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  1. #1
    Ol' School Nix's Avatar
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    Home humidifier? Pros? Cons? Worth it??

    Because of all the great info I was reading about the air duct cleaning thread I thought I would ask you folks about a home humidifier.

    Does anyone have or know of someone that has a Humidifier installed in their house that works with the heating/cooling system?

    I have super dry skin as it is, bad enough where shortly after it starts to get as cold as it has been getting my hands periodically crack and bleed. With the combination of shitty dry skin, manual labor working with my hands and mother nature. But it gets bad enough when they crack open it gets very painful. The cracks have a very hard time healing. Over the years I've used super glue to close up the cracks. Simply because bands aids and all that other junk doesn't cut it. I'm only 33 but over the years my hands have gotten worse. Hand cream and all the other stuff can only do so much so I'm looking for other remedies that may help.

    Anyhow, It has been brought up to me about a humidifier for the whole house. But I don't personally know of anyone that has one. I'd simply like to hear some opinions. Pros/Cons, Is it expensive, expensive and tough to maintain etc.... For what it's worth we have a ranch style house that is approximately 1, 700 square feet. In the next year or two we plan on finishing a portion of the basement so I suppose that should be factored into the equation.

    Thanks
    Last edited by Nix; 11-25-2013 at 02:08 AM.

  2. #2
    The man in the box Jukebox Hero Champion My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion Smaugs Treasure Champion Lash's Avatar
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    Long story short,

    Yes, it's worth it.

  3. #3
    I will second that.

  4. #4
    Comfort wise it's a great idea but its not the cure for the hands.
    I have the same issue with winter dry hands due to repeated washings at work with abrasive soap to remove grease/dirt.
    Of the remedy's for hands I've tried and heard of is to use Vaseline jelly at night before bed. A variation is to put on latex gloves after application of the Vaseline to keep it in place and intensify the healing. A couple over nights will make a big difference.
    You can try the glove method with any cream you like.
    Last edited by SSDude; 11-25-2013 at 09:45 AM.
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  5. #5
    2006 roadking custom. KF 9000 Champion 0TransAm0's Avatar
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    Get utter balm and use a sock not a latex glove.. With the glove your skin can't breath at all..I have been working as a meat cutter for 14 years and we make homemade sausage,it's the worst in the winter since the casings are soaked in salt water..talk about dry skin..there were times I couldn't make a fist without the skin on the back of my hand cracking and bleeding in 5 spots..

  6. #6
    ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐ Super Mario Mushroom Champion Starcastle Champion Korndogg's Avatar
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    Yeah Udder Balm is amazing.
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  7. #7
    its almost that time again Ricky Bobby's Avatar
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    Getting one installed this week, have a guy who sometimes pops on here message me if ya want his info

  8. #8
    have pot, will stir WickedSix's Avatar
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    We have a 1650 sq ft ranch with a whole home humidifier as part of the HVA. Very small addition to the system and controlled by the panel. Keeps our home at 30-40% humidity during the cold months. We replace the element annually, fairly inexpensive. Having never had one before I'd compare it to going from no AC to having central AC as far as the comfort it affords in the house. Helps keep the plaster and wood flooring from undergoing large cycles of contraction and expansion.

  9. #9
    Brumbrabrabra!! nismodave's Avatar
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    Got one and love it.

  10. #10
    Ol' School awsomeears's Avatar
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    There are SBP ( small by-pass ) LBP ( large by-pass ) and Fan Power

    Choosing one all depends on the Furnace for ideal operation, if your furnace is a single stage a by-pass is great, if your furnace is 2-stage you WILL FOR SURE need a power assist. When I say power assist I mean there is actually a miniature fan blowing/forcing the humidity into the duct work system. Two stage furnace usually run on low stage 80% of the heating season and they just don't have the CFM are movement to pull proper air across the humidifier pad that is Moist, hahahaha moist !!!

    I have installed Aprilaire, Honeywell, Bryant, Brauburn.

    Hands down Aprilaire is the Best, not only is it the best but there all priced the same so choose the aprilaire.

