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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

Hi,

I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario. The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.

The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor. Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around on the
condensor.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 9:26 am, "brechmos" wrote:
Hi,

I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario. The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.

The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor. Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around on the
condensor.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


On my system, the humidifier is mounted on the return duct, close to
the furnace. Then there is a small 6" duct coming out of the supply
duct going into the humidifier.

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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 9:34 am, "Mikepier" wrote:
On Feb 8, 9:26 am, "brechmos" wrote:



Hi,


I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario. The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.


The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor. Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around on the
condensor.


Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks.


On my system, the humidifier is mounted on the return duct, close to
the furnace. Then there is a small 6" duct coming out of the supply
duct going into the humidifier.


Right, I will mount my humidifier on the return duct close to the
furnace. That end of things I am all right with.

The small duct that comes out of the humidifier has to go into the
supply duct (hope I have the word right, the part with the warm air)
right above the furnace. Right at that point is the A/C condensor,
inside the ducting. Is it all right to shoot the moist air over the
condensor?


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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.


"brechmos" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 8, 9:34 am, "Mikepier" wrote:
On Feb 8, 9:26 am, "brechmos" wrote:



Hi,


I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario. The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.


The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor. Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around on the
condensor.


Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks.


On my system, the humidifier is mounted on the return duct, close to
the furnace. Then there is a small 6" duct coming out of the supply
duct going into the humidifier.


Right, I will mount my humidifier on the return duct close to the
furnace. That end of things I am all right with.

The small duct that comes out of the humidifier has to go into the
supply duct (hope I have the word right, the part with the warm air)
right above the furnace. Right at that point is the A/C condensor,
inside the ducting. Is it all right to shoot the moist air over the
condensor?




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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 10:37 am, "Smarty" wrote:
My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.


Great. I'll see if I can hook it up tonight.

Thanks.



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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 10:46 am, "brechmos" wrote:
On Feb 8, 10:37 am, "Smarty" wrote:

My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.


Great. I'll see if I can hook it up tonight.

Thanks.


It's the AC evaporator, not the condenser that you are looking at.
The main thing to look out for is not to damage the evaporator while
you're cutting the necessary hole for the humidifier. IMO, by far
the best humidifiers are the Aprilaire. And I like the self powered
models, (760) that don't shunt air from the hot air plenum back to the
return. I've had the 760 for 7 years now. It's very easy to service,
the whole thing just lifts off. All I do is clean it once a year and
replace the media once every 2 years.

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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 11:02 am, wrote:
On Feb 8, 10:46 am, "brechmos" wrote:

On Feb 8, 10:37 am, "Smarty" wrote:


My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.


Great. I'll see if I can hook it up tonight.


Thanks.


It's the AC evaporator, not the condenser that you are looking at.
The main thing to look out for is not to damage the evaporator while
you're cutting the necessary hole for the humidifier. IMO, by far
the best humidifiers are the Aprilaire. And I like the self powered
models, (760) that don't shunt air from the hot air plenum back to the
return. I've had the 760 for 7 years now. It's very easy to service,
the whole thing just lifts off. All I do is clean it once a year and
replace the media once every 2 years.


I have the Aprilaire also, but it rarely turns on. I have to set my
humidstat past 30% for it to turn on. Maybe my air in the house is not
that dry.

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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

I too especially like the Aprilaire self powered units, and also use / love
the 760. I'm on my third Aprilaire in 34 years, the first two each lasting
nearly 20 years apiece. I would imagine that a small Dremel cutting wheel or
nibblers will cut the plenum skin without risk to the coil.

Smarty


wrote in message
oups.com...
On Feb 8, 10:46 am, "brechmos" wrote:
On Feb 8, 10:37 am, "Smarty" wrote:

My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My
prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.


Great. I'll see if I can hook it up tonight.

Thanks.


It's the AC evaporator, not the condenser that you are looking at.
The main thing to look out for is not to damage the evaporator while
you're cutting the necessary hole for the humidifier. IMO, by far
the best humidifiers are the Aprilaire. And I like the self powered
models, (760) that don't shunt air from the hot air plenum back to the
return. I've had the 760 for 7 years now. It's very easy to service,
the whole thing just lifts off. All I do is clean it once a year and
replace the media once every 2 years.



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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

Aprilaire makes two types AFAIK. The ones I have always used sit in the hot
air plenum immediately near the A/C evaporator coil. The other style, called
a "bypass" unit sits on the return duct with a connecting pipe to the hot
air side.

Smarty

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
t...
wrote:
On Feb 8, 10:46 am, "brechmos" wrote:
On Feb 8, 10:37 am, "Smarty" wrote:

My humidifier blows directly onto the A/C coil and works just fine. My
prior
furnace/humidifier was set up the same way and also worked fine for 20+
years. I live in a very cold climate in the Northeast U.S.
Great. I'll see if I can hook it up tonight.

Thanks.


