the wicks while using copper as an antimicrobial. Regularly clean your Vornado, including vacuuming off any accumulated dust. Be especially diligent if you use only tap water and not distilled water because limescale will accumulate in the pan and on the outer surfaces of the water jugs. I run mine 24/7, except when its humidistat setting shuts it down or while cleaning the unit. The humidistat is sort of finicky, it's not really "exact" so much as the best way to set it is if the room is too humid, turn the humidistat until the unit powers down, then wait. I realized I had to finesse the setting over a period of days, fiddling between shutting down and turning on, until I got it set just right. Once I did get it dialed in I never had to worry about it again. I recommend purchasing a humidity monitor if you really want to watch those levels. For those first three years I used tap water, which works fine. However my tap water has a high mineral content, which means the evaporative wicks harden with limescale rather quickly -- as in a matter of days. At first I was rotating wicks once a week -- I'd have one pair of wicks working, then swap it out and soak the wick in vinegar water to disperse the minerals, rinse it out, then swap it back in the following week while I de-scaled the second wick pair. Problem is, over time, the wicks deteriorate from the vinegar soak cycles. As in they start falling apart. They re-mineralize quicker the older they get. And the ability to control mineralization continues to deteriorate over time. I purchased new wicks every three months just to keep up with the deterioration. I finally decided to switch to distilled water. The humidifier uses about 2 gallons of water a day so purchasing distilled water off-the-shelf is not an option, that's too expensive. I purchased a home distiller and distill 2 gallons of water a day. I also purchased an empty 2.5 gallon jug to have 2 gallons of distilled water ready for when one of the Vornado jugs empties. I fill the Vornado jug, then distill more water into the 2.5 gallon jug. Sure, it's a little extra work, but the benefits outweigh the inconvenience. One month after the switch to distilled water the humidifier wicks have remained supple, they are not mineralizing at all. To be honest I'm not sure when I'm going to have to replace the wicks, I've been running the same filter set for a month and they're doing great. I'm sure, over time, I'll figure it out. Already I can see I'm on track to saving a lot of $$ not having to replace two pairs of wicks every three months. Home-distilled water is a lot cheaper than purchasing it off-the-shelf. It is definitely worth the added cost to purchase a small home distiller. I know my distiller will pay for itself in less than a year compared to what I was paying for replacement wicks and vinegar. I am on my second Vornado EVAP40. The first one died after three years of constant use. The power-cord wire corroded with oxidation inside the unit which increased the resistance on the AC wire until it cooked its insulation and the unit quit working. I contacted Vornado customer service and explained the situation. I sent them the pictures they requested. Vornado honored their 5-year warranty and sent me a brand-new unit. Vornado is amazing and stands by their product, I have nothing but good things to say about them, their customer service, and this humidifier. If my unit had been out of warranty I would have purchased another one anyhow because it is that good compared to all the other humidifiers I've tried over the years.

This vornado humidifier is truly a life saver. I had a levoit tower $150 humidifier that didn't make a dent in my extremely dry room. We have old radiator heating and a lot of exposed pipes and it gets extremely dry 20% humidity dry. For some reason the dryness was worse this year and I was struggling to breathe, wheezing, I couldn't get my Levoit humidifier to go above 30%-35% even running 24/7 on the highest setting. I decided to try an evaporative humidifier and after a few days of research settled on this one because of the fan and I thought it would reach a better range with my tall ceilings. Within a few hours of using it got my humidity up by 25%. I finally was reaching comfortable levels of humidity and could breathe like normal. I use distilled water as I have a water distilled machine, totally worth it, I haven't had to change the filters yet or dealt with any grossness. I fill 2 gallons at a time usually, and if I want to use less for a shorter amount of time I usually just fill one side instead of both. There is a learning curve to get the containers on without spilling. Instinctively we want to go slow especially because it's full of water, but you have to just lay the containers down on the grove and quickly put them in in one fast movement. Don't need to use force just go quick otherwise water will spill. Once I realized that I haven't spilled it at all or had any leaking issues. I keep it running once the water is done to dry out and dry the wicks. It does make a "glug glug" noise every few hours depending on how high you're running it but I don't think it's loud or bothersome, I barely noticed it at first. The fan sounds like a fan, not sure why it seems people expect it to be quiet, any fan on max is going to make some noise, it's no louder than any other fan I have really. It's not quiet but I don't think it's unreasonably loud, could take some getting used to if you're sensitive to these types of sounds. There was a smell initially, it was off-putting but I was prepared based on reviews. It was the wicks not the decide itself so think it's unavoidable with any wicks. It took a few days to go away but eventually did completely. I'm impressed and surprised by the simplicity of the whole thing really. I'm used to the Levoits that's a bunch of pieces and is a pain to clean, this thing is really simple but functions great. I'm so glad I made the switch. No hate on the Levoit it wasn't the only humidifier I've had but was the fanciest most expensive one and I definitely had higher hopes and expectations for it. Thankfully, this one succeeded where the other failed Photos are 1) the humidity level in my room after this current humidifier was off for a few hours when I wasn't home 2) humidity level within 2 hours of turning on the vornado humidifier 3) my Levoit humidifier, and even when it was running for hours on high I couldn't get above 34% humidity at most

