Big pot of water on the woodstove at all times, and humidifiers in a couple other rooms. Whenever someone showers, we leave the exhaust vent off too. Also make it a point to cook things that require boiling.
Same here, though I live in a very dry area to boot. I tried everything under the sun for 10 years and gave up. Some things I tried were Desk top ultrasonic humdifiers, I found a couple in recent years that kick butt, still use them in bedrooms sometimes. Console evaporative humidifiers Aquarium Maybe one of those might help you?
No vent fan during shower/bath... reroute electric clothes dryer vent to indoors (with auxiliary filter)
I did that for over a decade in our previous home, and tried it here. Long story short I talked with the owner of a bladder vent for backdraft burps (all vents including dryer/stove range, bath fans etc. had bad burps) for dryers and he told me reasons NOT to vent my electric dryer into the house anymore. If one uses dryer sheets = bad. If no dryer sheets = less bad. Up to one's discretion but I stopped doing it though my home is miserably dry and no dryer vent functions correctly in my weather conditions.
Evaporative and warm air humidifiers produce a much cleaner humidity. Ultrasonic units often create a fine white “dust.” Beware.
I have two room humidifiers set up - one in the living room and one in my office. I have a 9" square baking pan on my main floor pellet stove filled with water - that doesn't work as well as for a wood stove, but still puts some humidity in the air. It has the benefit of sitting under the living room mini split head so even when the stove is off and mini split is running, it evaporates from the airflow going over it. Last winter I rerouted the electric clothes dryer vent into the house, and that helps the downstairs and some of it makes it upstairs. In the spring I reroute to the outside. I set up that system again for this winter. Caveat - My basement is open so I don't have to worry about the humidity all staying in one room. I also only do a load on Wednesdays and Sundays (yes I'm a heathen and everything goes into one load), with the occasional extra load for blankets. I don't use the bathroom vent fan for my morning showers and set a 7" Ryobi battery operated fan on the counter to help push the moist air out the door. I hang my washcloth, bath towel and hand towel out in the living room to dry. I have a portable dishwasher that uses the kitchen faucet and drains into the kitchen sink. When I run it I plug up the sink and let it sit ther until the water has cooled (the appliance only uses 3 gallons per wash - don't try this with a unit that uses a lot of water - LOL).
We have a large cool air humidifier in the same room as the woostove, which is our living room. We run it on low, and it is able to easily maintain a RH of 30%. I'll be setting it up in a couple of days. I'll takes some pics.
Yes. I learned this the hard way. Whole house was covered in a white dust. They were returned. We use two Vornado evaporative units now.
I guess if you want to avoid buying a humidifier you can always take the frugal approach and get two birds with one stone. Take all the firewood that you CSS this year and pile it inside the home. As it gives off it's moisture, it'll humidify the house! It will achieve both goals!
Great question and thread with some great ideas. We do nothing now which is a problem. We do have a small humidifier but hardly turn it on. Love the bathroom vent idea, after my daughter takes a shower probably can humidify the entire house for a week...... Vent dryer is a interesting idea as well. We need to add a bigger humidifier on the main level with the stove for sure.
Tiny microscopic, invisible fabric particles, airborne, not good for lungs. The dryer sheet adds chemicals to it.
6 gallons is big deal for super dry houses. Filling the 3 gal console humidifier every day was annoying.
Not trying to be argumentative but wouldn't you be subjected to both by wearing the clothes used in a drier with a drier sheet? I have some panty hose covering the vent into my house. It definitely collects some tiny particles.
Giddy up! I was thinking the same. And do the same. There are far worse things that we are exposed to regularly. Voluntary or not.
