Anyone use a humidifier ?

[tony357 386]

With the forced hot air and colder weather humidity levels have been very low drying out my nose and throat. 25% last night and today..

 

Today i purchased an ultrasonic humidifier and hopefully will have good results.

 

Had a 20% off coupon from bed bath and beyond so i put it to use on this product..

 

Give me your input on these products and if you use one..

 

my father in law had one installed in the forced hot air heating unit itself but did not work well.  

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/air-o-swiss-reg-ultrasonic-humidifier-aos-u650/3244356?Keyword=swiss+humidifiers

 

 

[Old School 611]

Tony - I have HWB heat and run 3 humidifiers in a 2400 sq ft house.

 

They have digital humidity read outs on them and the one I'm sitting next to is 34%

 

Lower than I'd like.

 

Remember the in duct units in a Forced air system require lots of maintenance depending on your water condition.

[Back on target 0]

I had problems with our in-duct system due to hard water, lots of mineral deposits.

As OldSchool said, water and maintenance are the big issue. (including portable units.)

[Njbanshee 9]

I only run one in my sons room. The thought of water in the air around my rifles makes me sick.

[DeerSlayer 241]

This is what I do for a living. Nothing beats a steam humidifier tied into the ductwork directly. I keep my house set to 40% all winter. Works great. The supply water is treated with reverse osmosis, before it enters the unit. No hard water issues that way. I have the AprilAire 800 in my home.

 

Passive style humidifiers are junk they spray a mist of water into the ductwork to operate. This cools down your heating air & causes your fuel bills to increase. Plus they are prone to problems, as well wasting a lot of water down the drain. I would say 3/4 of the furnaces I see them on are broken and turned off.

 

These are the brands I've sold and installed to my customers.

http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewproduct.cfm?productID=453067348&linkfrom=froogle&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuremBRCbtr-1qJnKi-4BEiQAh0x08LXHKDtaxeyZnBatI8mmZH-060MYxYoS5ORxIpuELM8aAljo8P8HAQ

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/aprilaire-801.html?keyword=Google_Shopping&mr:trackingCode=AD446D2C-3B4F-E411-B2D4-BC305BF933C0&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=m&mr:adType=plaonline&mr:ad=56682928525&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=103831758805&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuremBRCbtr-1qJnKi-4BEiQAh0x08JKau1P1WueyUSC9Tb1Xk6_90RSC_XCFiWtg4d9_do0aAj2q8P8HAQ

 

[intercooler 41]

we keep a cast iron kettle full on the wood stove all the time...it makes it much more comfortable in the house

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

Bought an inexpensive ultrasonic unit because the dog has very dry skin. Her flews were actually dry & chapped - looked like raw hamburger. Just run it at night in the room where she sleeps (all right, I'll admit it - she sleeps with me) and it has made a world of difference.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

[Barms 98]

Deerslayers active mist systems I'm sure are the best however my passive water panel whole house has saved my life. We tried very expensive portable units to no avail. My house was about 25% humidity and every touch of a light switch shocked us badly

 

For about $1300 I had the water panel installed and within ten minutes my humidity went up almost 20 points

 

Yes. They are prone to "break". You just have to be diligent about hard water issues. I've had the petcock valve and a drain nipple literally erode from hard water. At least once a season I have a puddle on the floor because something got clogged or shifted.

 

But I still can't imagine the houese without it. As far as wasting water I have managed to turn the flow down 50% and still get results. I have it hooked to the hot water side.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

I run a smaller "portable" unit but it's not very small/portable....  I like Pure Guardian humidifiers.  I had a 144 hour ultrasonic one that unfortunately went bad.... so I got another... It's smaller so I have to refill it in the morning and in the evening but I run it almost 24/7.  It has a tube which kicks out the mist higher up which helps too.  I do have to clean it about once a week - give it a good scrubbing...

 

Pure Guardian Elite 

http://www.amazon.com/PureGuardian-120-Hour-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-H8000B/dp/B00OKD7RSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422830657&sr=8-1&keywords=pure+guardian+elite

[bhunted 887]

I run a smaller "portable" unit but it's not very small/portable.... I like Pure Guardian humidifiers. I had a 144 hour ultrasonic one that unfortunately went bad.... so I got another... It's smaller so I have to refill it in the morning and in the evening but I run it almost 24/7. It has a tube which kicks out the mist higher up which helps too. I do have to clean it about once a week - give it a good scrubbing...

 

Pure Guardian Elite

http://www.amazon.com/PureGuardian-120-Hour-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-H8000B/dp/B00OKD7RSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422830657&sr=8-1&keywords=pure+guardian+elite

 

We got one of those Sunbeams and while it works, I hate it. It bubbles loudly and keeps me awake. Is yours quiet?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tony357 386]

Thanks for the replies so far..