This is working well for my living room/downstairs and loft area. It is around 500-600 sq feet. We also have high ceilings. I use a seperate humifiers for each bedroom. We heat our whole home with wood and it gets very dry inside. This is keeping our humidity around 40-42%. Last year without this humidifier we were around 29 or lower. We keep in on medium fan highest humidity level and it runs constantly. It does make some sound on medium but its easy to get used to. The high setting is very loud. I am sure it would make our humidity go lower on high, but because its in our main living area.. it would be too loud to hear the tv or just annoying to listen to! Occasionally it does make a sound as the water is filling the inside. That is easy to get used to as well and not disturbing. Very easy to clean and fill. I clean weekly per the instructions (bleach and water) and soak the wicks in 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of water for a half hour,rinse clean. The wicks lasts about 1 month this is with running 24/7. I just use tap water but I do not have hard water. I am happy with my purchase.

I've been using this humidifier seven years to keep my musical instruments happy. I struggle to remember the humidifiers I owned prior to the EVAP40 but I recall being frustrated. The EVAP40 was recommended on a musician forum so I decided to give it a try. I really like the design of the EVAP40. It has a large water capacity which is easy to refill. It's easy to take apart and clean. The Low fan setting is pretty quiet. I usually run mine on Medium or High which don't exactly purr like Low but with the health of my instruments at stake I don't mess around. I don't mind the occasional gurgling sound as water flows from the tanks into the base. To me it's a reassuring sound that lets me know it's working. I usually get a month or so out of a set of filters using our tap water which is pretty hard. I don't bother cleaning the filters with vinegar and getting a second use out of them. I chunk 'em and put in a fresh set which isn't exactly cheap but frees up time I can be doing something else. I keep at least three sets on hand in case there's a shortage but so far I haven't had trouble getting them. Vornado usually has a filter sale once a year and I've taken advantage of that a few times. The only feature of the EVAP40 that I have mixed feelings about is the humidistat control. I like the simplicity of the design and it works well for the most part but sometimes it doesn't do what I expect and humidity gets too high or too low and I have to tweak the setting again. A digital humidistat would be nice but also something that could get wonky and break. I've learned to live with the way the EVAP40 works and overall I'm happy with it. I've been running the EVAP40 for seven years and so far haven't seen the need to shop for a replacement. I probably won't look for one until this one dies which might be a while.

I was excited getting this unit as I was looking for an evaporative humidifier instead of the misty ones that leaves tons of residue. After reading the mostly positive reviews on the unit I decided to purchase because of the simple design and the large storage. The Unit is pretty simple a base unit that holds the water two two gallon jugs that flow in the base and a fan on top. I put mine on the level kitchen floor, and followed the instructions. Checked the base for leaks, put in the wicks filled the two jugs with water and put them in the base. Turned on the fan. What could go wrong, right? Well, for me it unfortunately did not work out well. The next morning in noticed both jugs being empty , odd less than 24 hours, ok, refill the jugs to the base and let it hum. Then I noticed water on the rug and with wet socks noticed the water behind the unit and basically leaking down the wall etc... I immediately turned it off, started mopping. Cleaned the unit, inspected it, and this time put it on my countertop for testing, checked the base for leaks nada, anyway. Unit appeared fine. no leaks humming away. Checked a few minutes later, everything fine. Then went for a walk for an hour came back, and sure enough, countertop was dripping with water! Half a jug was empty! Soaked up the water form the floor with towels. Really frustrating. Then I needed to get something from the basement and saw the spots on the ceiling right where the humidifier was overnight! Water damage! No bueno. water spots on ceiling and wet carpet in the basement! That was it, no more experimenting. I am not sure why there are so many positive reviews, I must have had a defective unit! I mean this stuff needs to be fool proof, it's an appliance. This one is going back. Unfortunately I have damage in the basement, ugh! It's up to you to see if this works, but maybe try the unit in a bathtub or shower first a night or two, to see if there are any issues. Not for me...

