# Whole house humidifier



## dac122 (Sep 5, 2008)

What climate are you using this for? All seasons or just winter?


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dac122 said:


> What climate are you using this for? All seasons or just winter?


The Aprilaire is an evaporative system so it uses a hot water supply. It has a 6 gph flow rate, so it cold go through a lot of hot water. The Fedders is an atomizer so it only needs cold water. These are both freestanding/through the wall systems. I have hot water baseboard heat so I'm limited on the systems that are out there. These are the only two I have found.


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## handy man88 (Jan 23, 2007)

jerryh3 said:


> Has anyone here installed a self-contained whole house humidifier? I'm looking between the Aprilaire 360 and the Fedders/Trion 707u. I'm leaning towards the 707u because it only requires a cold water supply and no drain while the 360 needs a hot water supply and a drain. Just looking for opinions if anyone has used either (or a similar type unit).


You might want to reconsider the Fedders model, not because it's not a good product, but because Fedders recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

I know because I have a portable humidifier made by Fedders that needs repair and they're not honoring warranties until/unless they get their act together.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

handy man88 said:


> You might want to reconsider the Fedders model, not because it's not a good product, but because Fedders recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
> 
> I know because I have a portable humidifier made by Fedders that needs repair and they're not honoring warranties until/unless they get their act together.


I saw that. That goes in negative column for the Fedders.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

HEY GUYS!

An atomizing humidifier? Sure they work for a while.

But those of you who have them vs. those of you who sell them and install them, why don't you describe the maintenance requirements to us?


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

hvaclover said:


> HEY GUYS!
> 
> An atomizing humidifier? Sure they work for a while.
> 
> But those of you who have them vs. those of you who sell them and install them, why don't you describe the maintenance requirements to us?


You mean the scale, algae, and slime buildup? That's why I was hoping to hear from some people that have actually used them. The installation instructions say to install a good pre-filter, but I wanted to hear real word experiences with either type of system.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> You mean the scale, algae, and slime buildup? That's why I was hoping to hear from some people that have actually used them. The installation instructions say to install a good pre-filter, but I wanted to hear real word experiences with either type of system.


 
Stick with a good bypass drain type humidifier.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

hvaclover said:


> Stick with a good bypass drain type humidifier.


Yeah, I know. But that requires a bigger hole in the wall, a hot water supply, and a drain. Plus, it's $90 more. But, you get what you pay for.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

There's steam too.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

hvaclover said:


> There's steam too.


I haven't seen any stand-alone steam units. That would be my first choice.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Unless your house is real drafty, the Aprilaire shouldn't be running too much.

Might want to see if you can lower your air infiltration more. That will decrease the amount of moisture the humidifier has to add to the house.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

beenthere said:


> Unless your house is real drafty, the Aprilaire shouldn't be running too much.
> 
> Might want to see if you can lower your air infiltration more. That will decrease the amount of moisture the humidifier has to add to the house.


I've tightened the house up as much as I could. All new windows and new door seals. But, it is an old house so it's still a little "drafty."


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dac122 said:


> What climate are you using this for? All seasons or just winter?


Just using it for winter.


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## Winchester (Aug 27, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> I've tightened the house up as much as I could. All new windows and new door seals.


More than likely there is much more that could be done to tighten up your house.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

Winchester said:


> More than likely there is much more that could be done to tighten up your house.


I've walked the basement with the can of spray foam and caulk and hit all of the daylight I could. I have a few more things to do like insulate the joist bays in the basement and gasket all of the outlets.


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## dgbehrends (May 4, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> I haven't seen any stand-alone steam units. That would be my first choice.


I'm in them market for a whole house humidifier as well and am waiting on quotes right now. I've narrowed down my list to a water wasting bypass humidifier, or an electricity sucking steam humidifier, specifically the TrueSteam model made by Honeywell. Do some searching on TrueSteam and you will find more info. Good Luck!


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

dgbehrends said:


> I'm in them market for a whole house humidifier as well and am waiting on quotes right now. I've narrowed down my list to a water wasting bypass humidifier, or an electricity sucking steam humidifier,


Did you check out the Aprilaire 400.
Its a bypass, but not a flow thru.
It does require its pad to be changed twice a seson.
Not recomended for heat pump application though.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

dgbehrends said:


> I'm in them market for a whole house humidifier as well and am waiting on quotes right now. I've narrowed down my list to a water wasting bypass humidifier, or an electricity sucking steam humidifier, specifically the TrueSteam model made by Honeywell. Do some searching on TrueSteam and you will find more info. Good Luck!


