humidification with radiant heat?

tony peressini

thanks for all the input. I really do not want a portable humidifier, will one buried in a wall get humidity to the entire house or just cause a moisture problem in one area? Does anybody know if it is feasable to install a heat coil in the HRV and a mist type humidifier and if so how does it work? thanks again

tony peressini

humidification with radiant floor heat

I have a 3400 square ft. bungalow home with radiant floor heat through out that I built last year.(i love the heat) The only duct work is in the attic attached to a pressurized high velocity cooling system. I have an HRV as well that is used for exhaust and fresh air. In the winter it is extremely DRY. How do I obtain humitiy withiout using a portable humidifier? Someone suggested a heating coil in the HRV with a humidifier, but someone else informed that not enough air is moved for this to work. HELP, PLEASE?

DanHolohan

Tony,

hope you don't mind but I moved this up to the Wall.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Maybe

A steam-type humidifier with a small dedicated duct system?

Humidity tends to stabilize itself through a home, so you should only need one air inlet and one air outlet. (I'd do this from near opposite ends of the largest open area of the home.) Am not certain of the quantity of air that would have to be moved, but I don't believe it would be too great.

A steam-type might? work in the HOME OUTLET PORTION of the HRV system. Putting it in the home inlet portion would likely cause some terrible condensation. I'd DEFINITELY check with the HRV mfgr to see if this can be done.

A self-contained humidifier would be a LOT cheaper to buy and run though.

BillW@honeywell

humidifier

A steam humidfier that possibly could be integrated into your cooling system with an hydronic or electric reheat, interlocked with the fan to temper the air on cold days is a viable, but expensive option. An energy recovery ventilator tends to balance humidity, but does not provide any additional humidity. Remember that an energy rocovery ventilator recovers both sensible & latent heat, where a heat recovery uint only recovers sensible heat. You can't add a humidifier to any of this type of ventilator.

JimGPE_3

While it is true that all things being equal humidity will disperse throughout the home, that is NOT true if you have humidity going in in one location and going out uniformly throughout the house (infiltration, condensation, porosity). Under those conditions you will get a humidity gradiant - more humid at the outlet, less humid everywhere else. How MUCH difference depends on how fast you are adding and losing humidity.

I think your HV airside is the best bet, and take what you can get, which will be better than what you have now.

Firedragon_4

Humidifier

I have a 5 zone forced hot water house on 3 floors. I have humidifiers and wouldn't do without them, FACT!

Go buy some nice floor units somewhere that can be easily maintained and auto-filled. Although I hate mentioning trade names, mine are Vornados, very good and running with all original moving parts after 20 years.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

That took me a minute...

...but it makes perfect sense.

If I understand it properly, the gradient would be least if you added just a bit more that you are loosing and over as long a time as possible. Biggest gradient would be by adding great amounts in short bursts. Correct?

Granted I'm not incredibly well-versed in humidification equipment but most all I've seen that attach to a duct system are REALLY leaky--this is a TERRIBLE no-no with high velocity systems.

Steve Ebels

Hey Bill

You lost me on that one. ERV vs HRV. What's the diff, and how does it produce this difference. What recovers the latent portion of the heat.

billygoat22

You can buy wall cavity mounted humidifiers and install over a closet door or wall against void space. You can probably find this type from anyone who makes duct mount(forced air heat )humidifiers. has a 10x or 12x grill exposed on wall when installed

[Deleted User]

Check for air infiltration

In my experience, a home that requires lots of humidity, usually means that you are losing air in the house, and thus replacing the air in the house with very dry outside air. You might want to consider a blower door test to see if you can't tighten up the building envelope. Then add a good quality stand alone humidifier. Be sure and watch the water quality. Lots of nasty things like to live in humidifiers...

BillW@honeywell

mist type humidifiers

Watch out for any mist type humidifier. The tiny orifice that the water is sprayed thru is subject to wear and mineral deposits. Once it begins to clog or wear, you will get larger water droplets spraying into your ducts and nothing is worse than getting wet ductwork! Water quality is also vital...spray types can introduce odors from minerals or pollutants in the water supply. Steam units come with cartridges or reverse osmosis purifiers to minimize those odors. Steam or free standing units are your best choices here, IMHO.

J.C.A.

Gotta agree with the Dragon on this one .

If for no other reason than the maintenance issue . Most "whole house" systems I've seen go without maintenance until they fail or leak . Water quality is also a major concern . If you have to look at a unit , you're more likely to do maintenance and clean it as necessary, as opposed to the unit that is hidden and "out of sight , out of mind ".

There are filters and chemical treatments available , but in my experience , they usually get pushed to the back burner till something happens . Maybe I've only been exposed to H.O.'s who neglect this , but I kind of doubt it . Chris

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

whole house humidifier

i used an april-air humidifier with a self contained fan and automatic water feed. and it humidifies my whole house evenly. mine is made to fit into a closet or wall cavity. bob

Steve Levine

Humidifiers work well from a central location

I have an Aprilaire unit installed in my home for 28 years. It is self contained (has it's own blower) an is mounted above our washer/drier area. It takes hot water from those lines and drains into the washer drain sink. It has a cell that the water flows over and the manufacturer says to replace this cell yearly. I have used cells for over five years. I discharge the air into a large central foyer area. I admit that I have only taken RH readings in a few locations one time, and they were equal to each other. I don't recommend that you tie anything into a cooling duct system. By the way, I think they still make a similar unit.

Steve

Ed_5

Aprilair 350/360

Tony, here his the url for the aprilair model.
http://www.aprilaire.com/product.asp?ID=FBEB12213A034BF8B488ADBA514A15E1&categoryID=F16F78145781484A8A7C756B87F43AB3

Ed_5

Aprilair 350/360

Tony, here his the url for the aprilair model.
http://www.aprilaire.com/product.asp?ID=FBEB12213A034BF8B488ADBA514A15E1&categoryID=F16F78145781484A8A7C756B87F43AB3

Keith Johnston

How dry is it?

The relative humidity should be between 40 and 60% in the winter. Have you measured it? Do you have any condensation on windows? That is a sign that the humidity is too high. Can you run the HRV on a slower speed to exchange less air, allowing the humidity from cooking and showers to stay in the house and raise the humidity level. My HRV has a humidistat control that turns it on high speed when the humidity gets above the set point which I set at 50%.

todd s

Chlorine

Is the level of chlorine in average tap water anything to be concerned with. It seems it wouldn't be healthy to add more to the air especially in a tight house.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

what a site!

it took me about 3 years to find a good humidifier, this guy got the info in one day. i run my humidifier about 35%, and on cold days condensation forms on the bottom of the windows. is that bad? thanks, bob

JimGPE_3

A little condensation ain't bad. Lets you know the unit is working. More, and you can rot the windows and/or sills. Also, any more and the chances are you are condensing inside the walls somewhere which is a very bad thing.

Must disagree with 40 - 60% in winter - in a cold climate these levels will tear your house apart!

Dennis - Reliable Services

Aprilaire model 360 or 350 sould work

for you model 350 can be installed in remote location, and ducted to area served, this works better if noise is a factor. I have model 360 which is mounted in the ceiling of a closet directly connected to a grill, I do hear it come on but I have gotten used to it.