Nate Nagel wrote:

I just turned on my humidifier for the winter... noticed this last year
as well, a lot of the water goes right through the unit. Is there a
commonly available valve or restrictor that I could splice into the feed
line for this so that I could adjust it so only the barest of trickles
comes out of the drain tube while the unit is operating? Seems a shame
to waste all that water (that I have to pay for...)

thanks

A needle valve ought to be available that you can adjust as needed.
Other options would be a float valve to maintain a particular fill
level, or a solenoid valve to turn on the water only when the unit is
operating.