 
By pass humidifiers don't waste water.

The steam humidifier is a monster on maintenance because of the scale build unless your shelling out a couple hundred more for some add on flusher,.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dgbehrends said:


> I'm in them market for a whole house humidifier as well and am waiting on quotes right now. I've narrowed down my list to a water wasting bypass humidifier, or an electricity sucking steam humidifier, specifically the TrueSteam model made by Honeywell. Do some searching on TrueSteam and you will find more info. Good Luck!


I don't have ductwork in my house so I'm limited with my choices. I think I might just another year with a console unit. I have a baby due in a week and my wife isn't too happy about the idead of cutting holes in walls right now.


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## dgbehrends (May 4, 2008)

beenthere said:


> Did you check out the Aprilaire 400.
> Its a bypass, but not a flow thru.
> It does require its pad to be changed twice a seson.
> Not recomended for heat pump application though.


I just checked it out and it looks different from the 600A or honeywell equivalent that I was considering, however I need to look for more commentary and pricing on how much the filters cost and how gunked up they can get.



hvaclover said:


> By pass humidifiers don't waste water.
> The steam humidifier is a monster on maintenance because of the scale build unless your shelling out a couple hundred more for some add on flusher,.


Unless your talking about the 400A (new type) or your definition of a bypass humidifier is wildly different from mine then I have to disagree and say that most bypass humidifiers do waste a lot of water. As far as the scale build up, Honeywell claims they have the heater element material figured out such that it won't accumulate mineral deposits. They slapped a 5 year warranty on the thing, but only time will tell. My concern with the steam is that there are lots of parts and that it could cost a lot due to electricity usage. My problem with the Bypass is that it requires the furnace to be on and that costs money too, but it may not be able to get my humidity up fast enough without over heating the house. I don't think my furnace is over sized. Here is a description of my setup for reference.
http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=154238


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

When you consider it as a benefit vs. cost, and the unit delivers humidity as advertised ie. your home is well humidified to you comfort level, than you are getting what you pay for and you are losing little water down the drain. And the maintenance is next to nothing because there is no standing water to form scum and other moldy materials.

In my book and the opinion of most HVACer, that's a savings, not a waste of money.


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## dgbehrends (May 4, 2008)

hvaclover said:


> When you consider it as a benefit vs. cost, and the unit delivers humidity as advertised ie. your home is well humidified to you comfort level, than you are getting what you pay for and you are losing little water down the drain. And the maintenance is next to nothing because there is no standing water to form scum and other moldy materials.
> 
> In my book and the opinion of most HVACer, that's a savings, not a waste of money.


First, my concern with the 400A is that I might not be able to get my humidity to the correct level because it depends on the furnace running, and remember running the furnace is additional cost, plus the warm water also keeps the water heater running. It's not as simple as saying water is cheap electricity is expensive and therefore the bypass is better. Looking at past products, I think its safe to say that yes steam humidifiers are more maintenance. I think the jury is still out on whether the TrueSteam can be categorized with steam humidifiers of the past. 

Second, I'm skeptical when someone says "most HVACers" or "most Doctors". I'm not saying your wrong but I think its hard to quantify that. Maybe on this forum, but that may not represent other forums or the industry. 

I'm just a HO so what do I know.  *not much*


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

dgbehrends said:


> First, my concern with the 400A is that I might not be able to get my humidity to the correct level because it depends on the furnace running, and remember running the furnace is additional cost, plus the warm water also keeps the water heater running. It's not as simple as saying water is cheap electricity is expensive and therefore the bypass is better. Looking at past products, I think its safe to say that yes steam humidifiers are more maintenance. I think the jury is still out on whether the TrueSteam can be categorized with steam humidifiers of the past.
> 
> Second, I'm skeptical when someone says "most HVACers" or "most Doctors". I'm not saying your wrong but I think its hard to quantify that. Maybe on this forum, but that may not represent other forums or the industry.
> 
> I'm just a HO so what do I know.  *not much*


You made a general statement that bypass humids are wasters and I answered in kind with a generalization.

But now you want to re frame the context in which the issue was originally stated and say they are wasteful under certain conditions.


OK let's play it your way.
For one thing there are humidifiers available when properly installed on a right sized furnace can/will humidify the home off the cold water supply as well as the hot water side, it's optional. 

