Vornado EV200 vs AIRCARE MA1201 Console
In short: The Vornado EV200 costs $108 less; the AIRCARE MA1201 Console genuinely holds a larger room (2,956 sq ft against 591 sq ft); they are different mechanisms entirely — evaporative against console evaporative; the Vornado EV200 costs about $45 less a year in wicks and watts.
| Spec | Vornado EV200 | AIRCARE MA1201 Console |
|---|---|---|
| Approx. price | ~$80 | ~$188 |
| Type | Evaporative | Console evaporative |
| Mist | cool | cool |
| Rated output | 2.4 gal/day | 12 gal/day |
| Output standard | Maker's published output rate | Maker's published output rate |
| Honest room size | 591 sq ft | 2,956 sq ft |
| Claimed coverage | 580 sq ft | 3,600 sq ft |
| Claim vs physics | 0.98× | 1.22× |
| Tank size | 1.5 gal | 3.6 gal |
| Runtime at the claimed room | 15 hr | 5.9 hr |
| Real runtime at full output | 15 hr | 7.2 hr |
| Yearly running cost | ~$54 | ~$99 |
| Replaceable media | Wick, replaced through the season | Wick, replaced through the season |
| White dust risk | No | No |
| Humidistat | Yes | Yes |
| Noise on low | — | — |
| Top fill | No | No |
| Dishwasher-safe tank | No | No |
| App control | No | No |
| Power | 30 W | 135 W |
Highlighted cells are the better number in that row, and only where a direction is unambiguous — more output and more supported room, less noise, cost and price. Honest room size and runtime are computed from each maker’s own published figures; here is the calculation.
Pros and cons
Vornado EV200
- The single most accurate room-size claim in the catalog measured against the standard winter load calculation
- Two light tanks beat one heavy one at the sink, and one tank can carry an overnight run
- Automatic humidity control actually holds a target rather than just switching speeds
- Five years of warranty on a $100 evaporative, which is Vornado's standing offer across the line
- No white dust and no distilled-water habit
- Two wicks means double the consumable bill - about $45 a year at the stated interval
- Fifteen hours at full output means a daily fill in a genuinely dry house
- The fan is the loudest thing about it and there is no way around that in an evaporative
- No app, no timer, no display beyond the humidity setting
AIRCARE MA1201 Console
- The only portable here with enough output to change the humidity in a whole floor of an old house, and owners describe exactly that
- Auto mode with a real humidistat, so it throttles back instead of running flat out
- No white dust despite the enormous throughput - everything mineral stays in the wick
- Cheaper to buy and far cheaper to install than any whole-house unit with comparable output
- Long enough in market that wicks, tanks and motors are all easy to source
- Seven hours per tank at full output - the 36-hour figure is the lowest speed, and in a dry January you will be filling it twice a day
- The wick turns to concrete in hard water; three a season at $20 each is normal and some owners buy more
- On high it is a loud appliance - nobody sleeps in the room with it
- 26 lb empty and over 50 lb full, so it lives where you put it
- 135W is real power draw for a portable