It took me a couple of days to learn and adjust, but then I got the unit to keep the humidity of the room within a 10% RH range: 42 to 52%. The unit does not allow a more precise or consistent humidity setting, but it does a good job of keeping the room within this range provided the outside weather is not too cold driving more heat and hot / dry air into the room. Then the unit may struggle to keep up, even though the room it's controlling is only about 250 sq ft. I like the two 2 gallon water containers which are easy to fill and replace back in the unit. Overall the unit is a very good value.

I ordered this humidifier for my music room to keep all my guitars happy through the cold, dry winter we’ve been having. I have used a set of ultrasonic/mist humidifiers the last few years and while they did the job, even with two they struggled to keep up sometimes. I also went through 8-10 gallons of distilled water a week to avoid the white mineral dust being dispersed throughout the room. I figured I would give an evaporative humidifier a try. After more research, I decided on the Vornado Evap40 for a variety of reasons. 1 - I can use tap water as there is no mist being pushed throughout the room. 2 - While it uses replaceable wicks to draw the water in, they are inexpensive. With what I’m saving in distilled water, this humidifier is easily going to pay for itself the first season. 3 - Each of the two jugs holds two gallons apiece so far fewer fill ups throughout the week. Don’t forget to add some bacteriostat/water treatment with every fill-up to keep mold and algae from forming on the wicks and base of the humidifier. 4 - It has an extremely simple design and analog controls as opposed to digital, so it can be paired with a humidity controller to get much more precise control of the humidity level. The humidifier has a built-in humidistat that is fairly accurate on its own but the Digitech humidity controller I plugged the humidifier into consistently keeps the room within 3 % of the 48% level I set it to without the constant cycling on and off. The Evap40 has been working flawlessly to keep my guitars happy and humidified. It is definitely overkill for the size of my music room but after dealing with the struggling ultrasonic units for the last few years, I’m okay with that. A big shout to Vornado’s customer service while I’m at it. The humidifier arrived with the base cracked in a few places. I called the customer service line and spoke to a rep that apologized over and over for the inconvenience and had a new base sent with two-day shipping to my house, no questions asked! Both Vornado and the Evap40 are highly recommended!

Water tanks are impossible to clean well-quite heavy when full but I mastered the facilitation of placing them in the unit without mishap; our water has a level of iron that left a film I can't scrub off; the glugging of water as water evaporates is something we became accustomed to; I have since put it away, actually, and am using a small warm mist humidifier which does not measure up to this unit with regard to adding moisture to the air.

This humidifier is hands down the best one I have ever owned. Got it cheaper through TSC and also received it super fast.