Vornado
Vornado EV100
Vornado is the only brand in this catalog whose published room size matches the physics. One gallon a day supports about 246 square feet by the standard winter calculation; Vornado prints 260 on the box. That is not a rounding coincidence - the same relationship holds across their whole line, which means somebody there is doing the load calculation instead of the marketing. The EV100 itself is a plain, small, well-built evaporative: one gallon, one wick, automatic humidity control, and a five-year guarantee that is unusually long for the money. It will not humidify an open-plan floor, and Vornado does not claim it will.
The room-size claim, reconciled
246 sq ft supported · box says 260 sq ft
The box says 260 sq ft; the winter load calculation puts the output at 246 sq ft — an overstatement of about 6%, which is modest for this category.
Holding 260 sq ft takes about 1.06 gal/day, which drains this 1-gallon tank in roughly 23 hr.
What a year costs
one wick per unit; Vornado's two-pack is $14.99 and asks for a change every one to two months in season, so about three a year. Electricity assumes the rated 20 W for 12 hours a day across a 150-day heating season at 16¢ per kilowatt-hour.
Specifications
A claim the maker makes
Vornado says the wick is treated with an antimicrobial to inhibit growth on the filter. We quote it rather than repeat it: this site has not tested it and neither has anyone independent.
Maintenance profile
- Top fill
- No — tank comes off and goes to the sink
- Replaceable media
- Wick, replaced through the season
Facts, not a score. Which of these matter depends entirely on whether the unit ends up somewhere you will actually clean it.
Features
- Published output of 1 gallon in 24 hours against a 260 sq ft claim
- Automatic humidity control
- SimpleTank with a removable cap for cleaning
- Evaporative - no white dust, tap water fine
- 5-year guarantee
- Vortex air distribution
Pros
- The room-size claim is genuinely supportable - the rarest thing in this category and the reason to buy Vornado over a spec-sheet rival
- Five-year guarantee at $70, against the one year most of this catalog offers
- Evaporative and self-limiting: it physically cannot over-humidify a room the way an unregulated ultrasonic can
- Owners consistently describe build quality a tier above the price
- Tank cap unscrews wide enough to clean inside properly
Cons
- One gallon a day genuinely is a small-room output - buyers comparing spec sheets against ultrasonics claiming 500 sq ft will think it underpowered, and the spec sheets are the ones lying
- Wicks at roughly $7.50 each every month or two
- Audible fan; it is how an evaporative works
- Bottom-fill tank has to go to the sink
What owners say
Summarised from owner discussions and long-form owner reviews. Nobody here has used this unit.
A plain, small, well-made evaporative, and the clearest example of the pattern that makes Vornado unusual: one gallon a day, 260 square feet on the box, and the load calculation says 246. The maker is doing the arithmetic rather than the marketing.
Owners' comments track that. They describe reliability over years and a machine that quietly does a bedroom, alongside a thin plastic body for the money. The main risk with it is buyer disappointment for the wrong reason — set next to an ultrasonic claiming twice the room at the same price, it looks weak on paper, and the spec sheets are the ones being dishonest.
What owners like
- Owners describe build quality and longevity a tier above the price, and Vornado units generally as the ones still working after other brands were replaced
- The room-size claim is supportable rather than aspirational, which almost nothing else at this price manages
- Evaporative and self-limiting, so it cannot soak a small room the way an unregulated ultrasonic can
- Five-year guarantee at $70
Common complaints
- The plastic body is thin, which owners note against the brand's otherwise good reputation
- One gallon a day genuinely is small-room output, so buyers comparing spec sheets against ultrasonics claiming 500 sq ft will think it underpowered
- A single wick every month or two is a modest but permanent cost
- Audible fan, and no display, timer or app
Questions owners ask
Is 260 square feet really all it does?
How long does the wick last?
Can it over-humidify a small room?
Vornado EV100, head to head
Looked at alongside it
More from Vornado →
Vornado
Vornado EV200
Two tanks instead of one, two wicks instead of one, and 2.4 gallons a day against a 580 sq ft claim - the closest match between a maker's number and the load calculation anywhere in this catalog, off by about two percent. Refilling means carrying two 0.75-gallon tanks rather than one heavy one, which sounds like a downgrade and is not: most people find two light trips easier than one awkward one, and you can run it on a single tank overnight. Fifteen hours at full output is the honest tank life, and Vornado does not pretend otherwise.
591 sq ft supported · box says 580 sq ft
Vornado
Vornado EVDC300 Energy Smart
A DC motor is the only interesting thing here and it is interesting enough to justify the model. On its Energy Smart setting the EVDC300 draws as little as a single watt, against the twenty to forty a comparable AC evaporative pulls, and it runs the whole winter for the price of a few coffees. Output is 2.3 gallons a day - within one percent of what its 560 sq ft claim actually needs - from a one-gallon tank, which is the catch: ten hours between fills if you run it hard. It is the fill interval, not the capability, that decides whether this or the two-tank EV200 is the right one.
567 sq ft supported · box says 560 sq ft
Vornado
Vornado EVDC500 Energy Smart
The EVDC300's larger sibling: same DC motor and single-watt idle, two tanks instead of one, and enough output to matter in a real living room. At 3.5 gallons a day it is the most capable portable Vornado makes, and its 850 sq ft figure again sits within a few percent of the load calculation. Fourteen hours at full output, so still a daily job in a dry house - but two tanks make that a lighter job than one. The question it poses against the Evap40 console is whether you would rather carry water twice a day and keep the floor space, or once a day and give up a corner.
862 sq ft supported · box says 850 sq ft