Customer Reviews

Vornado HU1-0012-11 Standard 2.8 Gallon Vortex Humidifier

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've come to trust the Vornado brand, so I had no qualms about purchasing this humidifier. I generally keep it on the "low" setting and it is more than adequate for humidifying my bedroom. However, as others have noted when water is being fed into the main unit, it is loud. I can't say I've been woken up by it, but more than once I've been laying (awake) in bed and have been startled by it. The cat has become accustomed to it though. The filters do start turning brown relatively quickly, but I've not had any problems continuing to use them. The manual suggests you empty everything out if you're not going to use the humidifier for 12 hours, but I only use it at night and am too lazy to empty it out every single morning. Initially I was also concerned that the construction seemed a little flimsy, but I haven't had any problems. I would make sure to put it somewhere where it won't get bumped into though. Despite the "quirks", I would still recommend this product.

We have tried just about every style and brand of humidifier, trying to find one that is NOT a giant hassle to maintain and is quiet enough that it doesn't keep me awake all night. To make a long story short, the Vortex evaporative humidifiers are the best. They are perfect for the humidity boost we need in winter.

The highest speed does sound like a small box fan, but we just turn the fan speed to the "low" setting at night, which makes it virtually silent. The Vortex does make a "glug" sound (3-6 glugs in a row, in my experience) when water from the bottle(s) periodically discharges (a couple times each night?) into the bottom of the unit. However, I found that my husband and I quickly got used to this. I can tolerate and sleep through this sound MUCH better than the continuous and louder giant-pot-of-boiling-pasta noise made by other humidifiers.

No doubt, how much cleaning and wick replacement you need to do depends on your water quality. I'm on municipal water, which I assume is about average, and my wicks last for at least 2 months of continuous operation. I occasionally use the wick life extension method of soaking them in water with 2 tsp of vinegar, but I don't think it helps all that much. The filters are easy to find and not terribly expensive. There is no complicated disassembly involved to clean the unit and change the wicks, since you just lift off the top and wipe out the base. I do this once a season, no problems. The accumulation of mineral deposits that need to be scraped and scrubbed off is WAY LESS than we had with any of the other humidifiers we tried. That is, we have NO scraping and scrubbing whatsoever with these units.

Trying to find a solution, we went so far as to have a built-in humidifier installed with our HVAC system (forced air). That system boosted the humidity 2% max, wasted water, and had an expensive filter/wick that was painful to change. Just TWO strategically placed Vortex humidifiers do an excellent job of humidifying for less money and hassle. We've had the built-in system deactivated for years now, relying only on the Vortexes ... or "Vortices", if you are a nerd such as myself. (-:

Pros:
If you want to humidify a small to medium-sized room quietly and efficiently this is definitely the humidifier for you! I have owned other brands of humidifiers that are as loud or louder on their low speeds then the Vornado is at high speed. I found there to be No Loud Gurgling Sound from this humidifier when filling itself from the water tank. With the fan set on medium you can barley hear it & it does a fantastic job of maintaining a very comfotable humidity level.

Cons:
Removing the water tank from the humidifier is a bit awkward. Instead of placing a handle at the top of the tank (which would be easy to grab) the manufacturer opted to only put a slight bump there. You have to be careful carrying & then loading the water tank into the humidifier if it is filled to capacity; or else you might spill water all over the place. The control knob is hard to grab & turn. Anyone that has difficulty using their hands will find this feature very hard to deal with.

Over all the humidifier does what it is meant to do very well & very quietly. The problems are design flaws that Vornado can easily fix on future models if they so choose to do. I would not hesitate to recommend this humidifier to other people. Filter life is about 60 days.

Okay, this humidifier is good as all previous reviewer said. But one thing is deceptive about this humidifier. Manufacture claim that filter will sustain its use during 60 to 90 days. How come? I had my filter for 15 days and it begin to smell a little. Of course, you can use some water treatment solutions with your water and I guess this will prolong life of your humidifier to say 25 days. But I wouldn't imagine it last for more than 30 days. Of course, everyone has different water in their home, but it seems to me Manufacture used totally distilled without any impurities or mineral content water, in order, to claim one filter to work for a such long time. One more thing, if your house have some smells, they will somewhat diminish, but your filter will be smelling funny faster than usual. So, I think, in one sense, this filter acts as a cleaner of your surrounding air as well. In any case, I bought two of them (humidifiers) some extra filters and I am happy with it.

I bought this unit to help humidify my bedroom. Normal operation is nice and quiet and yet still seems to dump a good amount of water into the room.

The way the unit stores the water is in a big bottle on the side. The bottle feeds into the base of the unit and there is enough water in the bottom of the unit to keep the entire bottle from dumping out all at once. This provides a convenient way for you to refill the humidifier.

HOWEVER, when the water level drops enough that water is fed from the bottle there is a LOUD burbling sound as air replaces the water in the tank. This sound is loud enough to wake me from a sound sleep.

I bought two of these because the reviewers here gave it good marks and downplayed the noise it made. This product is easy to assemble and clean. Filling the water chamber is very easy compared to other humidifiers I have used. To me it is the best feature. My main gripe is with the noise it makes. First of all, the fan is not as quiet as I had hoped. There are three fan speeds, but the lowest speed is the only one that has an acceptable sound level at night. The higher two are only useful during the day when it can be drowned out by other household noises. To make matters worse, every 2 hours or so, this humidifier makes a series of loud GULPs as the water from the tank drains into the humidifier base. Based on the reviews I read here, I didn't think it would be a problem because I am a heavy sleeper, so I was suprised that the GULPing noise wakes me up at night.

This is a fine product for the daytime, but for nighttime/sleeptime, I wish I had purchased something else.

We found the gurgling sound of the air going into the tank to be noticeable while we slept, but our brains learned to "tune out" that sound, as it does with all other sounds normal to one's environment. The fan is virtually noiseless, as this is the trademark of Vornado fans. Very simple and clean design.

Very basic unit. There are only 3 pieces. The top with fan, the bottom, and the glug glug water jug that looks like a WWII bedpan. It doesn't get any simpler than this. Very quiet and quite effective at its job.

One of the things I forgot to think about before I bought htis was whether or not I wanted to be turning it off and on every time the need arose. Argh.

It has no humidity sensor so you will be turning off and on yourself when the windows start to drip on the inside and when your throat feels hoarse. If I had to buy again, I'd go for a model with that sensor.

I have owned many Vornado products in the past (and still have ALL of them). These folks make the very best air moving machines in the world.
The humidifier is silent and does several rooms with no problem. It is easy to fill and has not caused a great deal of white dust as my old humidifier did.
I am convinced that Vornado is a brand you can trust to deliver on any promises they make.
Very very satisfied with the product-and recommend it highly.

I researched for a long time before I purchased a humidifier for our bedroom. I chose the Vornado for its good reviews and well-known name. While the Vornado is quiet while spewing out the cool mist, it makes an INCREDIBLY LOUD KNOCKING SOUND many times (at least 4) during the average 8-hour night while the water gulps down from the water chamber into the body of the humidifier. IF YOU ARE a deep sleeper, or not bothered by loud knocking sounds, then this is the perfect humidifier for you. However, if you are a light sleeper, like I am, keep searching or wear ear plugs. I am literally woken up in my sleep by the knocking/gulping sound; my husband, who is a very sound sleeper, was awaken one night by the sound, got out of bed, and went to the door half asleep thinking that one of our children were knocking on it. On a positive note, the water chamber is easy to fill and replace, as are the wicks. All parts are very easy to clean. And it does "humidify" the room quite nicely. It is just very loud and I would not buy another Vornado for that reason alone.