So there goes the idea of by pass humids causing more than normal water heater cycling and "wasting" gas.
Longer furnace cycles wasting gas and electricity to achieve comfortable humidity levels: It is a proven fact as established by ASHRAE that a home feels more comfortable a lower temps setting when properly humidified.
That means shorter run cycles. No wasted gas or electricity here either.

Humids using hot water: even assuming a 22 gal per day humidifier; if the humid runs 24/7 the gallon usage per hour is less than one gal of water per hour. That is not enough draw off the WH to cause it to cycle.

And as far as your skepticism about "What most HVACers say" not being valid beyond the boundaries of what ever forum you happen to be reading at the moment: You should be advised that most of the guys you read good information from do not limit themselves to just one forum. I don't and I know the pros here don't either. So you are under one big misconception that the opinions stated on just one site are unique to it only.

And in ending I would like to tell you that your smart ass ending comments 
are not appreciated. Quote:*I'm just an HO so what do I know:wink:*not much*.*

Guys and ladies give freely of themselves here and do it on our own time.

Nobody begrudges you being knowledgeable in any area of expertise you wish to pursue.

But you are just being arrogant and be little the real pros here by boasting how much you "think" you know.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

hvaclover said:


> You made a general statement that bypass humids are wasters and I answered in kind with a generalization.
> 
> But now you want to re frame the context in which the issue was originally stated and say they are wasteful under certain conditions.
> 
> ...


Can I throw something in here to give a little insight on the water wasting comments of the 360. It says it has a evaporative capacity of .5 gal/hr but a feed rate of 6 gal/hr. 6 gallons of hot water per hour seems like a lot to get .5 gallons into the air. Not trying to get in the middle of the "discussion", but those numbers seem to justify the "water wasting" position.


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## dgbehrends (May 4, 2008)

hvaclover said:


> You made a general statement that bypass humids are wasters and I answered in kind with a generalization.


What I have learned here is that there are some bypass humidifiers that don't waste water, like the 400A. My reading up to this point was on bypass humidifier models that _in my opinion_ send unused water down the drain.



hvaclover said:


> But now you want to re frame the context in which the issue was originally stated and say they are wasteful under certain conditions.
> 
> 
> OK let's play it your way.
> ...


From reading forums and discussing with contractors who have bid on installing my HVAC setup to date (see link in my post above), which makes the following statement my opinion and not fact, is that bypass humidifiers are more effective when hooked up to the hot water supply. If I understand your comments correctly, your saying that in some circumstances the bypass humidifier doesn't need to be hooked up to the hot water supply to effectively deliver humidification for a particular home, based on what the homeowner finds comfortable. I agree with your statement. However my opinion formulated thus far is that this would not work for my home. 



hvaclover said:


> Longer furnace cycles wasting gas and electricity to achieve comfortable humidity levels: It is a proven fact as established by ASHRAE that a home feels more comfortable a lower temps setting when properly humidified.
> That means shorter run cycles. No wasted gas or electricity here either.


Yes I agree that this is a fact. The key is getting to the proper humidity level, and then convincing the wife that she doesn't need to keep bumping that temperature up after I bump it down. I struggled with this because I over used my HRV last winter (wrongly) thinking I needed more fresh air. If I can manage my humidity better, maybe I can convince her to think about how comfortable she actually feels instead of being fixated on a temperature setting.



hvaclover said:


> Humids using hot water: even assuming a 22 gal per day humidifier; if the humid runs 24/7 the gallon usage per hour is less than one gal of water per hour. That is not enough draw off the WH to cause it to cycle.


True, it won't be the sole contributor to a WH cycle, but it will add to the other uses that do make the WH cycle. The carbon footprint or whatever you want to call it is hard to quantify in this situation, but I believe it is non-negligible.



hvaclover said:


> And as far as your skepticism about "What most HVACers say" not being valid beyond the boundaries of what ever forum you happen to be reading at the moment: You should be advised that most of the guys you read good information from do not limit themselves to just one forum. I don't and I know the pros here don't either. So you are under one big misconception that the opinions stated on just one site are unique to it only.


