Peltier Humidifier
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twd000
Feeling the Heat
clever
I'm evaporating about a gallon per day without the fan; just the kettle of water
Have you measured relative humidity in your house? I'm questioning where all the moisture is going; is it just lost through normal air leaks in the house?
I did some estimates that a 3000 sqft house with 8' ceiling contains 1.7 gallons of total water, at 50% relative humidity.
If you continually evaporated a gallon of water into the air, it would quickly raise the RH to unhealthy levels, but that doesn't happen. Where is the water going?
And if you stop refilling the kettle, the house stabilizes at 20-30% RH; it doesn't keep dropping to zero (being replaced by outdoor air ofthe same RH)
I'm evaporating about a gallon per day without the fan; just the kettle of water
Have you measured relative humidity in your house? I'm questioning where all the moisture is going; is it just lost through normal air leaks in the house?
I did some estimates that a 3000 sqft house with 8' ceiling contains 1.7 gallons of total water, at 50% relative humidity.
If you continually evaporated a gallon of water into the air, it would quickly raise the RH to unhealthy levels, but that doesn't happen. Where is the water going?
And if you stop refilling the kettle, the house stabilizes at 20-30% RH; it doesn't keep dropping to zero (being replaced by outdoor air ofthe same RH)
Water is carried out with the warm air in your house. It can go out through leaks in the house’s envelope. ceiling and wall recepticles/penetrations, windows, chimneys, doors, kitchen and bathroom fans, etc are spots that can leak. Cold air that is drawn in to replace it is then warmed. Warm air can hold more moisture. So the humidity in the house drops.
And that is the reason to air seal; that warm moist air goes through a receptacle into the wall cavity where it meets the cold sheeting on the outside of the home, will cause condensation, and if a lot, mold.
Best is to insulate the outside of your home with rigid foam under the siding.
twd000
Feeling the Heat
OK, this is what I suspected. So code minimum in my climate zone for new builds is now 3.0 air changes per hour. Which is exactly what it sounds like, all the air in your house has leaked out and been replaced by outside air, every 20 minutes. Older houses are even leakier.
So if OP adds 1 gallon of water to their house every day, that is 2/3 of a cup per hour. Or about 4 TBSP in 20 minutes, in which time all your air has leaked out and been replaced.
So did you actually achieve a measurable increase in room RH during that time? I don't think you would
A bit of a side tangent on humidifiers. In the 90s I owned an 1880 brick house. A real brick house, backer brick and the the face brick. I replaced the old furnace with a new HVAC system with a humidifier tied to the stat. It was very easy to bring the winter humidity to a comfortable level
I then started to find the air leaks by the ice patch on the walls. Clothes frozen to the walls in closets and such.
I learned a lesson about raising the winter humidity in a house.
YMMV
I then started to find the air leaks by the ice patch on the walls. Clothes frozen to the walls in closets and such.
I learned a lesson about raising the winter humidity in a house.
YMMV
I run 2 humidifiers on our main level 24/7 in the winter and have a stove top cast iron steamer on top of our woodstove. Humidity is sitting at 40% currently on my main level of my house. Without humidifiers it would probably be in the 20-30% range.
twd000
Feeling the Heat
how often do you refill the humidifiers? I bet they're putting a lot more moisture into the air than the cast iron steamer does
On my last house, I had 2 huge humidifiers dumping gallons of water into the air. It didn’t help.
When I moved to my current house I did an awful lot of air sealing and now normal activities like cooking provide enough moisture to keep it moist enough. I suppose that plants and the dog bowl help too. My humidity must be a little low, the hardwood floors open up a little over winter, but it’s not bad. I only use moisturizer a few times a year for dry skin. I’m probably not the best person to answer your question. When the batteries ran out on my moisture meter, I never replaced them, lol.
Air sealing does a lot.
When I moved to my current house I did an awful lot of air sealing and now normal activities like cooking provide enough moisture to keep it moist enough. I suppose that plants and the dog bowl help too. My humidity must be a little low, the hardwood floors open up a little over winter, but it’s not bad. I only use moisturizer a few times a year for dry skin. I’m probably not the best person to answer your question. When the batteries ran out on my moisture meter, I never replaced them, lol.
Air sealing does a lot.
twd000
Feeling the Heat
When I moved into my house I got spots of condensation on my ceiling and little patches of mildew that formed on spots on the walls. I’d forgotten about that. They’ve been ironed out over the years. Going around the house with a FLIR camera can be fun.
BTW, a dog’s nose really is the coldest thing they can press into you.
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Well I never let the humidifiers get low. I probably add water a few times a day usually when I see they are half full. They are around 1.5-2 gallon humidifiers. The stove top steamer doesn't do much but we like the way it looks LOL. I can't stand the air being too dry inside. You get lots of static and the wood floors get gaps in places. I have to glob on moisturizer regardless of the humidity in the house.
I live in a log cabin. There is not a lot of air sealing that can be done. I use humidifiers in the winter and a dehumidifier in the summer.
We’ve sealed a few log cabins, when they get bats, it takes a lot of work to get rid of them. A battery powered caulk gun is your friend. I’ve known some who have used foam when the homeowner was going to restain the home soon after sealing, but I don’t feel that foam holds up to the sun well.
No holes big enough for bats. It's just small areas that have small holes where we can get air coming in. There is one area by my bathroom sink where I can feel air flowing through when it is windy. I am going to have my husband caulk that.
I hope not! It was more to say there are colored sealants that you can use to tightly seal a log cabin. It’s a lot of work though!
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