DIYbanter - View Single Post

(Don) wrote in message om...
I have a house about 6 years old with central heat and air. The heat
is propane. The unit is in the crawl space.

I have seen those humidifers that add humidity to the house in winter.
I live in Kentucky. (Almost in Tennessee). Do these things work well?
I have heard they let you run your thermostat a little lower. I also
read they can use 18 gallons of water a day which would add to the
water bill.

My main concern is I have a newborn and supposedly keeping a high
humidity level in your house makes it less likely for people to get
sick and decreases respiratory problems along with keeping you skin
from drying out.

Is it bad to have too much humidity inside? Do they make a
humidifer/dehumidifer for the whole house? What this be beneficial?
ANy advice is greatly appreciated!

There are whole house humidifiers that you can easily add to a forced
air system. I highly recommend the Aprilaire self powered unit, which
is what I have. It installs easy, is easy to maintain, only needing
to be cleaned once a season. It uses a cartridge type element that
water trickles through. When it shuts off, no water is left, like in
the older rotating media ones, where bacteria can grow. It also has a
temp sensor that goes outside the house, so it will adjust the
humidity to the outside temp, basicly decreasing it as it gets colder
outside.

You definitely don't want it set too high, as that will cause sweating
at cold spots, like windows, ceiling recessed lights, etc., which can
lead to moisture damage. Set properly, they do make it more
comfortable, prevent drying out of furniture and allow a setting of
maybe a couple degrees lower on the thermostat.