 

i have this swiss 650 up and running very quiet you do not know it is on.. working very good so far been on few hours went from 25 to 31% so far seems to be hanging their.. I seem to like this unit hopefully i will get long service life from it..

 

going to move it from living room to bedroom tonight set at 55% and see if i wake up dried out in the morning..  im thinking it will max out and cycle off and on in bedroom since it is a much smaller space..

 

[Krdshrk 3,877]

We got one of those Sunbeams and while it works, I hate it. It bubbles loudly and keeps me awake. Is yours quiet?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Yes - this one is quiet.  You hear occasional little blurbles but it's quiet.  

[ted527 21]

Thanks for the replies so far..

 

i have this swiss 650 up and running very quiet you do not know it is on.. working very good so far been on few hours went from 25 to 31% so far seems to be hanging their.. I seem to like this unit hopefully i will get long service life from it..

 

going to move it from living room to bedroom tonight set at 55% and see if i wake up dried out in the morning.. im thinking it will max out and cycle off and on in bedroom since it is a much smaller space..

 

Do not set it over about 40%

If you get humidity to high it will condense on and inside the outside walls and windows. Mold will follow

[DeerSlayer 241]

Deerslayers active mist systems I'm sure are the best however my passive water panel whole house has saved my life. We tried very expensive portable units to no avail. My house was about 25% humidity and every touch of a light switch shocked us badly

 

For about $1300 I had the water panel installed and within ten minutes my humidity went up almost 20 points

 

Yes. They are prone to "break". You just have to be diligent about hard water issues. I've had the petcock valve and a drain nipple literally erode from hard water. At least once a season I have a puddle on the floor because something got clogged or shifted.

 

But I still can't imagine the houese without it. As far as wasting water I have managed to turn the flow down 50% and still get results. I have it hooked to the hot water side.

They do work pretty well when they are properly maintained. Remember to clean it and replace the pad/element inside every season. Having softned water helps too. Best way to hook them up is to have an actual 1/4" ball value installed instead of those saddle valves that pierce the pipe. They are actually against code to use in NJ. Also hooking it up to Hot water as apposed to cold is a good idea as well your water heater removes a good amount of the undesolved solids & minerals from the water. Also the warm water misting into your warm air flow will cool the air down less than cold water will, saving you fuel in the long run. Remember to flip your damper from winter to summer before you turn the AC back on as well. Do all those things and your passive style humidifier will give you about 10 solid worry free years minimum. Also the newer AprilAire models use about 75% less water than the one's made 10 years ago.

 

The steam units are great but not cheap at all to run or have installed initially. And the Reverse Osmosis filters for the water treatment end cost about $100 per year. I've got a lot of wood inside my house. It's something I really had to install. Luckily I'm pretty close with the guy that wired it in and mounted it for me lol. Still for me was well over 1K in material and equipment.

 

[bry@n 195]

I've nevet really had an issue, but since I've gotte. Back from Vegas I've been very dried out. Might give this a try.

[M1152 713]

This is what I do for a living. Nothing beats a steam humidifier tied into the ductwork directly. I keep my house set to 40% all winter. Works great. The supply water is treated with reverse osmosis, before it enters the unit. No hard water issues that way. I have the AprilAire 800 in my home.

 

Passive style humidifiers are junk they spray a mist of water into the ductwork to operate. This cools down your heating air & causes your fuel bills to increase. Plus they are prone to problems, as well wasting a lot of water down the drain. I would say 3/4 of the furnaces I see them on are broken and turned off.

 

These are the brands I've sold and installed to my customers.

http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewproduct.cfm?productID=453067348&linkfrom=froogle&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuremBRCbtr-1qJnKi-4BEiQAh0x08LXHKDtaxeyZnBatI8mmZH-060MYxYoS5ORxIpuELM8aAljo8P8HAQ

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/aprilaire-801.html?keyword=Google_Shopping&mr:trackingCode=AD446D2C-3B4F-E411-B2D4-BC305BF933C0&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=m&mr:adType=plaonline&mr:ad=56682928525&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=103831758805&gclid=Cj0KEQiAuremBRCbtr-1qJnKi-4BEiQAh0x08JKau1P1WueyUSC9Tb1Xk6_90RSC_XCFiWtg4d9_do0aAj2q8P8HAQ

 

How does the new steam system it know when to turn on & off? When I see these units I can’t help from thinking yes sure it shoots water or steam into the ductwork but what happens when the heater shuts down? Does the steam (water) just drop off in the duct work and lay there or do the newer steam unit have some intelligence and know to shutdown prior to the end of the heater run so all the moisture gets pushed out?   I had the old mist style you described but it ended up failing and it went out with my old furnace. I now  have the floor/room units now as well.