 Misconception or not I have not read a strong bias for or against the Truesteam humidifier. I have read more negative than positive comments about older style steam humidifiers. I have a standalone steam humidifier and the heating element does build up scale and is a pain to clean. Honeywell claims they have solved this problem. Do I believe them straight out, not entirely. Would I like to see comments from HOs (or pros that have feedback from HOs) using the Truesteam regarding this matter, Yes. 



hvaclover said:


> And in ending I would like to tell you that your smart ass ending comments
> are not appreciated. Quote:*I'm just an HO so what do I know:wink:*not much*.*
> 
> Guys and ladies give freely of themselves here and do it on our own time.
> ...


I apologize about my "I'm just a HO" quote. It was in no way meant to be arrogant or be little the folks that give their time to help others. In fact I was "trying" albeit unsuccessfully to poke fun at myself . However, I am wary of people that try to deceptively push a product for personal benefit. IMO you were not trying to this. 

Some people quote facts and some simple state opinions. Most of what I say is opinion. I am in the process of deciding to go with a TrueSteam or bypass, potentially the 400A or "brand" equivalent. 

Were you considering the TrueSteam when you made this quote?


hvaclover said:


> The steam humidifier is a monster on maintenance because of the scale build unless your shelling out a couple hundred more for some add on flusher,.


If so, are you simply skeptical of the product or do you know of situations where the TrueSteam has been a maintenance nightmare?


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> Can I throw something in here to give a little insight on the water wasting comments of the 360. It says it has a evaporative capacity of .5 gal/hr but a feed rate of 6 gal/hr. 6 gallons of hot water per hour seems like a lot to get .5 gallons into the air. Not trying to get in the middle of the "discussion", but those numbers seem to justify the "water wasting" position.


 
When was the last time you saw a furnace run for an hour non stop except when it hits it's steady state capacity. Even during 20 or 30* weather the furnace cycles on average of four to six cycles per hour. And by then the humidification has been well established by this time.

The humidification process is a slow one. It takes on average one or two weeks of humidifier run time to bring a home into the recommended industry accepted range of 40 to 50% RH. Sure the specs state a specific volume of water per a given length of run time. But it's not clock time. There will be days during cold weather where the in home RH is too high to close the the humidistat. This will be due to either out door RH being higher or the living habits of the family (taking more showers, doing laundry, cooking) artificially raising the home's RH level.The furnace will run but the humidifier remains off until the RH drops below control set point again.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

dgbehrends said:


> What I have learned here is that there are some bypass humidifiers that don't waste water, like the 400A. My reading up to this point was on bypass humidifier models that _in my opinion_ send unused water down the drain.
> 
> 
> From reading forums and discussing with contractors who have bid on installing my HVAC setup to date (see link in my post above), which makes the following statement my opinion and not fact, is that bypass humidifiers are more effective when hooked up to the hot water supply. If I understand your comments correctly, your saying that in some circumstances the bypass humidifier doesn't need to be hooked up to the hot water supply to effectively deliver humidification for a particular home, based on what the homeowner finds comfortable. I agree with your statement. However my opinion formulated thus far is that this would not work for my home.
> ...


 
I was talking about steam in general as i have experienced it thru the years and up to now.


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## dgbehrends (May 4, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> I've walked the basement with the can of spray foam and caulk and hit all of the daylight I could. I have a few more things to do like insulate the joist bays in the basement and gasket all of the outlets.


Hi Jerry,
First off sorry to somewhat de-rail your thread. I painted one of my rooms and while I had the outlet covers off I noticed a sizable draft coming out of the outlet or light switch. Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean by "gasket all of the outlets"? The breeze I felt was coming from inside the box and not from around the outside edges, strangely enough. I'm guessing stuffing some insulation around the wire nuts is a bad idea?


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

? The way you were going I completely forgot who the OP was.

To the OP: sorry this was your thread. Guess i helped turn it into a train wreck.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

dgbehrends said:


> Hi Jerry,
> First off sorry to somewhat de-rail your thread. I painted one of my rooms and while I had the outlet covers off I noticed a sizable draft coming out of the outlet or light switch. Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean by "gasket all of the outlets"? The breeze I felt was coming from inside the box and not from around the outside edges, strangely enough. I'm guessing stuffing some insulation around the wire nuts is a bad idea?


Not a problem. 
http://www.canambuildingenvelope.com/files/pdfs/330-1130-seo.pdf


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

jerryh3 said:


> Can I throw something in here to give a little insight on the water wasting comments of the 360. It says it has a evaporative capacity of .5 gal/hr but a feed rate of 6 gal/hr. 6 gallons of hot water per hour seems like a lot to get .5 gallons into the air. Not trying to get in the middle of the "discussion", but those numbers seem to justify the "water wasting" position.


