# Great choices for humidifier



## rygar (Oct 27, 2016)

Looking for some options on how to get additional moisture into the air.

We have a few cold mist humidfiers, but they fill with mold too easily and we cannot really be cleaning them every day and letting it dry.

looking at the dyson humidifier but that price is killing me.  i looked at wood stove kettles, but the top of my insert doesnt have a flat and long enough surface to support one.

please help


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## Montanalocal (Oct 27, 2016)

One very cold winter we rigged up a cloths line in a room in our house and draped a sheet over it.  Then we sprinkled water over the sheet several times a day.  That let a lot of water into the air.  You have to have a situation where drips do not matter, perhaps plastic under it.


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## Jay106n (Oct 27, 2016)

Large pot of water on top of the stove


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## ElmBurner (Oct 28, 2016)

A cheap way to get a lot of humidity into your house is to get one of the lint trap kits that route the exhaust from a clothes dryer into the house.

It helps if you do a lot of laundry...my house does at least one load a day.

Also adds heat that would otherwise just go outside to be wasted.

I am going to get a new one this year.  $12 + free shipping on Amazon.

http://www.deflecto.com/products/pc/Lint-Trap-Kit-4p431.htm#.WBOE2_krLcs

Otherwise, I think the fan based humidifers with water tanks and wick filters are the best way to go.  Everything else won't get enough water into the air to matter much.  I wouldn't want to mess around with putting a kettle on the stove and keeping it full, personally.


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## HisTreeNut (Oct 29, 2016)

We have a cool mist humidifier that we we use and during active use I only clean it weekly.  
We bought a Dyson vacuum and we were worried about the money we were spending.  Over 10 years later, we don't regret it a bit.
I didn't know they started making humidifiers, but if the vacuums are any indication, it will be worth the money.
I so want one of their fans.


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## drz1050 (Oct 29, 2016)

Put a little bit of white vinegar in your humidifiers with the water and mold won't form.


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## BenTN (Oct 29, 2016)

ElmBurner said:


> A cheap way to get a lot of humidity into your house is to get one of the lint trap kits that route the exhaust from a clothes dryer into the house.
> 
> It helps if you do a lot of laundry...my house does at least one load a day.
> 
> ...



i cant believe i have never thought to try this. we do a lot of laundry, seems like our dryer is always running. would be great to switch to this during the winter months and back to the outdoor vent during summer. my concern would be lint that doesnt get caught be these traps. our laundry room adjoins our kitchen and i could see a trap failure leading to a layer of lint throughout our kitchen or on our food. we just finished installing our zc osburn and looking for a way to humidify since we have no way for a steam pot on the stove to work. for the price of these and the reviews they have i think i may try this.


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## DuaeGuttae (Oct 29, 2016)

I haven't followed that link for the kit, bit I'll mention our homemade solution.  We put an old knee-high stocking over the end of the dryer vent that we route into the laundry room, and we made cap for the outside connection with a piece of duct connector and two pieces of leftover insulation.  We just slide that on to keep cold outside air out.

I will add that since having our house moderately airsealed and our windows replaced, we find that the winter air remains quite moist.  People's breathing and our regular cooking of broth and soup add a lot of moisture.  We do have just a plain old Vicks vaporizer if we need extra.  Just as our small children learn wood stove safety early on, they also learn vaporizer safety.


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## fespo (Oct 29, 2016)

A nice BIG POT on top of the stove. Not fancy but very clean to use. Thats all I use, I bought a brand new from GFS. IT twas the best $35.00 I spent on a humidifier.


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## red oak (Oct 30, 2016)

Big pot on the stove is what I use, fill it every other day in the middle of winter - once I even made it boil but that was a big mistake!


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## ElmBurner (Nov 2, 2016)

BenTN said:


> i cant believe i have never thought to try this. we do a lot of laundry, seems like our dryer is always running. would be great to switch to this during the winter months and back to the outdoor vent during summer. my concern would be lint that doesnt get caught be these traps. our laundry room adjoins our kitchen and i could see a trap failure leading to a layer of lint throughout our kitchen or on our food. we just finished installing our zc osburn and looking for a way to humidify since we have no way for a steam pot on the stove to work. for the price of these and the reviews they have i think i may try this.


I haven't had any issue with lint.  Just need to keep water in it.  Your lint trap in the dryer should be catching the majority of the lint anyway.

I should be very clear though...doing this with a gas dryer is a *bad* idea.  Only do this with an electric dryer.  You don't want the exhaust from a gas dryer in your house...that's bad news.


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## DaveH (Nov 6, 2016)

I have one of these.

https://www.heat-helper.com/

Keeps the heat in the house and unloads a ton of moisture into the house.  Would work best if the dryer is in a large room or basement.  Mine is in a small bathroom, I have to keep the door open otherwise it will coat the walls with moisture.


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## laynes69 (Nov 6, 2016)

We fought with a dry home until we buttoned things up. We had a floor unit humidifier that couldn't keep up. After airsealing the home, we no longer need one.


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 6, 2016)

DaveH said:


> I have one of these.
> 
> https://www.heat-helper.com/
> 
> Keeps the heat in the house and unloads a ton of moisture into the house.  Would work best if the dryer is in a large room or basement.  Mine is in a small bathroom, I have to keep the door open otherwise it will coat the walls with moisture.


That looks like the cats ass. I have one similar to elmburner but that is much better. I will be getting one of these.


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 7, 2016)

laynes69 said:


> We fought with a dry home until we buttoned things up. We had a floor unit humidifier that couldn't keep up. After airsealing the home, we no longer need one.




