Steam heat and static electricity

Ken_5

I have a 1 1/2 story English Tudor with a boiler and the original radiators. Every winter my house turns into a static electricity nightmare. Is there any type of humidifiers that you recommend other than the small room humidifiers. Is there a way to adjust my radiators to produce more moisture in the air? It's getting quit embarassing when all my guests leave with static and dog hair after a visit. My wife and I are in disagreement over this issue. She is worried adding moisture will be harmful to the plaster etc, I believe the proper amount is actually beneficial. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Ken

Craig_2

Winters are dry

Winter is a dry season. You can definitely add moisture without hurting your plaster. In fact, a constant humidity level is best for a home and it's contents. Get yourself a humidistat and start tracking the humidity levels in your house through the seasons. You don't have to write it down or record it, just start keeping track in your head. You'll see winter months are very dry and late summer is very wet.

Personally, I use my cat as an indicator of when I need to haul out the Sears humidifier. I put probably 5 gallons of water into the air each day for my 2400 square foot 1920 house with no wall insulation. You mileage may vary.

-cf

Steamhead

Vapor Barrier?

If your home doesn't have one, it's possible to paint one on with oil-based paint on the inside walls. This isn't as good as a dedicated vapor barrier in the walls, but it helps keep moisture inside.

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ta finnegan

Humidification

There are alot of whole house humidification alternatives. Most of which involve ductwork of some sort. Apart from that the individual room humidifiers are nice but do not solve the problem. The humidity needs to be distributed evenly and without a central system of distribution, your alternatives are few.

You do not want your steam radiators letting steam go on purpose. I try to get my customer's systems to NOT do this. The differential will be made up by the water feed and raw water into the boiler every other day to humdify the house is not a good way to go if you want the boiler to last.

My grandmother used to have these really ornate radiator covers. The top was a hinged lid. There was about 4" of space from the radiator to the underside of the cover. She used to put a loaf pan full of water there every day to humidify the rooms. She changed the water every day and no one was the wiser.

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