humidification help

Matt_70

Hi all,

I would like to get some advice on a whole house humidifier.  I have 2 floors of my house, about 3,000 sq ft, that need humidification during the winter.  We have hot water baseboard heat so that rules out those duct mounted units.  I looked at some general aire units but can't find anyone that has any experience with them or opinions, and don't want to spend a couple of grand to be the guinea pig.  Ideally I would like to mount it in my upstairs hallway where my laundry room is - pretty much right in the middle of the top floor - and hope that the humidity migrates through the first and second floor.  If anyone has any advice, opinions, suggestions I would love to hear them.



Thank you!!

Jack P.

Buy Sears only...

Having used portable humidifiers for years at an old residence with a water boiler I can tell without hesitation that ONLY humidifier to use is any Sears model. That is for the simple reason you will need to change the filter pad 2 or 3 times a heating season. If you do not they become crusted with calcium, etc. and will not work properly. You should be always be able to purchase replacements at Sears. You will also have to completely clean the unit monthly because the water will become very rancid from filtering the air while it humidifies. I also recommend use an additive in the water for control of bacteria. And be prepared to fill the unit each day whereas you can add a lot of water to the air with these units.

Jean-David Beyer

Humicifiers.

My house does not leak all that much, so I have a Honeywell room type humidifier, the type that boils the water. I got that because I did not want to use the cook mist (ultrasonic) type of unit that leaves deposits around the house. I also thought it would be more annoying to the bacteria in the evaporative type units. I do not know if they make them anymore, since it takes electrical energy to boil the water. But that may not make much difference, since that energy adds heat to the house and is thus not wasted. The way mine is designed, it heats only a very small amount of water, not the entire supply tank that holds several gallons. One of these is enough for my entire 1200 sq. ft. house.

Matt_70

follow up

I probably should have been a little more clear with my original post.  I'm not looking for a portable room humifier - already have a bunch of Air O swiss units - which I love.  The problem is who wants to fill these things EVERY day!  I am looking for something I can hook up directly to a supply line and and humidistat to properly regulate the humidity in the whole hosue.  I have a total of 4500 sq ft, 3000 sq ft on the two main floors.  Really would love to find something I can mount in the main hallway, hooked up to a supply line and probably a drain for the condensate, and cross my fingers that the humidity will migrate around the house.  I've heard that steam humidifiers are the way to go but just can't find anyone with good experience with them.  I'll probably end up doing the install myself and was looking at the General Aire units.  Probably around 2 grand but wouldn't mind if it actually works. 

mel rowe

Alternative

I read your post with interest because I have been through a lot of the same problem, trying to keep filled, 3 humidifier units that were evaporating about 12 gal of water per day to keep up with demand.  Fortunately I had available a previously installed duct system for a/c.  I got a local company to install a small air handler and tie in to the existing duct, and mount a steam humidifier unit rated at about 12 gal per day I think it was. When I got my first elec. bill, I almost flipped.  I want back and checked and found the steam unit was 1500 watts, and running about 24 hours a day, it was costing me about $90 per month.  After 2 years of this, and in consideration of the numerous problems due to condensate buildup causing overflow when the float hung up, plus the annual condensate clean out problems, I decided to toss it out.  Still happy with that decision.

After some searching I selected an Aprilaire 600 unit and purchased and installed myself.  Much lower initial cost and lower annual operating cost.  The design is solid and easy to maintain, by basically just changing the evap pad every year. Of course there is cost associated with running the Aprilaire.  Since I am moving room temp air through the unit, I had to use hot water to get enough evaporation, so there is the cost of water and the heating of it in hot water tank.  I also had to do some experimenting to get the water flow high enough to give me the amount of evaporation needed to evap 12 gal per day.  I did this by opening up the plastic orifice that regulates water flow.



Not sure I would want to install such a unit in the main part of the house.  Do you have a basement where you could install on small air handler,  and duct to rooms on the first floor?

Wayco Wayne_2

Nortec

Nortec is the best humidifier for areas with calcium that builds up in the humidifiers. They make residential & commercial steam humidifiers that use disposable canisters that have the electrdes built in to the canister. The electrdoes boil the water and snese the mineral content through reading the resistance between the electrodes. It flushes and fills to maintain a ceratin level of minerals to keep the right resistance. So it actually uses the calcium to it's advantage. Brilliant!!! After a season you simply toss the canister if it's full, and replace it. They can stand alone with an accessorie blower or you could run a small distribution duct depending on your situation. Humidity does spread quite rapidly through a house depending on the envelope quality of course. WW