OK,hiya all. Next,I know lots of pellet and wood stove owners suffer from low humidity in the house in winter. I rarely do,to a point it affects me,so never really wondered about it. BUT,here's my story-- last 3 summers have been brutal,with the amount of smoke and particulate matter, mostly from Cali and OR forest fires. I have no A/C, being in the mountains, or central air. I normally close all the windows and run my air filter machines. But,it can get brutally hot inside almost 90f, and it seems like whenever we get hot, the humidity drops way low,10-20%. SO,this year I purchased a "room evaporative cooler". Well, I don't think much people give it much thought,but a evaporative cooler is nothing more than a humidifier. So I researched and price shopped,and purchased the one I bought.The item was well built and the company seems fair and honest. Wow does this thing put out the moisture! Sometimes I would have to turn off the water,and run just the fan, because, as you know,you don't want the moisture level above a certain point,defeats the purpose. it's not little,but does hold 5 gal water, and can be filled from the top. I guess I am recommending others may want to try this for their winter humidity issues, and it was not very expensive. This model also can be used just as a fan, has a bunch of different modes. But this company sells other models, new and refurb. Makes me wonder why others have not tried them,they are just a pump,fan and pad,same as a basic humidifier. I would recommend, same as a pellet stove,bigger is better. This unit would do 1 floor of my little house, but found myself carrying it upstairs on bad nights,so may buy anther one for up there, while they still have refurbs, as I don't expect Cali and OR to fix their forest issues overnight. Well perhaps this may help someone,sorry for long post. Good day all. Bob Remanufactured Frigidaire 2-in-1 Evaporative Air Cooler and Fan, 350 sq. ft.
This is the best one I found to use at night for humidity. Easily does a bedroom (door closed), and is whisper quiet: Bell & Howell® Sonic Breathe? Ultrasonic Personal Humidifier 3 pc Pack - Walmart.com
RH is always an issue here because we heat 100% with biomass. What I like to do is I run the central furnace on blower only to circulate the heated by the corn stove throughout the house and sitting next to the corn stove is a large Honeywell twin tank evaporative humidifier with twin 3 gallon tanks that we have to keep full of bottled water because out well water is loaded with minerals so it don't work in the unit. Our big winter expense is keeping the water hungry humidifier supplied with water. It maintains about 50% RH in the house all winter. We buy water in 2.5 gallon jugs every week.