The 350 and 360 are NOT bypass humidifiers.

The statement was that bypass are wastefull.

The 350 and 360 rely on absorbing roughly 480 BTUs of heat from the room air per .5 pounds of water to evaporate it.
At 5 CFM it takes a lot of time to remove that heat from the air, and evaporate the water. If they don't receive a steady supply of hot water, the air will cool the water to a point of lower evaporation, and cooler discharge air temp. So those units require a constant supply of hot water to prevent you from feeling a cool air draft while they run.

Half of their water consumption is to prevent you from feeling a cool draft.

The 350 and 360 are an entirely different class of humidifier then a bypass.

That would be a orange to grapefruit comparision.


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## jerryh3 (Dec 10, 2007)

beenthere said:


> The 350 and 360 are NOT bypass humidifiers.
> 
> The statement was that bypass are wastefull.
> 
> ...


Ok. Good point. I should have explanied I was talking about that model in particular(350/360) and not bypass units.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

beenthere said:


> The 350 and 360 are NOT bypass humidifiers.
> 
> The statement was that bypass are wastefull.
> 
> ...


This, your humble Padwon, thanks you O Master!:thumbup:


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

hvaclover said:


> This, your humble Padwon, thanks you O Master!:thumbup:


 
LOL... Your welcome. :thumbsup:


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## Educator (Jan 1, 2008)

dgbehrends said:


> Hi Jerry,
> First off sorry to somewhat de-rail your thread. I painted one of my rooms and while I had the outlet covers off I noticed a sizable draft coming out of the outlet or light switch. Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean by "gasket all of the outlets"? The breeze I felt was coming from inside the box and not from around the outside edges, strangely enough. I'm guessing stuffing some insulation around the wire nuts is a bad idea?


These should be installed on all electrical outlets as well as wall switches inside the house that are on exterior walls. Additionally, we also have those baby safety plugs in the electrical outlet itself even after having applied the gasket.

They are really, really cheap (around 50 cents per) and a one time energy conservation task.

If you want to see some pic's (along with how much space are in our electrical outlets you can see them in here in an article we wrote on our home web site if it helps clarify things:

Air Leakage & Electrical Outlets
Air Leakage & Wall Switches


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## Educator (Jan 1, 2008)

Regarding the home humidifier topic, we had excessive low humidity issues last year (1st year in a 21 year old 1,700 sq. ft bungalow in Ontario).

Our home is pretty well sealed (per the energy audit we had last fall), with a high efficiency furnace. Our total cubit meters of natural gas consumed over the past 12 months was only 980 (home heating, home hot water heating, exterior BBQ). 

There is a flow thru humidifier, with a new pad last year yet we were only able to get around 30% humidity at most. It was uncomfortable and I'm concerned about the new hardwood floors.

And, this fall we are installing a new solar air heating device on the south wall which should reduce (to what extent we shall see) the amount of time the furnace runs on sunny days.

I'm thinking that perhaps our furnace is not on enough for the flow through humidifier to work. Do we need to go with a different type of humifier? Would that make a significant difference? And if so, what is the best (A) type and (B) brand / make / model that you would recommend?

We had thought of the Honeywell steam humidifier mentioned above because it's not slave to the furnace running. But I am concerned about the cost $1,000-ish (geeeze) and electrical consumption. 

Many thanks for your help. Home humidifiers are not my strong point.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

The down side of tightening up a house with the existing furnace. Or you are a causality of over an. sized furnace. You are correct, it is not running enough to keep the home well humidified. 
Kits may be purchased that will turn on the humidifier and furnace blower
when this is an issue. You will have to hook up your humidifier to the hot side of the plumbing. The hot water will provide enough heat to absorb moisture into the dry air as the blower operates.


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## Educator (Jan 1, 2008)

hvaclover said:


> The down side of tightening up a house with the existing furnace. Or you are a causality of over an. sized furnace. You are correct, it is not running enough to keep the home well humidified.
> Kits may be purchased that will turn on the humidifier and furnace blower
> when this is an issue. You will have to hook up your humidifier to the hot side of the plumbing. The hot water will provide enough heat to absorb moisture into the dry air as the blower operates.


Many thanks for the extremely quick reply, hvaclover.

