How dry is your air

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DoWnAqT

Member
Jan 23, 2011
71
Dunbarton, NH
Im wondering what I should do about a humidifer for the pellet stove. Mine will be in this week hopefully, and wondering if the air will be really dry or if the bedrooms will be the only rooms that need it
 
I'm running 3 humidifiers in the house right now, one on the first floor, and two upstairs in bedrooms. Additionally, we still let our LP furnace run once per day in the morning, which has a whole-house bypass humidifier, so that helps as well. Pellet and wood burner heat really dry the air out indoors, so a humidifier is very beneficial. Wood flooring, leather furniture, electronics, and other things in your house can be damaged by air that is too dry. Frigid cold air is nearly as dry as the air in an arid desert, so that only compounds the problem.

Evaporative humidifiers with the wicking filters tend to be best because they don't blow mist into the air which can cause "white dusting" issues, minerals in the water basically settle on all your furniture and electronics, not good for either. If you see condensation on your windows, your humidifier is cranked too high. I recommend buying a hygrometer for your house so that you can get an accurate reading of your humidity levels indoors, anything under 35-40% Relative Humidity, you should be running a humidifier. I use the Honeywell HCM-750 evaporative humidifier, works quite well and can humidify a fairly large room, they're sold in stores such as Walmart for less than $50. Make sure you keep 'em clean (bleach out the holding tank biweekly, change the filters after 1-2 months), and it should help maintain your indoor humidity.
 
I have a General Aire with the Honeywell Visionpro IAQ stat with humidity set at 45% in heating on all months except Jan and Feb when it is the coldest I drop it to 40% which seems to work well. With no humidifier I freeze unless the temp is 77 in the house which would cost a fortune and the humidity would get down to 20%. I have done a lot of home sealing also that helps considerably with the humidity but still keep it 72 and 40% which is pretty comfortable. The humidifier does not run near as much as it used to before I started working toward sealing.
 
another good reason to use OAK. Why waste air that you have paid to heat and add moisture to. I'm a graduate of the school of hard knocks. Better late than never!
 
the air in the house is very dry, but I scored a whole house humidifier for free, just need to pick up a new set of filters.
 
I have a Lasko model #1128. 13 gallons a day is what its rated for (I believe). Picked it up at Menards. Pretty good unit. Keep the house 50% Humidity and 75 degrees.
 
I run that same lasko model and it is a must when running the stove. I usually go through the 13 gal a day when the stove is on. We also have a whole house on the furnace but it doesnt keep up with the dry air when the stove is burning....
 
We use about 8-10 Gallons with the Lasko. Definitely makes a huge difference in the air temp, along with the STATIC. The resivoir (spelling) makes it a snap to fill when I get home everyday. Would be a pain if you had to move that beast everyday. But no matter what Brand or size, a humidifier is a must with any "Fired" stove.
 
21 too 22% here with no humidifier. Probably should re-think this issue.............

Educate me here, higher % easier to hold Heat?
 
Samm6, the more moisture that's in the air, the warmer it feels. Don't know if its easier to heat, but it sure "feels" better. Someone else can chime in with the actual diagnostics of it. This my easy way of looking at it. Summer in Ohio for example. 90 degrees with 90% humidity actually "feels like" 100 degrees. Whereas 90 in Arizona with dry heat does not feel nowhere near as hot. So same goes with your house. 70 with 20% humidity will feel cooler than 70 with 40-60% humidity.
 
I have my Honeywell IAQ stat to control the whole house humidifier to 45% in the winter, nice and comfy. The nice thing about this thermostat is it has an outside temperature sensor and it automatically lowers the humidity level as it gets colder out to prevent condensation and frost on the windows. You can even control this on a level of 1 to 10. Its the tweaker's ultimate thermostat, highly recommended!
 
I have the IAQ and outdoor temp sensor to lock out my strips above 35 degrees and my heat pump at 10 or below and stage my strips but I did not know you could drop the humidity as the temp drops. I have been doing it manually.
 
Countryboymo Posted: 25 January 2011 12:45 AM

I have the IAQ and outdoor temp sensor to lock out my strips above 35 degrees and my heat pump at 10 or below and stage my strips but I did not know you could drop the humidity as the temp drops. I have been doing it manually.

http://www.forwardthinking.honeywell.com/related_links/thermostats/visionpro_iaq/install/68_0287.pdf

From the manual, you need to set ISU parameter 372 to 3, Humidify with frost protection (page 15)

Then on pages 20 and 29 it discusses the humidity control and frost index you can control.

I have it set at 45% and the frost index at 5 and it works pretty good for me. Your number may be different just give give the system a day or two to run at the frost index setting before adjusting to allow it to stabilize.

Hope this helps.
 
samm6 said:
21 too 22% here with no humidifier. Probably should re-think this issue.............

Educate me here, higher % easier to hold Heat?

Yes, humidified air acts as an insulator/temperature stabilizer, humid air will hold the heat better and make your living space feel much more comfortable. Dry air does not hold heat as well, meaning your temperature drops off much more quickly when your pellet burner is powered down or your furnace shuts off. In houses that are overly-dry, a forced air furnace will cycle on and off much more frequently than it would in a properly humidified house. At 21-22% humidify, you will have issues with static and dry skin, as well as quick heat loss when your heat source is powered down.
 
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