I have no humidity!!

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CtPaul

CtPaul

Burning Hunk
Sep 16, 2011
140
CT
I have a couple of humidifiers running and I came downstairs to 9% humidity! No wonder my throat is sore and my nose feels like it will crack off my face! I maxed things out and boiled some water on the stove and got it up to 18% right now.
I know the colder it is the worse it gets but I'm going to have to figure something out! This winter I'm working on sealing up the house. My plan was to do that then assess the need for a dedicated humidifier. I think I'm going to have to install one on the furnace (upstairs or downstairs) and run the furnace fan. I know Aprilaire makes a standalone one that mounts in the wall too.
Would love to hear from others doing this or have any experience/solutions for similar situation .
Thanks
 
I've never used one, but I think most people here that do get away with a freestanding unit.
 
I have had a few stand alone units but many of them are cheaply made. The fan hums and/or the case vibrates and I also get mixed results. Hopefully someone has experience with a great stand alone unit to recommend or have tried other things :)
 
I have a Aptillaire 800 hooked up to the ducts in the house. Although I don't have a stove or insert yet, when I have 2 fireplaces going and dry forced hot air heat we can have as much humidity as we want.
 
I bought a Kenmore stand alone unit last year. It works great. I had my stove on level 4 last night, and my humidity stayed right around 50%. I have a smaller humidifier in the bedroom too that I only run at night.

The humidifier I bought is called the "Kenmore Whole House Humidifier 8 Gallon Output with Digital Readout." It holds 2 gallons of water. I usually fill it up every other day. Lately it's been every day. My house is 1500 sf or so.
 
sealing up the house will help. do you have an oak? if not you will draw in more cold dry air than with. personally I have the opposite prob and am happy the stove brings down the humid w/o an oak installed.


CtPaul said:
I have a couple of humidifiers running and I came downstairs to 9% humidity! No wonder my throat is sore and my nose feels like it will crack off my face! I maxed things out and boiled some water on the stove and got it up to 18% right now.
I know the colder it is the worse it gets but I'm going to have to figure something out! This winter I'm working on sealing up the house. My plan was to do that then assess the need for a dedicated humidifier. I think I'm going to have to install one on the furnace (upstairs or downstairs) and run the furnace fan. I know Aprilaire makes a standalone one that mounts in the wall too.
Would love to hear from others doing this or have any experience/solutions for similar situation .
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Lasko 12 gallon. 1500 sq. Ft. ranch maintaining 55% on low no problem. I usually keep it at 50% but have it turned up a little because my kids are sick.
(broken link removed to http://www.laskoproducts.com/12-gallon-high-efficiency-recirculating-humidifier-with-digital-control-model-1000/)
 

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jlupi, I am working on sealing up my drafty old house. I just installed an Oak this year.
Justin I will have to look into that model...is it noisy?
SXIPro, there could be multiple benefits to the Hot tub idea...:)
 
CtPaul said:
Justin I will have to look into that model...is it noisy?
Click to expand...
In looking around online the 12 gal. model may have been discontinued, but the 9 gal. version is availiable. It's not too loud as long as it is set on low. It's already put 3 gal. in to the air in the past 4 hours....dry out there.
 
Filled my 1.5 gallone jobber twice yesterday. sears home unit... not a big console like some of these others have. Keeps me around 50% running on medium.
 
2,500 sq. ft. and I go through two 1.5 gallon tanks a day each and the joint is still only 30 percent downstairs with the wood burner. I run one in the family room/kitchen and one at the foot of the stairs that carries the moisture upstairs with the heat. And means I don't have to lug full tanks up the stairs. Upstairs stays at around 40 percent.
 
We have April air on our furnace. My question is if we run the fan and not the furnace will that bring up all the cold air from the basement?
 
4Dtvman said:
Monday I bought an Essick whole house unit 2700 sq ft. The stove on one side of 15 by 26 foot room and the Humidifier on the side of room it's staying about 40%

http://www.essickair.com/products/humidifiers/category/whole-house/hd1407/



.
Click to expand...
I have a 46 gallon aquarium. I've never had humidity issues. Right now the humidity gauge at the lowest end of the comfort zone - I think around 30%.
You don't need fish to have an aquarium - might be a nice option for folks not wanting to run a humidifier.
 
I've got an Essick console and I run a small cool mist in each of the kids rooms at night. We're in the single to negative digits here this week, and that is keeping my place pretty dry. Next week when we're back to seasonal temps in the 20's, I should be back in the acceptable range. I only run the console on the lowest setting- the two higher ones are just too loud for me.

I probably shouldn't suggest this and I don't currently do this myself, but if you've got an electric dryer another option is to vent it into the house with an adaptor to trap the lint. There's a whole host of reasons why it's not a good idea, but back in my apartment days it was my only option and I never had any problems with it.
 
I know the key is to tighten the house as much as possible. I gave a friend of mine a call and I'm going to try and borrow a blower door for the weekend. That will help amplify the leaks so I can address them :) he may have a FLIR camera too !
 
I had my stand alone humidifier set at 40 percent. The last few night were single digit temps so the stove was running on a higher setting. With these conditions I had water vapor on my windows and my sliding glass door. Turned the humidifier setting down to 35 percent and this problem was alleviated. Anybody else get this condition?
 
I run a pair of Hunter Mod 34357 's one at each end of the house .. Ranch house 1600 sq ft long, and low... Each unit holds 3.5 gal of water , and have them set at 50% and my sinuses are happy... :)
 
My house stays at 25-30% without messing with anything. About perfect humidity for winter around here.
 
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