Anyone else out there a fan (no pun intended) of these machines? I live where winters can be cold (therefore dry) and I've come to swear by them during the cold months. I've tried six different machines and am very happy with one I bought in November, the new-ish Vornado EVDC500, which reliably empties both tanks (each holds a gallon) in 24 hours, and is also a nice looking, slim design. BUT my real crush is a machine Vornado made quite a while ago, the Air Softener (photo below). My original machine worked reliably for about 12 years; each of the two tanks holds exactly two gallons, and even on the low setting it will empty both in 24 hours. Last month I found one for sale, NOS, and got it for a good price. As promised it was unused, in perfect condition. The trick about this machine is that inside a pump lifts the water into rails above the filter wicks, from where it drips down gently. So the wicks are always saturated and also, as they don't depend on capillary action to draw water up from the base, they last a very long time. The weakness in Vornado's design, which I learned the hard way, is it doesn't include an out-of-water cutoff. If the machine is allowed to run dry for any length of time, the pump breaks. So it's very important to remember to keep the tanks full.

Last week I learned that a German company, Brune, makes pump evaporative humidifiers for the commercial and industrial market. Their highest capacity machine, the B500, is a console, on casters, that has a 13 gallon tank and will evaporate a half-gallon of water in an hour. It can also be connected directly to a faucet to bypass the internal tank. The B500 costs $4,000! The company does make smaller versions priced at what a home user might be willing to spend. But what I really wish is that Vornado would add a cutoff switch to the old Air Softener and reintroduce it. Fantastic machine.