[Eli]

Hi.

Wanted to see if anyone has heard of a humidifier which can be mated to the furnace, and assist in blowing already "himidified" air through the vents.
Since the temperatures have dropped it's been incredibly dry at home, and I'm looking for a solution which won't require me to put a noisy himidifier in each room...

[VaSteve]

The HVAC guy that did my furnace last summer told me that those humidifiers are a repository for mold over time. Maybe he said something about routine maintenance, but I stopped listening after "mold".

You might want to just get a room unit - ours was relatively quiet when I lived next to 395, we haven't tried it out here on the farm.

[KeithLambert7]

We've had one in our house for about ten years, it was installed new when we built. The thing works great never has any mold problems at all. I had it included since our house has lots of trim and moldings (crown, dental etc.) and the trim will crack and split seasonally if the humidity isn't maintained. It's pretty simple, just a drop of water into the system at a adjustable rate. It's much better on the sinuses too!

Keith

[Eli]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

The HVAC guy that did my furnace last summer told me that those humidifiers are a repository for mold over time. Maybe he said something about routine maintenance, but I stopped listening after "mold".

You might want to just get a room unit - ours was relatively quiet when I lived next to 395, we haven't tried it out here on the farm.

Pretty sure 395 can drown out the worst of the houshold noises... j/k. I'll look into both options.
The reason I'd rather get a central unit is I've got two curious rugrats who will no doubt want to disassemble any new gadget left unattended in the room....
My 1 year old uses the handle on the oven to do pullups, and the three year old likes to turn the volume all the way up on the entertainment center...among other things...

[Mike W]

My family’s home has had a Honeywell humidifier built into the air-handler for going on 20 years. I don't believe we have had many problems with it and the house was/is very comfortable.

[Richard Curtis]

Ditto Mike Weitzman's comments... more than 20 years and the humidifier still going strong and no mold problems.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Richard Curtis

Ditto Mike Weitzman's comments... more than 20 years and the humidifier still going strong and no mold problems.

Dammit. I could have avoided a season's worth of nosebleeds if I had ignored that guy's advice.

[Jazzbass]

I have the in-furnace one for 5 years - no problems, works great. The moulding still expands and contracts, though. Good thing the corners are coped, not mitered.

[Vicegrip]

Now your talking my line of work.

Both methods have pros and cons but the bad in both types can be overcome by routine maintenance. ALL humidity systems require maintenance!

Built in units cost more to start build up calcium and cause floods if you set and forget. Some, like the drip type will run for quite some time before packing up with calcium crust but you risk a flood when the little drain hole clogs up. all they need is for you to replace the pads and clean the tray from time to time.
The stand alone units can build up bugs and the water will also tun to a tan muddy looking soup if you don't clean it at least once a month. the bugs get in via the dust in the air but you can get anti bacterial additives for the stand alone units. I just clean the out often. There are far less bug problems with built in units and even less if you remember to turn them off and clean them out after the heating season.

There is a built in unit that has a heating coil and steams the water as the air flows during a heat cycle. They will pump out the moisture but you HAVE to maintain them or they too will crust up, burn out or just flood the house. It is the way to go as there is no more than the normal maintenance no expensive pads to replace and no mold or other airborne infectious issues. The down side is the initial cost and they require a dedicated 20 amp 120 volt line.

You can install a built in unit yourself in a mater of hours. Most only need a 1/4 inch cold water line, a drain line that goes to the same place that the condensate line goes to. They have a plug in transformer for the 24 volt power and you will need to cut two holes in the air ducts near the air handler (furnace)

i have an idea for one that I plan to build and install for next years heating season that uses heat and air flow to evaporate the water. The heat keeps the bugs from living. The system has an auto flush power clean cycle that will keep the calcium from building up and will be installed in a catch tank to a drain for any posable leaks. Under $80 from off the shelf stuff.

[APKhaos]

I've had great success with April Aire. Sounds lke the gear Kurt was talking about in the last two paras of the post above.

Only tricky bit is knowing whether you need an in-line or a bypass model for your application. I have one of each on two separate furnaces. Its important to use the right type for each application, so maybe an HVAC guy [Kurt's one of those] can help you there.[/url]