Room humidity

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scruffy

scruffy

Member
Oct 24, 2008
35
NH
What is the best all around relative room humidity to have in a house heated with a pellet stove?
I've checked previous posts on the subject and haven't found a number or answer to what might be to dry. The room has a lot of open beam construction and I don't want to start seeing cracks in the beams.

I bought a thermometer with a humidity gage and have been checking the readings over last few days. The humidity level has dropped from 55 degrees to 40 degrees with the colder windy temperatures over the past week. I hooked up a room humidifier that is placing about a gallon of water into the air in 12 hours and it not making much difference.
 
You want the humidity level (ideally) at between 50-70 % of relative humidity (not degrees). Hard to do in the winter, especially with a stove running. Too much and the windows start dripping and the house feels clammy, and too little and you get dry skin and lots of static elect.

This is what i use:
www.iallergy.com/product875/product_info.html

You might be able to find it cheaper too.
 
Anything greater then 50% can actually promote mold growth (same site as macman linked above ~ lesson learned here, reader beware and double check information). Ideal would be 30-50% relative humidity. This is what I have used for the past 5 years. I usually put it on med to high for about a week to get it to 40%, then on low most of the rest of the winter. I have 2500+ sq. ft. and it works great.
 
macman said:
You want the humidity level (ideally) at between 50-70 % of relative humidity (not degrees). Hard to do in the winter, especially with a stove running. Too much and the windows start dripping and the house feels clammy, and too little and you get dry skin and lots of static elect.

This is what i use:
www.iallergy.com/product875/product_info.html

You might be able to find it cheaper too.
Click to expand...

macman,

I just looked at the same humidifier today at Lowe's. What kept me from buying it was the concern that I'd be filling it multiple times a day because it had a small tank. How often do you need to fill it up?

Thanks
 
I fill the removable tanks once or sometimes 2x a day. I think they hold 5 gallons.
 
Thanks for the feed back.
I'm using a 1 gallon humidifier and fill it twice a day, once in the morning and just before bed time. I have it cranked up on high speed and it's maintaining the room at 42 percent. So, I guess that's an OK figure. Doesn't feel really dry or damp.
 
macman said:
I fill the removable tanks once or sometimes 2x a day. I think they hold 5 gallons.
Click to expand...

Thanks macman, I'l be looking at another model I guess because I know I'll forget to fill it ;-)
 
My wife puts an old breadpan on the stove that's filled with water... seems to work good and it was free.
 
krooser said:
My wife puts an old breadpan on the stove that's filled with water... seems to work good and it was free.
Click to expand...

I have a pan on the stove, but it is nowhere near enough moisture.
 
I just noticed mine this weekend while running the stove..and was wondering what it will affect,
is holding steady at 16% in the room the stove is in.
 
I hang two loads of laundry up a day to dry and that puts moisture back in the air that the pellet stove takes out. Saves $$ by not having to run the dryer!
 
Having several cats (9) I have several bowls of water out.

I didn't even think about the humidity with the stove going............being that my stove is in the basement, where would be the best place to try and put moisture??? Upstairs or downstairs?
 
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