    Also there is Manual option and Automatic option, manual means as the temperature changes outside you must walk to the control that is mounted downstairs and adjust it, Automatic is just that, you set it once ehhh possibly twice if your totally new to it and you leave it alone for how ever many years your in the home.

    Automatic versions have a sensor that you place outside, the sensor takes a temperature sends it to the control, control does a % calculation and determines what ideal for the setting of where you want it.

    If you have any other questions PM me, I no longer do side work as its just to stressful but I am happy to give you Facts on these products

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  11. #11
    habitual line-stepper Mr. Brett's Avatar
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    I have one, April Aire 550 is the model I think. It helps, but it's not a cure all when it's dry like this. Worth the money in my opinion.

  12. #12
    ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐ Super Mario Mushroom Champion Starcastle Champion Korndogg's Avatar
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    I have an Aprilaire 700 and love it.
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  13. #13
    I am bringing this back up because we have just gotten to the point that we will be adding a humidifier...

    Why is a bypass humidifier such a good option?

    Personally, all I see it as is a complete short-circuit of the return to the feed side of a single-stage system. That is bad in many ways:


    1) It bypasses the blower from the feed to the supply sides, thus allowing for a drop in vacuum on the return side and a drop of static pressure on the feed side.

    2) You are bypassing hot air from the feed side to the return side instead of feeding the hot air to the house. The secondary affect is increasing the temp if the return air, resulting in overheating of the air exchanger (which is bad since the cooler the incoming charge, the less heat rise in the exhanger cells themselves, which means less overall thermal cycling, which means longer life) thus shortening the life of the heat exchanger.

    The only advantages:

    1) Reduced operating parts since you are allowing the furnaces blower to move all the air, not an independent fan.

    2) Reduced noise since it adds nothing to the furnace that makes additional noise (the aforementioned independent fan).

    From a HVAC business perspective I can see why bypass humidifiers are such a "push" because they increase your business in many ways. For the homeowner I see absolutely no reason to EVER install a bypass unit. From every single perspective, outside of reduced operating parts and noise, there is only disadvantages.

    The most hilarious part is the only "authorized" for DIY install units are bypass units. The install is much more of a PITA since you have to deal with holes in both the return and feed plenums, but also ducting between them as well. Much great opportunity for screw-ups and leaks as well as creating general efficiency issues. OF course from the HVAC "business" perspective, this is great is it also allows for more opportunities to start dealing with "problems" the homeowner just created for themselves by installing a bypass unit.

    All the "pro" install units are either fan-powered or steam powered. They all require usually 1 hole in just the feed side. Some require greater internal install depth, so you need to know where your a-coil is in relation to the install, but if you are doing things correctly, that should be known. In the case of steam units they require even smaller holes than the fan-powered units need, thus making the install that much easier without having to to use sheet-metal sheers in some cases.

    Sure, the "pro-install" units are sometimes more complex, usually including an outdoor temp sensor and possibly remote humidistats, or even direct integration to more complicated thermostats that support both outside temp monitoring and humidity control, but in all cases it is usually the same 3-7 wires needed for hookup (and possibly a airflow sensing device). Nothing more complicated than wiring up a basic thermostat itself and certainly not much more complicated than the humidifier install itself.

    Sorry, looking into a lot of this HVAC stuff it exposing a lot of highly-questionable system design compromising products. I am sure there are calculations and design criteria to afford for a proper bypass system, or why not give a better installing bypass system? I mean why not pipe the bypass into the post-filter side of the system, ie, into the furnace plenum that holds the blower, instead of the return ducting??? I mean it is just thicker sheetmetal and would allow for bypass flow in a shorter space and accomplish the exact same thing. Still not a good idea IMHO, given everything I have outlined above.

    I mean the only *real* options as far as I can tell are the fan powered models for longevity and proper homogeneous system integration without messing with a proper functioning and properly calibrated HVAC system. The steam systems are nice in regards to being more water efficient and adding atomized moisture directly to the air system. The issue comes down to longevity and reliability. I do not think the steam units are reliable enough or robust enough to live more than 2-3 years on average, certainly not much more than some of the 5 year warranties given on some, and cannot believe anyone would get more than 6 or 7 years without a full replacement based on the technology currently being used in most units that cost <$1000. And even in those cases they would only be in homes where the humidifier is grossly oversized for the house to keep the duty-cycle to a minumum. You can see tons of complaints on almost all the steam units out there now.

