HUMIDITY/AIR PURIFIER

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jackiec

Member
Nov 8, 2008
44
E. MA
We have pellet stove insert and our home is ultra dry. Small ranch approx. 800 sf. We came across this air purifier/humidifier as a possible solution for adding humudity while cleaning air. It is expensive and we would welcome opinions and from anyone who may have this or similar. It holds 7.7 pints. There is a larger 8.5 pint model available, but the smaller one is quieter and on sale... Thanks.

http://www.abt.com/product/45384/Sharp-KC850U.html
 
Jackie:
Over the years I have burned wood (17 years) followed by pellets (5 years). Both make the house extremely dry due to two factors: (1) A fire needs air. The stove takes the air from the local room - combusts the fuel - and exhausts the air to the outside. This air in the room is replaced by either leaks in the home (around windows, doors, through walls, etc.) or sucked backwards thought other exhaust ports like dry vents. In the winter, 'cause its cold out, the income air has less humidity in it. That meas your replacing moist air with dry air. (2) The second source of 'dry-ness' is the air movement due to the fans in the pellet or wood stove. Air movement creates molecular friction (air to air molecules) and across stationary surfaces (furniture, walls). This friction becomes heat and drys those surfaces - moving surface moisture into the air. Think of placing a fan over a wet surface (paint, wet cloths) to help it to dry faster.

I currently burn 1+ bags of pellets at day. I have a cheap (Walmart ~$30) humidifier with a one gallon water tank. I fill it at least twice a day and my humidity gauge never gets above ~25%. Twenty-five percent is the bottom of the relative humidity comfort zone. Life with a pellet stove is dry. C'est la vie!

As to which humidifer to buy -- unless someone in your home has allergies, I would not suggest spending the additional $ on a 'purifier' humidifier - a cheap one is all you need. $30 to $40.

But here's another idea for you - some pellet stoves, like my Whitfield Profile 30, have a special input port for combustion air. In most installations this connect is not hooked up - therefore the stove uses room air. If yours has this connection you could run a pipe from outside to this connection and pull cold dry air in from the outside for combustion. This would reduce the cold air coming in to your home through the many leaks - and reduce 'air turn-over' time - making for less dryness in your home. Check your owner's manual for recommended details on connecting this port to the outside world.

Good luck.

RonB
 
Thanks Ron. I do have an OAK. However, it's a Santa Fe insert. The outside air pipe just ends in the ash pan which is in no way air sealed. I probably get a 50/50 use of the OAK which is better than no outside air. Appears I would be filling the Sharp unit constantly....
 
I have a Sears console humidifier. It does a pretty good job, but the fans make noise, as does the St. Croix freestanding stove. It's white noise, so I can tune it out, but summertime will seem soooo quiet this year. I don't think an air purifier is worth the money as there is a pretty good air exchange even in a tight house. Just my 2¢.
 

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That air purifier is so exspensive. You are going to want to get the humidity up to about 40%. Antiicpate you will be using at least two gallons daily. So the major considerations are how often you want to have to fill it, acces to the tap, and ease of cleaning. I have one I picked up at WalMart that holds a couple gallons. Cost about $50 The tank is easy to lift and fill. Cleaning is easy. My next unit will be larger so I won't need to fill it so often.
 
I had the same problem after I installed my pellet stove...super dry air in the house. My advice is to get an "evaporative" type humidifier. Stay away from the ultrasonic mist types as they don't have the capacity to humidify a whole house and leave a white dust on everything. I got a Lasko 1128, run it on low and my 1900sf house is about 48% humidity. You want a large capacity humidifier and then just run it on low so it is quiet. You don't want a small one and then have to run it on high as it will be more noisy than a large one running on low. When I first got mine, it ran 24/7 for a few days before it got the humidity up to 50%. It was putting about 3gals of water in the air every 24hrs. Now, I only have to fill it once a day (1.5gals) as it only runs when needed.

http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-1128-Ev...7FWA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1300331898&sr=8-4

Flynfrfun
 
You could also save your money and just put a huge pot on the stove and simmer it. Why pay to heat water to evaporation point when you already have a water heating device known as a stove? If it was a wood stove, you could put the pot right on top and not have to use extra power to heat it. I could do that with my pedestal stove if I removed the top cover and exposed the roof of the firebox. but then I could burn my stupid self too easily. Also, I could cook on it, in fact I did when I had the cover off. Cooked some cut-up potatoes, but they took hours to cook.
Another possibility may be getting yourself a nice waterfall/fountain. It's movement of water would result in plenty of evaporation in a dry room without having to heat the water.
 
arnash said:
You could also save your money and just put a huge pot on the stove and simmer it. Why pay to heat water to evaporation point when you already have a water heating device known as a stove? If it was a wood stove, you could put the pot right on top and not have to use extra power to heat it. I could do that with my pedestal stove if I removed the top cover and exposed the roof of the firebox. but then I could burn my stupid self too easily. Also, I could cook on it, in fact I did when I had the cover off. Cooked some cut-up potatoes, but they took hours to cook.
Another possibility may be getting yourself a nice waterfall/fountain. It's movement of water would result in plenty of evaporation in a dry room without having to heat the water.

Many pellet stoves don't get hot enough to simmer water. Also, as an FYI, the evaporative humidifiers don't heat the water, they run the water over a pad and then blow air thru the pad and into the room. Same principle as a swamp cooler. Works great.
Flynfrfun
 
arnash said:
You could also save your money and just put a huge pot on the stove and simmer it. Why pay to heat water to evaporation point when you already have a water heating device known as a stove? If it was a wood stove, you could put the pot right on top and not have to use extra power to heat it. I could do that with my pedestal stove if I removed the top cover and exposed the roof of the firebox. but then I could burn my stupid self too easily. Also, I could cook on it, in fact I did when I had the cover off. Cooked some cut-up potatoes, but they took hours to cook.
Another possibility may be getting yourself a nice waterfall/fountain. It's movement of water would result in plenty of evaporation in a dry room without having to heat the water.
I have the same Lasko unit. Love it. Easy to fill. Works great. Good price.
 
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