i need a humidifier ASAP.

[par0thead151]

i have always used my hole house humidifier attached to my gas furnace.
now that i have a wood burning insert(love the thing!), the air in my home has become very dry.

I am either going to use the furnace humidifier to humidify my home, or buy a standalone unit(i assume there are pros and cons of each?)
the only problem is my aprilair 700 will not run when the blower is on and the gas burners are not running(i dont want my furnace to heat, thats what the stove is for..)

my only concern is that since the air vents are by my windows(wood) that all the humidity will be focused around them, which is where i do not want it as it will condense on them then.

any and all advice that can be given would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

 

[wood4heat]

I have the same situation as you, I solved my problem by wiring the humidifier attached to the hvac unit so that the humidifier runs any time the blower fan runs regardless whether the furnace is running or not. This has worked well for me I just turn the manual swith on the t-stat to fan on for a couple hours and maintain 35%+ humidity within the house. Hope this helps!

 

[LLigetfa]

the only problem is my aprilair 700 will not run when the blower is on and the gas burners are not running

On my furnace there is another electrical tap that I tied the humidifier to. The humidifier tap only works with the burner but the electronic air cleaner tap supplies power whenever the blower is running. That way I get more cycle time on the humidifier and it will run with just the fan.

 

[pgmr]

When humidifying with relatively cool air, plumb the humidifier with hot water and you'll get more evaporation and less waste to the drain. Heat pump systems are usually done this way due to their lower heat output. Costs a little more for the hot water, but is probably offset by less water usage.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Get yourself a kettle and put it on your stove. Extremely efficient on electricity and seems to do the trick.

 

[pgmr]

He has an insert, so the kettle idea probably won't work for him. It is a good way to add moisture to the air if one has a place to put a container.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Isn't there a shelf on the front of an Enviro?

 

[par0thead151]

He has an insert, so the kettle idea probably won't work for him. It is a good way to add moisture to the air if one has a place to put a container.

indeed, this is true. i tried the kettle and it did not even evaporate after 3 days...
my stove top gets to be 150-200 max..

my humidifier(april air 700) is plumbed with hot water, so it is more efficient evaporation wise..

i will see about wiring it tonight.
having a good schematic for my furnace would help...

 

[Corey]

The catch-22 of the hot water plumb is you have more dissolved minerals, so you gunk up the humidifier pad faster, but it will help with adding more humidity. You may try large flat containers on top of your insert. I use 3 pyrex pie plates and wind up feeding 1 to 1-1/2 gallons of water per day during heavy burning. The large exposed water surface area makes up for the relatively low heat on the insert top.

 

[par0thead151]

i should also add, my wife has a 55 gallon fish tank as well
she adds about 3 gallons a week to it.
which helps a bit, but nowhere near as much as needed to get the desired levels of humidity

 

[pgmr]

i will see about wiring it tonight.
having a good schematic for my furnace would help...

You might check the back of the access door(s) on the furnace. There is often a wiring diagram glued to the inside of one of those doors.

 

[sandie]

My kettle puts out a lot of steam BUT it all goes backward and up the chimney so stopped doing that and will look for a humidifyer for that room, if the air is being humidified in there I would think the moist air will travel with the heat to the other rooms.

 

[Corey]

If it's really going up the chimney, I'd look for a way to seal that draft. A lot of warm air is probably going up there, too.

 

[par0thead151]

the humidifier is wired up to run when the blower is on now...
for some odd reason though, my humidifier is not kicking on. maybe it is not yet dry enough outside? as that is the sensor it uses is both on the cold air return and one outside as well.

i have a cheap thermometer and barometer that i bought at ace hardware for 20$ and it says humidity is 40%.
however my hands are very dry compared to how they usualy are this time of year.

 

[sandie]

yes the ehat is also going up the chimney to the top plate. I spoke with the chimney sweep and he said I am the first person to request the plate be put just above the begining of the fireplace chimney so the heat will not escape up the chimney, he is not happy I do not think but by talking to you all I believe it should definitely done. You can see the steam and heat going backward and up the chimney. I asked that be insulated so will need to know what people use to insulate the plate, what the plate should be made of so this guy does the right thing. I will tell you I was at the woodstove store and asked their installer about a plate at the bottom of the chimney and he said " We always put them at the top and insulate them but we do not put them at the bottom unless they are requested and when we have to do that we charge alot because they are a pain in the butt". I would have thought it would be a plate with a hole in it, slide it over the pipe and attach to the chimney near where the flue was. What is so diffuclt and why the hesitation??????

 

[Jfk4th]

I bought a SEARS 12 gallon humidifier and I absolutely love it. It works up to 2,400 sq ft which is plenty for me. I sometimes fill it up twice a day so that means 2-4 gallons of water are put in the air if need. You can of course adjust the speed, which I keep on whisper quiet and the humidity which I usually keep at 35-40. plus there is a auto feature that will adjust the speed depending on how much humidity you need to reach your desired level of comfort. Again I keep mine on whisper quiet because I like to have it quiet all the time. With the other speeds you will hear some noise, high being the loudest of course but if you want it more comfortable in a hurry, high speed is the way to go. Once it hits the desired level the unit turns off. There is even a dry out mode which prevents stagnant water. This unit is like the one from Mosit Air but it is a little better, do the research like I did and you will see Kenmore is by far the best. I buy one filter for the year which costs about 17 bucks and I add bacteriostat and water treatment, just about a capful or two for each gallon.

I paid around 135 for it, plus I bought the 2 year replacement warranty
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...&+Dehumidifiers&sName=Humidifiers#reviewsWrap

 

[sandie]

thanks so much for the suggestion. Will go get one at Sears.

 

[Jfk4th]

Right on!

 

[grommal]

When humidifying with relatively cool air, plumb the humidifier with hot water and you'll get more evaporation and less waste to the drain. Heat pump systems are usually done this way due to their lower heat output. Costs a little more for the hot water, but is probably offset by less water usage.

Excellent advice. This does make a big difference. I switched mine over to hot water a couple of years ago.

 

[smokingolf]

He has an insert, so the kettle idea probably won't work for him. It is a good way to add moisture to the air if one has a place to put a container.

They make half trivets. I have one it holds about 1 1/2 quarts, plus a 2 1/2 gal stand alone humidifier one up and one down can maintain close to 40%. But thinking about putting one on my new forced hot air furnace HVAC system I had to replace this summer. Keep your house humidified and it will feel comfortable and warmer too. Before we had our stove we were comfortable at 67-68 if the humidity was up around 40%. Don't no if I could stand it being under 72 now in the winter now that I have a stove.

Brian