This is our issue.  We have, lets say, the Dodge of homes...lol  (Dodge has the loosest tolerances of all major automakers).  Because of this we have very low humidity during winter.  We use one of -THESE- in which we fill 2 times a day and our humidity is still only right around high 20's.  So 10 gallons of water a day is being put into the home.  We also have an April Aire system attached to the hot air plenum on the wood furnace, but this cools our supply down too much at the end of the burn cycle, which then turns the blower off sooner, so I don't use it when it's really cold out.


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 7, 2016)

DaveH said:


> I have one of these.
> 
> https://www.heat-helper.com/
> 
> Keeps the heat in the house and unloads a ton of moisture into the house.  Would work best if the dryer is in a large room or basement.  Mine is in a small bathroom, I have to keep the door open otherwise it will coat the walls with moisture.



that would be great if you have an electric drier.  We have an LP drier.  :-(


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## firefighterjake (Nov 7, 2016)

JRHAWK9 said:


> that would be great if you have an electric drier.  We have an LP drier.  :-(



Yeah . . . . . . probably don't want to hook up one of those to a gas clothes dryer . . . we're kinda partial to keeping our members alive here at hearth.com.


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## burnt03 (Dec 8, 2016)

I've got a couple of these in the family room near the stove 




Dry all of our laundry on them and end up getting a ton of moisture in the air.  Run the dried laundry through the electric dryer for 5 minutes with a bounce sheet after to soften them up.  Added bonus, saving a ton of energy not running the dryer for the full 45min!


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## rwhite (Dec 12, 2016)

These come up on eBay occasionally. I got mine at a yard sale. Absolutely the best cool mist humidifier I've ever owned. They are adjustable and super quiet. Hankscraft


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## WoodyIsGoody (Oct 15, 2017)

DaveH said:


> I have one of these.
> 
> https://www.heat-helper.com/
> 
> Keeps the heat in the house and unloads a ton of moisture into the house.  Would work best if the dryer is in a large room or basement.  Mine is in a small bathroom, I have to keep the door open otherwise it will coat the walls with moisture.



If you go to heat-helper.com it says "We are now sold out of Heat Helpers and will not be producing any additional ones."


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Oct 15, 2017)

ElmBurner said:


> I haven't had any issue with lint.  Just need to keep water in it.  Your lint trap in the dryer should be catching the majority of the lint anyway.
> 
> I should be very clear though...doing this with a gas dryer is a *bad* idea.  Only do this with an electric dryer.  You don't want the exhaust from a gas dryer in your house...that's bad news.


We installed a gas dryer last year, and you tempted me with your good idea. So, thanks for clarifying.  Hopefully I'd have come to my senses and realized that on my own, but you never can be sure these days.


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## ruppert (Jan 18, 2019)

rygar said:


> Looking for some options on how to get additional moisture into the air.
> 
> We have a few cold mist humidfiers, but they fill with mold too easily and we cannot really be cleaning them every day and letting it dry.
> 
> ...



Listen, there have been many excellent and inventive ideas. But I honestly do not understand the problem. I bought my humidifier a couple of years ago here: https://besttechexpert.guide/best-whole-house-humidifier/ and I wash it as often as I water a cactus. There was never a problem with mold in the humidifier, so maybe you just had no luck with the company.


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## Stercomancy (Jan 31, 2019)

Have anyone bought the VicTsing Cool Mist Humidifier, I'm seeing their ads all over the place. I also notice it has decent reviews on Amazon.


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## Tar12 (Feb 1, 2019)

rwhite said:


> These come up on eBay occasionally. I got mine at a yard sale. Absolutely the best cool mist humidifier I've ever owned. They are adjustable and super quiet. Hankscraft
> View attachment 190056


Do they require a filter of any kind? Are parts still available? Thanks..


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## rwhite (Feb 1, 2019)

Tar12 said:


> Do they require a filter of any kind? Are parts still available? Thanks..



I doubt any parts are available.  The only thing I have had go wrong is the gasket for the fill lid. Just made one from a sheet of rubber gasket material.  There is a small carbon intake filter. Almost looks like a small scrubber type thing. I cant see that it does a lot of good and would probably do without if I didn't have it.


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## velvetfoot (Feb 1, 2019)

Is all this moisture good for house?  I use moisturizer on my skin in the winter and I'm fine.


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## DickRussell (Feb 1, 2019)

laynes69 said:


> We fought with a dry home until we buttoned things up. We had a floor unit humidifier that couldn't keep up. After airsealing the home, we no longer need one.





velvetfoot said:


> Is all this moisture good for house?.....



Humidification has come up before on this site and elsewhere. The first above quote sums up the problem - air leakage, and the answer to the question in the second quote is "No." Human activity in a house produces moisture, and dry outside air leakage flushes it out. It's no secret that a house built very tight needs mechanical ventilation to keep interior humidity DOWN in winter, as well as all year long. A house so leaky that the folks inside complain of excessive dryness is a house crying for a through air sealing effort. Dumping a lot of moisture into a house in winter is not good for the house, and ultimately it could be very bad for the people living there. All that moisture goes somewhere, and if it's into the walls and attic on the way outside, a good deal of that can condense on the colder surfaces, creating a mold environment when temperatures moderate. Lingering moisture in the structure also can lead to rot. So, humidify with care, don't overdo it, and make plans to tighten up the house when weather allows it.

Discussions of this are easily found by searching on "humifier mold air leakage." Here is one: https://www.pvhvac.com/blog/really-need-whole-house-humidifier/


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## rwhite (Feb 1, 2019)

velvetfoot said:


> Is all this moisture good for house?  I use moisturizer on my skin in the winter and I'm fine.


According to my wife it's good for her sleep. In that I don't snore as much. People are talking as if most are dumping huge amounts of moisture into the air. At least the humidifier I use is self regulating and I try for around 20% or so in the bedroom


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