Any standalone whole house humidifier recommendations?

[Dmitry]

My old one is finally gave up. Do you have any recommendations for 2000 sq. ft., somewhat leaky house. Moisture goes down in 30s when cold. Would like to get something big to do the chore.
Looking at this one. Any recommendations?

AIRCARE Designer Series 5.7-gal. Evaporative Humidifier for 3,600 sq. ft. 4DTS 900 - The Home Depot

For whole-house comfort, the Executive series is a smart solution. Nine fan speeds and an adjustable humidistat make it easy to reach an ideal humidity level. Customers like its auto shutoff, refill indicator,

www.homedepot.com

 

[Bad LP]

I’m going with an April Air ultrasonic but just trying to decide if I’ll go stand-alone or run it into my AC ductwork.
My TruSteam from Honeywell has been a HUGE disappointment so I’m not willing to try their version of the ultra.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I've had a Aprilaire 1830 for two years now in my crawl space and I have been pleased with it. The filter is washable so that is a plus too.

 

[Dmitry]

I’m going with an April Air ultrasonic but just trying to decide if I’ll go stand-alone or run it into my AC ductwork.
My TruSteam from Honeywell has been a HUGE disappointment so I’m not willing to try their version of the ultra.

Just look at it and it seems really interesting . I think I can install it in a basement and vent to the main level through an available nearby duct. Kinda pricey and labor involved, but might be well worth it. ( Just like super split I got because of your advice. Three-time the price but the best decision ever)

 

[Grizzerbear]

Now I realize you are looking for a humidifier not de humidifier lol. My bad.

 

[Bad LP]

Just look at it and it seems really interesting . I think I can install it in a basement and vent to the main level through an available nearby duct. Kinda pricey and labor involved, but might be well worth it. ( Just like super split I got because of your advice. Three-time the price but the best decision ever)

In a house I manage with 10 zones of hydro air we installed 2 April units and they are solid performers. I can not say the same for Tru Steam. They require RO water and that is too wasteful. (I can’t believe I just wrote that) They are very finicky on maintenance. The first few we started with worked great so I bought one for my own house. That POS never worked correctly and is the second one replaced on warranty.

There is not a chance on me buying a pad type humidifier. Glorified mold maker.

The SS is do bomb ain’t it Buy once. Cry once. Don’t forget a coat of wax for the winter. 😂

 

[Ozark Woodburner]

I am in the same boat. I have found there are not many makers of the big consoe style humidifiers. Most of these put out 10-12 gallons per day max. I ordered the one your looking at. Will be using it on my main level which is approximately 2600 sq feet. To be honest, I still expect to have to use my smaller one in addition to the big one at times.

 

[NorMi]

I don't have a specific recommendation on a console, but I am watching with interest as I am also in need of a better humidifier solution.

One warning though that took me by surprise, not sure if this is common knowledge: I brought a small ultrasonic cool mist humidifer from my last house to this new place, and hooked it up a few weeks ago as a stop gap. I used to run RO water in it at the old place, but we don't have a system here yet and since it's well water I don't mind the taste like I did with the city water, so I ran tap water in it this past few weeks and figured I'd just clean it more often. Anyway, I am in the process of building a wood furnace controller and one of the sensors I am putting on is a PM2.5 for fine particulates, and during testing the PM2.5 in my house was about 120 ug/m3 which is insanely high.

Thought I got a bad sensor, put in another one - same result. I have two giant standalone carbon/HEPA filters I run 24/7 here since I have no central duct hvac, just to filter dust and what have you, so I turned them up from "low" to "Turbo" which is insanely loud and very high CFM. Couldn't even get the PM2.5 down below about 70 ug/m3! I was stumped. Then, the humidifier ran out of water - pm 2.5 crashed back to to 0 within minutes. Turned the air filters off, stayed at 0... I was shocked! Turns out that my problem was "well known" at least in industry that ultrasonics atomize any TDS/minerals/solids into particle sizes that are basically optimized to be extremely harmful to human health. Boiling water on the stove atm instead, creates no PM2.5 and it's putting much, much more water in the air.

I couldn't believe I never heard about that problem before, esp. considering one small room humidifier was ruining air quality in my entire house! Maybe I heard about it and just forgot since I was running RO water before, but either way I was blissfully unaware that I was doing something really dumb...

 

[Bad LP]

I don't have a specific recommendation on a console, but I am watching with interest as I am also in need of a better humidifier solution.

One warning though that took me by surprise, not sure if this is common knowledge: I brought a small ultrasonic cool mist humidifer from my last house to this new place, and hooked it up a few weeks ago as a stop gap. I used to run RO water in it at the old place, but we don't have a system here yet and since it's well water I don't mind the taste like I did with the city water, so I ran tap water in it this past few weeks and figured I'd just clean it more often. Anyway, I am in the process of building a wood furnace controller and one of the sensors I am putting on is a PM2.5 for fine particulates, and during testing the PM2.5 in my house was about 120 ug/m3 which is insanely high.

Thought I got a bad sensor, put in another one - same result. I have two giant standalone carbon/HEPA filters I run 24/7 here since I have no central duct hvac, just to filter dust and what have you, so I turned them up from "low" to "Turbo" which is insanely loud and very high CFM. Couldn't even get the PM2.5 down below about 70 ug/m3! I was stumped. Then, the humidifier ran out of water - pm 2.5 crashed back to to 0 within minutes. Turned the air filters off, stayed at 0... I was shocked! Turns out that my problem was "well known" at least in industry that ultrasonics atomize any TDS/minerals/solids into particle sizes that are basically optimized to be extremely harmful to human health. Boiling water on the stove atm instead, creates no PM2.5 and it's putting much, much more water in the air.

I couldn't believe I never heard about that problem before, esp. considering one small room humidifier was ruining air quality in my entire house! Maybe I heard about it and just forgot since I was running RO water before, but either way I was blissfully unaware that I was doing something really dumb...

About how much water is discharged on your RO system?

 

[NorMi]

About how much water is discharged on your RO system?

I never measured it, but I built the system myself from individual components at the old house, and I used a permeate pump, so I guess the only answer I have is "the least amount possible." I will use a permeate pump here too whenever I decide to install a setup, esp. since we're on a well now. I want to eventually do one of the no flush/no salt softeners and a RO for drinking/cooking, but alas, too many projects too little time. Here's a thing on those permeate pumps: https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/how-a-permeate-pump-works-with-a-reverse-osmosis-system

 

[Dan Freeman]

Not stand-alone, and you do have to fill them once a day, but if anyone is looking for seasonal humidifiers, I can highly recommend VENTA. We bought two of them when we first started burning our stove last winter and the house humidity was in the teens. With two of the L45's we can keep our whole house (1700 square feet) in the 40-50 range which is comfortable. https://www.venta-air.com/en_us/

 

[Ozark Woodburner]

So, I actually ordered the H12600 version. This thing puts some serious moisture in the air. Supposed to be sufficient for up to 3700 square feet. The two low fan settings are very comfortable, the two high ones are.....quite noticeable.

The real test will be when it really gets cold/dry. I would highly recommend sealing up drafts. Our house naturally kept noticeably more moisture in once sealing up even without any humidifier.

 

[Dataman]

I got rid of mine. DUST from the Tap Water (Minerals). Not worth it for Bottled Water. Wife has 30 plants that do the job without the Dust. But Seymour is aggressive Plant.