It's the AC evaporator, not the condenser that you are looking at.
The main thing to look out for is not to damage the evaporator while
you're cutting the necessary hole for the humidifier. IMO, by far
the best humidifiers are the Aprilaire. And I like the self powered
models, (760) that don't shunt air from the hot air plenum back to the
return. I've had the 760 for 7 years now. It's very easy to service,
the whole thing just lifts off. All I do is clean it once a year and
replace the media once every 2 years.

Warning, some humidifiers are designed only to mount on the hot air
plenum. I have an Aprilaire mounted on the side of the AC A coil.
There is plenty of room and has never caused any problems. I don't
know about new Aprilaire units, but the old ones were supposed to be
on the hot air plenum.





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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

Sounds like you ought to call a heating guy, and get it put in
right.

A humidifier won't hurt the condensor, cause that sits outdoors.
The evaporator gets wet when it runs in the summer, so that's not
an issue. Evaporator has a drain, right? Cause it gets wet.

There are some jobs where it takes longer (and costs more) to do
it yourself. Unless you're really good with tools, this is one of
thems.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"brechmos" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario.

The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.

The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier

for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace

and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can

see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct

carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor.

Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off

in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when

the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around

on the
condensor.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.



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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Feb 8, 10:05 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
Sounds like you ought to call a heating guy, and get it put in
right.

A humidifier won't hurt the condensor, cause that sits outdoors.
The evaporator gets wet when it runs in the summer, so that's not
an issue. Evaporator has a drain, right? Cause it gets wet.

There are some jobs where it takes longer (and costs more) to do
it yourself. Unless you're really good with tools, this is one of
thems.

--


While I agree there are some jobs that it doesn;t make sense to do, I
don't think installing a humidifier is all that difficult or requires
special tools or skills. Only non common tool might be a pair of tin
snips. I put in my Aprilaire 760 and it was fairly easy. I'd say
easier than putting in a garbage disposal.







Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

"brechmos" wrote in message

oups.com...



Hi,


I am new at this. We bought a 70+ y.o. house here in Ontario.

The
summers are warm and moist and the winters are cold and dry.


The A/C was added onto the furnace, bu there is no humidifier

for the
winter. I opened up the ducting immediately above the furnace

and the
condensor for the A/C is sitting right there. As far as I can

see, if
I add a humidifier the only place to put the small duct

carrying the
moist air would go in immediately in front of the condensor.

Would
there be a problem with this? I am assuming as the A/C is off

in the
winter, the condensor is off. And with the air blowing by when

the
furnace is going that the moist air isn't going to sit around

on the
condensor.


Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks.- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -



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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

In article .com,
says...
On Feb 8, 10:05 pm, "Stormin Mormon" cayoung61-
wrote:
Sounds like you ought to call a heating guy, and get it put in
right.

A humidifier won't hurt the condensor, cause that sits outdoors.
The evaporator gets wet when it runs in the summer, so that's not
an issue. Evaporator has a drain, right? Cause it gets wet.

There are some jobs where it takes longer (and costs more) to do
it yourself. Unless you're really good with tools, this is one of
thems.

--


While I agree there are some jobs that it doesn;t make sense to do, I
don't think installing a humidifier is all that difficult or requires
special tools or skills. Only non common tool might be a pair of tin
snips. I put in my Aprilaire 760 and it was fairly easy. I'd say
easier than putting in a garbage disposal.


I agree. Installing a humidifier is one of those jobs that seems
daunting until you actually do it ("You installed it yourself?
Cool!"). With regard to hacking the furnace, all you're doing is
cutting a hole in some sheet metal and covering it with a humidifier.
And we've just ascertained that the location of the hole is not too
critical. Nothing goes 'inside' the furnace. The difficult parts
are the plumbing and the electrical hookups, and even those are
pretty low on the DIY difficulty scale, IMO. While I don't give a
blanket reject to the 'Hire a Pro' mantra, I think that this is one
of those jobs that readily lends itself to a do-it-yourselfer.
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Default adding a humidifier to a furnace

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:38:36 -0600, Mike Hartigan
wrote:


While I agree there are some jobs that it doesn;t make sense to do, I
don't think installing a humidifier is all that difficult or requires
special tools or skills. Only non common tool might be a pair of tin
snips. I put in my Aprilaire 760 and it was fairly easy. I'd say
easier than putting in a garbage disposal.


I agree. Installing a humidifier is one of those jobs that seems
daunting until you actually do it ("You installed it yourself?
Cool!"). With regard to hacking the furnace, all you're doing is
cutting a hole in some sheet metal and covering it with a humidifier.


I know what you mean. I thought if I cut a hole in that metal, all
the good heating and cooling spirits would come out and get lost.
Sort of like drilling a hole in the side of my car's engine.

But it worked out ok.

The humidifier came with a template. I just had to make sure there
was nothing hiding behind the hole I was going to make.


And we've just ascertained that the location of the hole is not too
critical. Nothing goes 'inside' the furnace. The difficult parts
are the plumbing and the electrical hookups, and even those are
pretty low on the DIY difficulty scale, IMO. While I don't give a
blanket reject to the 'Hire a Pro' mantra, I think that this is one
of those jobs that readily lends itself to a do-it-yourselfer.


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