humidifier and hygrometer question

Hello everyone,

I am new here and just wondering if you could help me with a few things. I have searched all of the forums with no real answers. I did however get a lot of great information by reading around here. And i am so grateful to the people that contribute to this forum.

I guess i should start off explaining what i have first. I have a two story colonial built in 1999. it is pretty well insulated since it is so new. I bought a Breckwell Big E pellet stove almost two years ago. this will be my third season using it. 3/4 of my basement is finished and my pellet stove is in the unfinished part of the basement. My furnace and oil tank is in there as well as it is where i store my pellets and other things (tools etc). I keep the door to the unfinished part partially open as it creates a nice cold air return down the stairs (which are located on the other side of the house from the pellet stove). We don't really use the basement that much and in the summer i need to run a dehumidifier so that the basement doesn't become musky or the couches down there don't begin to smell.

I cut out three holes in the ceiling of the unfinished part of the basement to the first floor and put registers in them so the heat would rise up. And last year i cut holes to my second floor in hopes that the heat would also rise up there as well (it did a little but nothing spectacular). The stove does heat the basement and first floor very well.

This year I am thinking about getting a humidifier to try and combat the dry air that happens from running the stove. The stove runs 24 hrs on setting two or three (there are five settings) depending on how cold it is outside. I also heard that running a humidifier makes the house feel warmer and more comfortable is that true?

****So my first question is; if i buy a whole house or a console humidifier where should i put it? Should it go in the basement or on the first floor? And if it does go in the basement should it go in the unfinished part where the stove is or in the finished part?? We don't use the basement a lot so if i did put it in the basement would the humidifier work on the first and maybe the second floor?

****The second question i have is that i have been looking around online (a lot on ebay) for a Temp/humidity thermometer. If i am not mistaken it is called a Hygrometer?? And i have seen some cheap ones online. What i would like to do is put one or maybe even two of these on each floor so i can monitor the humidity. Now my question is how well do these work? Does it matter if it is a cheap one or not? I don't need anything two fancy or accurate but do these even work??

thanks everyone in advanced and i hope i can get some help here
rsweet696

ps - i just bought a loveless cougar ash vacuum as well. I had been using my shop vac with a special fine dust filter so i am so exicted to get this hopefully next week... just thought i'd add that thanks again

BadDad320 said:

About the Temp/humidity thermometer thing...... I have an Oregon Scientific Weather Station...... It has 10 remotes that you can put all over the house..... you can check the temp and humidity in every room , attic and basement..... Bingo You will see the results of humidifiers, fans, closing doors and stuff like that almost right away...... I think they make several different models of weather stations........

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that sounds like a good idea... thanks for the imput

is this the unit you have??

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/ca...annels-for-the-WMR200,-WMR100,-and-WMR90.html

how does it work? do you just put the sensors on each floor/room in the house and read it off the main unit? can you put them on different floors??

The outer walls of the room where the stove is are not sheet rocked... they have insulation on the upper part where there is no foundation. The finished part that i have the dehumidifier in doesn't really get damp... i have just noticed that my couches down there start to smell like a musky basement. i have to empty the dehumidifier once a day or once every other day so i know the humidity is up down there.

the reason i want to do a humidifier is mainly for the rest of the house because when i run the stove the entire house becomes dry even the basement (well not as much as upstairs). so i thought about getting one to try and combat the dryness... i might just go with the hygrometer... run the stove for a while and see how the humidity is and go from there. but i was hoping to get some questions answered before i bought a humidifier, if i did buy one.

anybody else care to comment on the location of the humidifier or the hygrometer or anything else??

thanks for the comments so far

Anyone else have any input... it would appreciated. thanks in advance

Thanks guys you are making some great points and have some great ideas. I am going to look around for a weather station if i can find one cheap i might pick it up.

NH Jim where do you have your outdoor sensors for your weather station? back of house, side of house etc??




I am probably going to get the hygrometer cheapies unless i can find a weather station cheap and monitor the humidity... but i am either going to get a console or large room humidifier and my main concern is where should i put it??? Should i put it in the basement where the stove is or upstairs where we spend most of our time and worry about the two upper floors?? the basement seems to have some natural humidity so it may be ok but what does everyone else think?? does anyone have the same setup with the stove being in the basement and use a humidifier?? where did you put the humidifier?

thanks so much for the help

poconoman said:

rsweet696 said:

Anyone else have any input... it would appreciated. thanks in advance

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I know exactly what you're asking about. You NEED some humidity for:

A. More comfortable heat.
B. Healthier.
C. IF you have wood floors. They need it.

"

if i buy a whole house or a console humidifier where should i put it?

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What I recommend is a whole house humidifier as an Aprilaire. http://www.aprilaire.com/index.php?znfAction=ProductDetails&category=5&item=700

THEN, get this stat. http://luxproducts.com/thermostats/cag1500.php With this stat, you can program the furnace fan ONLY to circulate the air and trigger the humidifier. For example: 5 mins ON every hr. But the question is this. Do YOU have whole house duct work? If not, put a mobile humidifier UPSTAIRS where you really need it.

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unfortunately i have forced hot water baseboard heaters so i cannot get the duct work humidifier. I am still trying to figure out if i put a console or whole house humidifier on the first floor would it also throw humidity to the second floor through both the stairway upstairs and the registers i put in the floors??

Should i put the humidifier right next to the stove so it rises with the warm air??

still need some opinions on that.

thanks for everyone who has contributed so far.