Let me preface by saying I am not sufficiently experienced to install any kits you reference, so I would need to get someone to do this for me.

First, if the kit is installed so the furnace fan runs when the humidifier needs to run, is the benefit of changing the plumbing so hot and not cold water runs into the flow through humidifier sufficiently significant?

Second, I mentioned this to the Direct Energy serviceman last year and he told me that the unit would not work that way. I am not sufficient knowledgable / experience with humidifiers to have countered this statement that he made.

However, for obvious safety reasons, I don't want to get just any Joe Schmo to make the change. Any thoughts on why the Direct Energy seviceman would have said that it couldn't be done and suggestions on who to contact other than any old plumber in the yellow pages?

Last, will changing the wiring so the furnace fan will run whenever either the furnace needs to heat the house or whenever the flow through humidifier needs to run do anything to void the waranty on the furnace?

I really don't want to spend all that money to buy another humidifier when installation of such a kit makes common sense to me and would seem to be the answer.

Many thanks for your guidance!


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

Gotta do some research. Company that sold that kit was sold.

I have the info in my achieves. I'll get it asap.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

You can have a Honeywell IAQ thermostat installed to controll the furnace and the humidifier.
It will run the furnaces fan when it calls for the humidifier to run.

You will need the humidifier connected to the hot water line.

It works if your humidifier is a flow thrue.

Don't confuse flow thru with bypass.
The Aprilaire 400 is a bypass humidifier, but it is not a flow thru, and connecting it to the hot water line won't help.

If your humidifier has a sump, it is not a flow thru.


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

Thanks Been. I was digging in my old Autoflo paper work. That one you mentioned I am not that familiar with but will work just as well.


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## Educator (Jan 1, 2008)

Thank you to both beenthere and hvaclover.

What about the questions of why a feed from the hot water tank to the flow through humidifier? I know that hot air 'vapourizes' faster than cold. What I am referring to is how much faster will the air vapourize? Will it really make that much difference in reducing the duration that the humidifier has to work / run with a warm water feed?

Many thanks for the clarity!


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## hvaclover (Oct 2, 2008)

No, it will make up for the lack of run time of the heating cycle.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Water emps below 130°F only increase a humidifiers ability very slightly.

You need 140° water to have any real gainfull increase in evaporation rate. 

Water must absorb X amount of BTUs to evaporate.
Using hot water(140°) it doesn't have to absorb as much heat from the air to vaporize.

Depending on furnace discharge air temp. Using hot water can increase evaporation rate by .5 to 1 pound an hour(1 pound is just under 1 pint).

As trivial as that may sound.
A 2000 sq ft house, with 8' high ceilings. Requires .172 pounds of moisture increase to raise its RH from 30% to 40%.
(doesn't include loss to infiltration)

Its not easy to add that moisture if a furnace only runs 10 minutes once or twice an hour.


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## Winchester (Aug 27, 2008)

beenthere said:


> Its not easy to add that moisture if a furnace only runs 10 minutes once or twice an hour.


Couldn't humidity be gained by just running the furnace fan longer? I have a controller for my Aprilaire 4400 Media Air Filter (beneficial for those allergy sufferers in the house) that allows me to run the furnace fan at some optional settings. Wouldn't this allow me to gain RH in our home?


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## Educator (Jan 1, 2008)

Winchester said:


> Couldn't humidity be gained by just running the furnace fan longer? I have a controller for my Aprilaire 4400 Media Air Filter (beneficial for those allergy sufferers in the house) that allows me to run the furnace fan at some optional settings. Wouldn't this allow me to gain RH in our home?


Hi Winchester,

In our case, the water only flows into the flow thru humidifier when the furnace is on; therefore running the furnace fan won't help with our current situation.

What you are suggesting is what I want; i.e. the furnace fan to run automatically whether the furnace is on to heat the house or we need more humidity.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Winchester said:


> Couldn't humidity be gained by just running the furnace fan longer? I have a controller for my Aprilaire 4400 Media Air Filter (beneficial for those allergy sufferers in the house) that allows me to run the furnace fan at some optional settings. Wouldn't this allow me to gain RH in our home?


If you connect the humidifier to the hot water line.

If you just have it hooked to the cold line. It will mostly just cool the air down.
55°F water doesn't evaporate too well with just 70°F air blowing through it.

Also depends how they wired teh humidifier. If its wired only to be able to run on heat calss. Or anytime the blower is on.


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