[Barms 98]

The swloid shuts off the water about a minute BEFORE the unit finishes blowing. I don't know how it knows. But it knows.

[ted527 21]

The swloid shuts off the water about a minute BEFORE the unit finishes blowing. I don't know how it knows. But it knows.

solenoid would shut off when call for heat ends, most furnaces will continue to run the blower for at least 90 seconds after that.

 

we have installed a ton of the water panel humidifiers with good results as long as water panel is replaced annually.

never installed a steam humidifier, cost of electricity is way to high and keeping them clean would be a PITA for the average homeowner.

[Dan 177]

We have a Lennox bypass panel central humidifier. Its been running great for 3 years now and really made the whole home very comfortable. I change the panel once a year along with generally cleaning out the tray and area where it interfaces with the duct work. As ted527 above says, as long as you maintain it , these types of humidifiers work well.

[DeerSlayer 241]

How does the new steam system it know when to turn on & off? When I see these units I can’t help from thinking yes sure it shoots water or steam into the ductwork but what happens when the heater shuts down? Does the steam (water) just drop off in the duct work and lay there or do the newer steam unit have some intelligence and know to shutdown prior to the end of the heater run so all the moisture gets pushed out? I had the old mist style you described but it ended up failing and it went out with my old furnace. I now have the floor/room units now as well.

You can wire them a couple ways. I have mine wired to only inject steam during a heating cycle. The can also be set up to inject anytime the humidastat calls for moisture, it just turns on the blower while it's pumping steam out. The units are completely computer controlled so you can decide how you want it configured during installation. It uses more electric to have the humidifier turn on the blower though.

[DeerSlayer 241]

solenoid would shut off when call for heat ends, most furnaces will continue to run the blower for at least 90 seconds after that.

 

we have installed a ton of the water panel humidifiers with good results as long as water panel is replaced annually.

never installed a steam humidifier, cost of electricity is way to high and keeping them clean would be a PITA for the average homeowner.

The steam units self clean automatically once a month by themselves. They have a brain of their own. If you install them as per manufacturer recommendations supplying the unit with Reverse osmosis water, they don't get any scale inside the tank or elements to clean anyway.

 

The way the passive unit shuts down is as soon as the call for heat ends it kills the 24v that keeps the selinoid valve open, that kills the water flow to the unit. The furnaces limit switch (switch that senses the temperature of the heat exchanger) continues to blow after the burner is off until the switch cools down and turns off the fan. Usually for about 60-90sec.

 

As far as mold growth inside the ductwork, not going to happen in the winter. The furnace is running every day keeps things pretty dry

Your AC however will grow mold inside from the condensation coming off the coil. I always install a UV light on every new install I do. Put one in my ductwork as well at home.

 

[Recon Racoon 49]

For people that can't get in duct units, I've been recommending cool mist humidifiers simply because they are less likely to cause massive mold build up over the long run. Still need to clean it from time to time but you're less likely to grow mold or bacterial colonies in the unit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Krdshrk 3,877]

For people that can't get in duct units, I've been recommending cool mist humidifiers simply because they are less likely to cause massive mold build up over the long run. Still need to clean it from time to time but you're less likely to grow mold or bacterial colonies in the unit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I run a cool mist one.... I still have to clean it out weekly.

[peppers 1]

i had till last month oil/steam. house got really dry. i put a 400 gallon turtle pond in my basement that took care of the overall humidity in the house. boiler crapped out on me having a  wood stove put in today to replace it see how that goes

[Dan 177]

i had till last month oil/steam. house got really dry. i put a 400 gallon turtle pond in my basement that took care of the overall humidity in the house. boiler crapped out on me having a  wood stove put in today to replace it see how that goes

 

You must be a turtle afficionato. I have  a friend who has a 30lb tortoise, before that I didn't realize how popular these kinds of pets are.

 

As for the wood stove, you are going primary heat with wood? I have a wood stove now, which I used a lot more when I was oil heat and oil prices were sky high. Ever since switching to gas, the wood stove is just for fun as opposed to saving $$$. The nice thing is, the wood stove with the blower keeps the house at a nice 71F even when its down to 20F outside.

 

Are you going with the pellet type furnace replacement, or just a regular wood stove?

[Brisco 130]

Tony,

 

How has the Air-O-Swiss been after a week. I have HW baseboard, so no whole house for us. I have waited too long this year and now have bloody nose this week.

 

Was looking at the AOS 7147 on Amazon, have used the cheap Holmes last couple of years and have not been impressed. This unit is for the bedroom so noise would be important as well.

 

Thank You