    Personally I am probably going with a Honeywell HE300 fan-powered unit. The install is straightforward, it supports 18 gallons a day additional moisture, it does not have the gross air leakage problems the Aprilaire 700 units have (and to be honest the Aprilaire units have got a great track-record out there, but I also have read of the gross air leakage they have through their cases which pull unconditioned air from the furnace area in and allows conditioned air during periods where the humidifier is non-running to escape). Now it may be a simple matter of adding in some foam gasketing material to seal it up, but I also heard the cage-wheel fan on the HE300 is quieter than the direct fan on the Aprilaire 700.

    I would love to hear some HVAC insider perspective on all of this...
    Last edited by 95 TA - The Beast; 01-10-2014 at 10:53 AM.

  14. #14
    Sorry, I may add, there are "pro" by-pass units as well... They usually are ones that include the advanced electronics and wiring as well...

    I forgot to add that the other thing about bypass units is the fact that you also have to make sure you switch the damper on them when going from winter to summer, otherwise you are using the bypass during cooling... I would imagine that could contribute to freezing of the a-coil?

    Same difference in summer to winter... If you don't switch the damper you won't get humidity...

    Lastly, it seems like Aprilaire OEMs to damn near everyone else almost for fan-powered humidifiers... Their 700 model is offered under a ton of OEM names as their own products, yet you can tell they are Aprilaire 700 cases and parts...

    Oh, and I totally understand about the possibility of the powered units to add scale to the a-coil in operation, but with that unit being able to be removed it just makes cleaning of that side of the a-coil that much easier from the top... So the problem it creates it also offers a solution for...
    Last edited by 95 TA - The Beast; 01-10-2014 at 10:56 AM.

  15. #15
    Formerly known as Yellow Wagon jbiscuit's Avatar
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    longest post ever on BCM
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  16. #16
    The man in the box Jukebox Hero Champion My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion Smaugs Treasure Champion Lash's Avatar
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    Somebody needs some Ritalin.

  17. #17
    I'll touch your apex PureSound15's Avatar
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    Wow.

  18. #18
    What, a proper analysis of available options and pros-cons isn't valid???

    Sure, this is a lot more detailed, but all the information is valid... Sure a lot of people don't care too much and just want moisture in their homes, but for someone pushing for max efficiency and energy savings I think a lot of this information is valid. Water is cheaper than electricity, thus the evaporation vs steam arguments are still valid, as well as energy savings overall. I also talk to energy consumption and reliability based on overall efficiency (fan-powered vs bypass).

    Don't see why people think this is such overkill. It is just a proper analysis with valid considerations.

    I noticed the resident HVAC guy didn't even give a valid reply. What is up with that? I would have to imagine properly choosing a humidification system to be well within a HVAC pros expected area of expertise, so why not a proper response to all the points discussed?

    Honestly, how many people screw up their HVAC system by putting bypass systems into place and end up shortening the life of said systems? As well as lowering the efficiency of said systems?

    If someone "in the industry" doesn't know, doesn't it show a lack of understanding of the principles involved in said industry? I would have to imagine such knowledge is shared by those within the industry at some level and the "answers" to all of this would have to be known. Why not share it?

    Or, is it a matter that most even "in the industry" don't care enough and all that shows is that all the points made ARE VALID and that in "not caring" they are ultimately helping themselves and the industry in general profit off everyone else?

  19. #19
    Sorry, I do this level of analysis, engineering, evaluation, testing, etc, etc on EVERYTHING I am interested in. And, yes, most of my projects have spectacular results usually on the higher-end of the performance scale because of all this effort. Success is addicting and the formula used to achieve it is generally applicable to everything in life on one level or another...

  20. #20
    You may want to get your arm checked. I think you may have broken it patting yourself on the back.
    Carry on.........
    1970 Chevelle SS
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