Hey, I didn't know where to post this, but here it goes. So as we all probably know... humidifying in the winter is necessary. I was just wondering which one I should buy as we here in northeast South Dakota are already hitting single digits outside over night. I'm looking for long life, easy cleaning, and a decent sized resouviour just so you may not have refill it all the time.
I am starting my 3rd winter on my current humidifier. Essick aire humidifier I fill it once a day in mid winter when it is running the most.
We just stop using the bath fan during showers, and I switch the ELECTRIC dryer to exhaust indoors in the winter (filter on discharge)...that is enough to keep the house tolerable
I bought a good size one at Sears back in the day, probably 12 years ago or more. It still works, so I still use it.
https://www.menards.com/main/heatin...1409/p-1455974586271-c-9507.htm?tid=-1&ipos=3 Here's what I have. It has two 2.5 gallon removable bottles in it. I have to fill the bottles daily when I'm burning, so I bought two additional bottles. I have the one that has a fake wood finish on it, but the insides are the same as these...
We have ultrasonic humidifiers in several rooms. I like them better as there is no filter to change out. It seemed like every time we got a good humidifier, they would stop making the damm filters
If you have a forced air heating system, install a humidifier on the plenum of the furnace. Won't have to roll it from room to room or fill the reservoir as the plenum mount will be permanently attached and plumbed, wired, and humidistat controlled. (don't forget the drain)
Those work great but I would think most if not all of the hoarders on here don't want to be running their furnace much if at all if they have the option of heating with wood instead.
Don't do it. Though it sounds good, if your house is tight, the extra dryer and shower humidity can create mold and extra condensation you don't need. The lint particles in the air from drying need to vent outdoors, not in your or the kids' lungs. This is more important for gas dryers. With 99% wood heat for us, a running steam humidifier and pots on stove tops do the job for indoor humidity. With winter temps below 20 F the pots and humidifier use up a couple of gallons a day. Yup, it can be a PITA.
Yes, if your house is dry then the bathroom humidity ends up in the rest of the house pretty darned quick. With doors open, which many wood/pellet burners get into a habit of. We used to vent the dryer thru a indoor filter during the Winter but we just stopped using the dryer altogether. Not using the dryer for a family of more than two might be tough but it is do-able. We've done it and now that there's just me I still do it. Just a little planning/not rocket science. A half a gallon of water on the stove isn't enough unless you don't need much.
I dont have room on my plenum for one. I do HVAC for a living so I know exactly what you are talking about.
I do this too during winter. When someone takes a shower we keep the humidity in the bathroom then just open the doors (yes, my down stairs bathroom has 2 doors). With as dry as my house gets it definitely helps, but its not everything.
We have two clothes racks we set up by the woodstove and we dry ALL our laundry this way. It dries quick, so there is more humidity besides the humidifier. Been doing it this way since 1983, saves money on the electric bill.
Hows about a bypass humidifier then? Seems theres always room for one of those! Thats right, I think you did mention that some time ago. Someone in the HVAC career asking for advice on a humidifier though....... is like a car salesman asking for advice on buying a car...????? If you are strictly service portion of HVAC, ask one of the installers for advice. Good luck!
The stove top pots don’t do enough for my house. I have two Essicks and run both during wood season. Each one takes about 2-3 gallons a day. Of course I am also a fan of leaving the bathroom door open when my wife is in the shower.
Ha ha, ask an installer....right. Installers only put parts and ductwork together. They are the beginners. They don't know how to troubleshoot or wire anything or read schematics. I do it all my friend. I'm the only HVAC guy at my company which has 4 employees counting the owner. The other 3 guys are all Electricians and good ones too. I was asking about the stand alone humidifiers that sit in your house and pump water into the air. Of course I know the benefits of humidifying. I learned all about in the trade school I attended. Remember when I wanted upload a picture of the psychrometric chart? Not many people even know what that is. Coming from CA you never needed to humidify your home. No one does. But now that i live in South Dakota, i just wanted to ask someone else which one is a good one, generally from a place like Menard's.
Home depot has customer reviews on the description page of their products (such as portable humidifiers) which would help out greatly in this case. I don't think Menards has the customer reviews... Personally, when I read reviews, I read the lower ones to find out the problems associated with the item. Its a lot more helpful than a 5 star review of "I just got this today and love the way it looks!" so on and so forth.