Just got it. It works well to raise humidity to a normal level in a modest one-bedroom apartment in the dead of dry, bone-chilling winter. The effects are not immediate, but quick, within hours, raising relative humidity (according to my little indoor thermometer/hygrometers) from sub-16% to the 20s and then, after a while longer, say a day, the comfort zone of 30s or even 40s depending on temp. Unlike the well-regarded Venta humidifiers, it uses wicks which will occasionally have to be replaced. On the other hand, it's a lot -- a lot! -- less expensive than Venta's equivalent models. Also, Venta's system reportedly takes many days to raise humidity to normal levels in very dry conditions. The functionality is bare-bones but just fine. There are two dials, one for fan speed, one for humidity level (min-max, no numbers). Most users will probably keep both dials up to their max positions. Even the top fan setting is quiet and unobtrusive to my ear. It doesn't give you a humidity reading; there's no display. I do not believe it has a water-level sensor, so it won't shut off automatically when it runs out. I have found that it will need refilling about once a day. You'll know it's ready to be refilled by seeing low or no water in the semi-translucent tanks. Refilling is easy with the two tanks, smartly designed to fit in a kitchen sink for filling directly out of the faucet and to be carried easily with a built-in handle -- no danger of spilling -- to the unit, where they are simply tilted into place, glug-glugging briefly until they fill the bottom and saturate the wicks. You might worry that the bottom will overflow as you fill it, especially if one of the tanks isn't in place. Don't worry, it won't. So long as the wicks are in place, they'll soak up the water. Meanwhile, no caps, no hoses, no fuss. Maybe have a paper towel handy for little drips. The manual warns of a possible normal smell from the wicks when it first gets going; I noticed nothing. I read a review that noted some occasional clunking, as if one of the tanks is banging against the housing as it discharges water. I haven't heard that. I can't speak to longevity at this point, but so far, it's working great. It's a very simple thing that seems to be well-designed, and it's doing its job. I'm glad I went for this inexpensive option rather than far more expensive models out there.

My biggest gripe about this thing is that the build quality does not live up to Vornado's standards considering the price. The housing is cheap, thin, sharp-edged plastic (not sure what kind) and the jugs are HDPE - the same stuff they make milk jugs out of. They do not have any kind of valve, only an open spout. You basically have to drop the jugs into place to avoid spilling everywhere, which is especially annoying when each one is full of 15 pounds of water. Filling them is a royal pain in the ass since the spouts are very small. You either have to fill them under a sink faucet (which gets them about halfway full in my case due to the angle) or hold them up to a halfway-on bathtub faucet for two straight minutes (which, again, 15 pounds). Your only way to remove them is to grab onto the slight bulge molded into the top, which is completely useless when it has water in it. The amount of water it puts into the air is satisfactory. I've found that it goes through four gallons of water in about 36 hours on high in room temperature, low-to-moderate humidity air. One gallon of water is plenty to run it on high overnight. It is noisy but tolerable on high, acceptable on medium, and whisper-quiet on low. The noise isn't particularly unpleasant, just loud on high. The humidistat is basically useless. As some other reviews have noted, it is wildly inaccurate. I wish they had just left it out and dropped the price five bucks. That, or replace it with something that actually works. I just crank it to the max and pretend it doesn't exist. As a brute force humidifier, it does the job. It just happens to be the cheapest-feeling, ugliest Vornado product I've ever owned.

I have owned the Vornado Evap40 humidifier for about 3 years now. I initially was looking for a humidifier to try to make a dent in the super dry air of a Colorado winter and all I was finding were kinky 1 gallon or Goliath 10 gallon models and the Vornado seemed to fit my needs perfectly. It holds 4 gallons of water giving about 4 days of constant running, and the footprint isn’t massive. The Vornado does a great job of evaporating water into the air. It’s nothing fancy, it has two large filters that act as huge water wicks and a fan to pull air through them and blow the evaporated water into the air. Since it isn’t heating the water or anything it can be used for summer and winter. It makes a constant noise, like a desk fan, but I don’t find it too loud and it has three settings, the middle one you can barely hear but for a very dry winter you will want it on full. The two water tanks are pretty cleverly designed, no caps or valves. You fill them and then tip them into the machine, just read the instructions and they flow well. It can make large gurgling noises as the water glugs out so maybe for a bedroom it might annoy a very very light sleeper but I have it in my living room. The good thing is you can fill just one tank if you are feeling lazy or whatever and still get multiple days of humidification. After 3 years of non-stop 24/7 running on high my unit finally started to fail. The motor made a squeaking sound and it wasn’t working right. The humidifier comes with a 5 year warranty, I filled out one online form, sent one picture to Vornado of the unit with its cord cut to show that I had disabled the broken unit, and they shipped me a new unit that got to me in like 3 days. Literally no questions asked warranty service, no proof of purchase or anything asked, very very easy, I’d definitely buy more Vornado products just based on that.