Vornado Ultra3 Whole Room Ultrasonic Humidifier

I've gone through my share of humidifiers. It seems like I have to buy a new one every year because my humidifier from the year before gives out. Well, this year I purchased this Vornado Ultra3 and I've been pleasantly surprised. I use a humidifier in my bedroom to make it more comfortable and easier to breath during dry, winter months. In the past, I've had some issues with other humidifiers having bright lights (I guess to make it look cool?) and leaving moist spots on my carpet around the unit. This humidifier only has small lights that aren't bothersome to me while I sleep, and does an excellent job of actually circulating the moisture. No wet spots! It's also very easy to refill with water (the water reservoir fits under my faucet on my bathroom sink, filling once a day works for me & I just use tap water without any issues) and clean with diluted bleach. Due to the fan that circulates the moisture, it's a little louder than other humidifiers I've owned. Not noisy enough, though, to be disruptive to my sleep.Pros:- No wet spots on carpet. It circulates moisture rather than dumping it on flooring.- A great bedroom unit. Small, not-too-bright lights and not too noisy even on high.- Easy to refill- Easy to clean- Water reservoir is the perfect sizeCons:- Might be too noisy for some, but that's because it has a built-in fan! It's about as noisy as a fan on a low setting.

I am using this humidifier in an exotic bird room, and I needed the humidity to remain at a constant level. Previous to purchasing the Vornado, I purchased a unit that just ran until it was empty. Sometimes the humidity got up to 90%, and other times, it was at 50% or less. I also noticed that the vapor just went up into the air, and then dropped back down to the floor, and if I didn't keep it on low, the floor became wet and tacky. And then that unit began to leak. Out it went! Along with the Vornado Ultra3 humidifier, I purchased the Extech 445715 Big Digit Hygro-Thermometer. I wanted a good hygrometer to check whether or not the Vornado was doing what it was supposed to, since it had settings for the humidity percent one wants. I set the unit on 'auto', and at 60%. I was amazed to see that the Vornado does exactly what it is supposed to do, and the good quality Extech Hygrometer correlated exactly with the Humidifier humidity setting! Also, I noted that when I enter the bird room, and the humidity drops because the door is open, the Vornado will come on and bring the humidity back up to where it should be within a minute or less! Amazing! I am more than happy. And with the Vornado that distributes the vapor evenly throughout the room with the fan, there is no more damp sticky floor! The birds are happy now, and I don't have to even think about the humidity in the room. On 'auto', the Vornado humidifier will run for more than 72 hours, although I fill it daily just to be sure it keeps going. I distill my own water (I'm on a well), and I don't expect to be bothered with any mineral build-up that way. So far, I am much more than happy with this unit. I will update my review after I've had it for a longer period of time.Update: June 17, 2014I've had the Vornado for over a month, and it's working flawlessly! I am so glad that I made this purchase. It's easy to fill, and when it runs routinely on low with the auto setting, it's totally silent. When the bird room door is open, and the unit needs to bring the humidity back up because of the humidity being lost through the open door, it switches to the high setting for a bit. At that point, you can definitely hear the fan, but it's not so loud that it's a bother either for me, or the birds.

I wanted to review this one right away but chose to wait to test for a long term quality. Well, the results are in and it is as expected: a well made humidifier! The fan does make a unit larger comparing to other products on a market but it makes all the difference in mixing the water mist into the air! Maybe a bit too dudish but I like the modern black design that also seems to work well with functional features of this humidifier... Basically, great blend of function to design, stylish (almost looks more than just a humidifier, I even had some people ask on what it was), no leaks, easy to folow controls, easy to handle tank, large opening to clean / add water, no powder dust issues with filtered water, quiet on a low setting and a large enough output (about 2 gal a day on low setting)! There are a few downsides woth mentioning: I wish it was a bit easier to get to internal reservoir to clean the innerds, unit is very loud on high (would like a medium setting as a compromise), also, please please would’ve liked to have auto shutoff feature ones out of water!