Free and easy humidifier?

[jimmieguns]

Any thoughts on placing a cast iron pot or regular pot of water on top of stove to help keep air from making it too dry in the house? A friend of mine with a free standing wood stove does it-- loves the added moisture she gets....does it work? is it safe for stove and surroundings? thoughts appreciated..


***also posted this in Pellet room

 

[sailor61]

it's safe so long as you don't let it boil out and then dump water into the redhot pan. it helps but it does not solve the problem...only a humidifier will make an appreciable difference.

 

[Reckless]

Not to hijack but I have been keeping a pot on the stove and it only adds 3-5% on the humidity meter when running all day. What size humdifier would make a noticable difference? 2g/day?

 

[firefighterjake]

As others have said . . . it helps a bit . . . I mostly continue to fill my steamer with water or potpourri for the nice smell . . . but the humidifier in the room does a much better job.

No safety issues . . . I mean maybe if you had it wicked hot and then dumped water in it. I just never let my steamer go empty.

 

[NortheastAl]

This happened to me, and I can only tell you I only use a cool air humidifier now.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/has-anyone-had-this-happen.104677/

 

[Dustin92]

I went to goodwill and bought a stainless steel pot for $4 and I use that on top of our insert. I usually fill it a couple times a day, but our house is so dry, anything helps. (our furnace has a built in humidifier, but that cant even keep up) I usually add some liquid potpourri to the water to make it smell nice, and I take it off the stove when I go to bed. I wouldnt want it going dry, the pan has plastic handles.

 

[pen]

so do you want to put the pot on a pellet stove or a wood stove?

pen

 

[fespo]

I put a pan that holds about 2 1/2 gallons of water at a time. When I home at I night I fill that thing up 2 times before I go to bed. It's clean steam, no worries about any nasty's in there to make you sick. So yes it can be done, just like heating with wood, it's work

 

[madison]

Any thoughts on placing a cast iron pot or regular pot of water on top of stove to help keep air from making it too dry in the house?

In an average size home - the kettle will not add significant humidity. If the dry air is really an issue, investigate a whole house unit ie Essick Moist Air - they have evaporative units that can humidify large homes. Can be found in local big box stores (HD)

And I would respectfully disagree with "fespo" regarding stove top kettles cleanliness and nasty's;
--stove top (especially iron) kettles are a great breeding ground for "nastys"
--can lead to rust and stains stove tops.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We have always kept water on the stove. It helps just a little on the humidity but it also gives us some nice warm water to use at various times. I think the pan of water on our stove helps just enough along with my wife drying the laundry near the stove to keep the humidity at decent levels. For sure when she does laundry, we have to keep the temperature down a little else it will roast us out.