Of all the products we sell for usually under $400 we can install a Humidifier on your furnace. This would come with a humidistat that controls the humidity in the house just like the thermostat controls the temperature. In real cold months your indoor humidity could go as low as 5-10%. Low humidity creates dry throats, static electricity and brittle skin. Many houses today have an abundance of hardwood floors, crown molding, and wood doors. A humidifier prevents wood from splitting and keeps them in tip top shape. Most builders we do work for install a humidifier on every house as standard. You can also be comfortable at a lower temperature with the right humidity saving you money. The humidifier works on 24v electric so it cost pennies to run.
Many people have portable humidifiers which require you to empty a bucket every so often. A humidifier adds moisture to the air after it is heated and it is supplied to each room by your heating-cooling ducts. The drain connects right into your air conditioning condensate drain. The only maintenance is changing the filter or water panel once a year.
Humidifiers are designed to maintain an indoor relative humidity of 35% anytime the temperature is above 20. Some homes may able to attain higher indoor humidity. It all depends on the age of the windows, wall and ceiling insulation, and how tight your home is.
Depending on the age of the glazing it can prevent ice from forming on windows. This is caused from the extreme difference between the indoor and outdoor temperature. With old windows this problem would be eliminated with a humidifier.
The humidifiers include a water metering orifice designed to regulate the water flow through the humidifier. This can range from a mere 3 gallons per hour to as much as 6GPH. The saddle valve is not designed to regulate the water flow and should simply be turned to fully open so the orifice can regulate the flow. If the saddle valve is not fully opened the humidity output from the humidifier will be reduced.
Humidifiers can operate with hot, cold, hard or soft water. Hot water is preferred as it supplements the heat from the HVAC system heat call to increase the evaporation rate. When the humidifier is wired on heat or HVAC fan call, hot water is required as it is the only heat source for the evaporation process.
All humidifiers require, heat, water, and air movement in order to add moisture to the air. Moisture in the form of vapor is added whenever the humidity level in the home is lower than the desired level and the HVAC system fan is moving air. When the HVAC system is not operating, the humidifier may not be wired to only operate when the fan is on.
You can upgrade your humidifier to an automatic digital control with an outdoor sensor. The outdoor temperature sensor continuously reports change in outdoor temperature to the automatic digital control located on the cold air return drop in your basement. This control uses this information to determine if the home needs additional humidity, to ensure the optimum humidification level is maintained.
Humidifiers are designed to be installed on the hot air supply plenum. If however, there is no space available due to the HVAC air conditioning coil or the layout of the mechanical room, the humidifier can be installed on the return air drop. When installed on the return air duct, the humidifier must be supplied with hot water as the temperature of the air in the cold air return duct is not sufficient for proper evaporation.
