"Air Dryness question" from my wife....

[DBCOOPER]

What you missing is RELATIVE humidity. 50% relative humidity at 20 degrees f and 50% relative humidity at 70 degrees are two very different things. If I remember correctly the air can hold 100% more moisture by weight for every 20 degrees increase in temperature.

When you look at the humidity chart in the link you posted you'll see almost 80% for January. But then go look at the temperature chart for January.

 

[krooser]

I keep an open bottle of Pabst on the stove so it can humidify the air and make the house smell like a tavern at the same time... cheaper than going out for a drink.

Now if I could only get that cuckoo clock to play some cheatin' songs........

 

[CTYank]

Depending on how closely you want to monitor RH in one spot, HF sells a very nice combo
RH, Temp, barometer for $10.

And, yes, 50% RH in the max-heated part of the house will result in condensation of high-e windows
of cooler rooms, around here. 35% works better, and yes I'm sensitive to low RH. 60% would be nuts IMHO.

One good way of boosting RH is to bring in some splits and stack them near the stove.
Don't need no steeeenkin mechanized spritzers.

 

[St_Earl]

i agree with the guy who said the humidity doesn't change from the stove running.


the air in our house stays at the same rh by replacing moisture into the air directly from our throats and sinuses.

 

[ducker]

we run a small humidifier next to the stove pretty much 24/7 otherwise the whole house just dries up.

 

[lordgrinz]

Same here, and works great, just make sure its on a flat floor or the bottles don't like to drain correctly.

This is what I use in the winter:

 

[St_Earl]

i'm running one of these vornado evaporative units.
it also does a great job circulating the air and sets up a convection that scavenges the heat in the hot room and helps distribute it.
basically you can feel the heat usually trapped at the ceiling rolling out under the lintels due to the convection it creates.
it sits in front of the stove in the corner where the heat output first encounters a wall.
but this one is only rated for 1000 sq. feet. which is fine for our house.

i went with evaporative because ultrasonic is pretty much out of favor because of the white dust problem. and because heated units use too much electricity
for my taste. don't want to be cutting into the savings i'm getting by using pellets instead of oil.
i'm also planning on starting to add a few drops of iodine to the water every few tanks to extend the filter life by keeping them disinfected.