Attention basement burners... I am drying out !!!

[cg711]

First year burner with a Regency I3100 insert in basement .. all going pretty well but starting to get dry throat while sleeping.
I am making a large pan that I can fill with water to put on top of the insert shelf to put some humidity back in the air, but since the insert is in the basement I am wondering if the humidity will make it upstairs. Did not really want to buy 3 humidifiers for the bedrooms if I don't have to.

What do you guys do to get humidity back in the air ??

 

[savageactor7]

Just a pan of water on the stove should do it...heck if the heat goes upstairs why wouldn't the humidity?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Eh, buy a large humidifier that you only have to fill once a day.

The large ones are the quietist also. I like the ones with 2 tanks instead of one large one.

Matt

 

[Bill]

Humidity tries to seek it's own level, but a pan on the stove will not put enough moisture in the air. I use a stove top, cast iron enamel pot, fill it every day, helps but not enough. In the family room I have a large humidifier, it goes on when the level drops to low. Makes it easier to breath at night.

 

[Gator eye]

I got a humidifier from Sears up stairs in the main living room, it does a great job just as long as I remember to fill it every day.

It'll go through 2 or more gallons of water in a day when the wood furnace in the basement is cranking.

 

[oconnor]

To keep humidity in the house, rather than adding water to the air, keep the already moist air from leaving. Heating the air doesn't make the water go away, it changes the relative humidity.

If you find that your house dries out excesively when you run the stove, your house is probably venting the warm air out the top (attic hatch sealed?), and drawing in relatively drier, cold air below. This air change is called stack effect, and can also cause chimney reversal (may other things do too, like bath fans dryers and range hoods)

We had the driest house I have ever experienced last year (first winter in new 75 year old house) - humidity guage said "LOW" from October to April, coincident with the heating season. We were not burning wood at the time.

This summer we did some energy refits based on an audit we had done - new windows upstairs, R 60 in the attic, sealed the attic hatch, and things were better. Then, finally, our window contractor recieve the basement windows (2 windows, 1 ft x 2 ft approx) and got them installed. That was the day we noticed the climate in the house change. The old windows, you could see around the frames from rot, and the basement was always cold.

Get some caulking or spray foam, and start sealing around the sill plate of your house, caulk the basement windows, and caulk the attic hatch shut (assuming you don't need up there regularly) That air sealing will keep the air you heated in the house, and hence the moisture in the house.

I am actually a little worried that I will need put in a vented range hood now, cause it feels like London Fog in the house when ever we boil spaghetti - definately didn't have that problem last year.

 

[uptrapper]

I am actually liking the drier house we always have problems with dampness in the winter and the wood stove seems to help with that. We usually have to run a dehumidifier in the summer and winter, but instead of emptying the bin once a day its once a month now (one more way a wood stove is saving me money). Maybe things will changed as the winter progresses, burned some in September and most of October and just about all of November but as for now I could still use the house a little drier. My wife will be the first to complain if its too dry.

Mike

 

[Jimbob]

To keep humidity in the house, rather than adding water to the air, keep the already moist air from leaving. Heating the air doesn't make the water go away, it changes the relative humidity.

If you find that your house dries out excesively when you run the stove, your house is probably venting the warm air out the top (attic hatch sealed?), and drawing in relatively drier, cold air below. This air change is called stack effect, and can also cause chimney reversal (may other things do too, like bath fans dryers and range hoods)

We had the driest house I have ever experienced last year (first winter in new 75 year old house) - humidity guage said "LOW" from October to April, coincident with the heating season. We were not burning wood at the time.

This summer we did some energy refits based on an audit we had done - new windows upstairs, R 60 in the attic, sealed the attic hatch, and things were better. Then, finally, our window contractor recieve the basement windows (2 windows, 1 ft x 2 ft approx) and got them installed. That was the day we noticed the climate in the house change. The old windows, you could see around the frames from rot, and the basement was always cold.

Get some caulking or spray foam, and start sealing around the sill plate of your house, caulk the basement windows, and caulk the attic hatch shut (assuming you don't need up there regularly) That air sealing will keep the air you heated in the house, and hence the moisture in the house.

I am actually a little worried that I will need put in a vented range hood now, cause it feels like London Fog in the house when ever we boil spaghetti - definately didn't have that problem last year.

Well said. Sealing up air leaks is the BEST way to increase humidity in the house. If it isn't humid enough after doing that, then add an OAK to the stove to keep it from pulling dry outside air into the house.