I posted about a week ago, regarding how hard I was finding it to get
the house humidity up after realizing I had the humidity control on
the 'stat turned off (recap - Minnesota, mostly between 0 and 20F and
extremely outside, forced air system with whole house humidifier,
fairly large but well sealed house). Thought I'd give you guys an
update.

Well, yippee, it finally got up to 35% today. It's been about 9 days
since I started from 22%. I checked with the flooring distributor/
expert to get his views, and he counseled me to wait until something
in the 40% range and then let it acclimate for a few days before
installing. Based on the slow humidification rate I bought a big ass
humidifier at Best Buy (pushes out 9 gallons a day) and it's starting
to make a difference.

Really surprised how long this has taken. In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Cheers

Cub

*I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out

yes, this is true..

the dry air is not good for people either

Mark

On 1/16/2011 6:56 PM, Mark wrote:
I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out

yes, this is true..

the dry air is not good for people either

Mark

The best my sinuses ever felt and worked was when I lived next to and
swam in the ocean or the salt water swimming pool. :-)

TDD

On 1/16/2011 6:39 PM, cubby wrote:
I posted about a week ago, regarding how hard I was finding it to get
the house humidity up after realizing I had the humidity control on
the 'stat turned off (recap - Minnesota, mostly between 0 and 20F and
extremely outside, forced air system with whole house humidifier,
fairly large but well sealed house). Thought I'd give you guys an
update.

Well, yippee, it finally got up to 35% today. It's been about 9 days
since I started from 22%. I checked with the flooring distributor/
expert to get his views, and he counseled me to wait until something
in the 40% range and then let it acclimate for a few days before
installing. Based on the slow humidification rate I bought a big ass
humidifier at Best Buy (pushes out 9 gallons a day) and it's starting
to make a difference.

Really surprised how long this has taken. In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Cheers

Cub

Looks like we better get a whole house humidifier as our indoor humidity
is currently only at 20% as you can see at
http://www.crsales.com/weather.htm . We did start a little portable
humidifier running a few days ago but since we started it the humidity
has only gone up from 19% to the current 20%. :-(

Don

?
"cubby" wrote
Really surprised how long this has taken. In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Yes, instead of checking every five minutes, check every 12 to 24 hours for
a significant change.

On Jan 16, 11:29*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
?
"cubby" wrote

Really surprised how long this has taken. *In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. *I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). *SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Yes, instead of checking every five minutes, check every 12 to 24 hours for
a significant change.

Did you verify that water is running through the media on the furnace
humidifier?
You should see a good steady trickle, maybe half the diameter or a
pencil flowing
through the drain hose.

They have orifices that can clog up and need to be checked, cleaned,
or replaced
periodically. And also, if it's a bypass model, that the connecting
duct is wide
open?

On Jan 16, 7:39*pm, cubby wrote:
I posted about a week ago, regarding how hard I was finding it to get
the house humidity up after realizing I had the humidity control on
the 'stat turned off (recap - Minnesota, mostly between 0 and 20F and
extremely outside, forced air system with whole house humidifier,
fairly large but well sealed house). *Thought I'd give you guys an
update.

Well, yippee, it finally got up to 35% today. It's been about 9 days
since I started from 22%. *I checked with the flooring distributor/
expert to get his views, and he counseled me to wait until something
in the 40% range and then let it acclimate for a few days before
installing. *Based on the slow humidification rate I bought a big ass
humidifier at Best Buy (pushes out 9 gallons a day) and it's starting
to make a difference.

Really surprised how long this has taken. *In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. *I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). *SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Cheers

Cub

People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

And hey, don't forget that if you have an electric dryer
you have a resource worth keeping track of. I have one
of those boxes that directs the dryer discharge back into
the basement past another filter, or to the outside.

I have a vent open to the basement at the far end, and
a louvered door at the top of the steps as the path to the
air return on the first floor. So I do laundry at night, and
set my thermostat on "hold" at its setback setting. Then,
in the morning when I get up, I start the dryer and take
the thermostat off "hold". While it's bringing the house up
from 64 degrees, there's plenty of time for the dryer to
run and deliver all its humidity (and heat) into the house.
Far better, IMO, than all that heat and humidity being
wasted during the winter.

On Jan 17, 10:57*am, Michael B wrote:
On Jan 16, 7:39*pm, cubby wrote:





I posted about a week ago, regarding how hard I was finding it to get
the house humidity up after realizing I had the humidity control on
the 'stat turned off (recap - Minnesota, mostly between 0 and 20F and
extremely outside, forced air system with whole house humidifier,
fairly large but well sealed house). *Thought I'd give you guys an
update.

Well, yippee, it finally got up to 35% today. It's been about 9 days
since I started from 22%. *I checked with the flooring distributor/
expert to get his views, and he counseled me to wait until something
in the 40% range and then let it acclimate for a few days before
installing. *Based on the slow humidification rate I bought a big ass
humidifier at Best Buy (pushes out 9 gallons a day) and it's starting
to make a difference.

Really surprised how long this has taken. *In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. *I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). *SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Cheers

Cub

People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

Why would that be? Like most people, I have a setback
thermostat and I set the temp to 67 during occupied periods
during the day and to 60 starting at 11PM. I also have a
humidifier and it works just fine. The furnace runs enough
during those periods to keep the humidity correct. You just
need to be sure the humidifier is correctly sized to the house.

People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

And hey, don't forget that if you have an electric dryer
you have a resource worth keeping track of. I have one
of those boxes that directs the dryer discharge back into
the basement past another filter, or to the outside.



what kind of filter do you use to catch the lint?

I'd also like to retain the heat and humidity, but I don't want the
lint.

Mark

On Jan 17, 11:06*am, wrote:
On Jan 17, 10:57*am, Michael B wrote:
People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

Why would that be? * Like most people, I have a setback
thermostat and I set the temp to 67 during occupied periods
during the day and to 60 starting at 11PM. * I also have a
humidifier and it works just fine. *The furnace runs enough
during those periods to keep the humidity correct. *You just
need to be sure the humidifier is correctly sized to the house.

To everyone their own opinions. And mine is that over the
night, my furnace only kicks on a couple of times to maintain
the 64 degress I have it set for. So if I had a furnace-based
humidifier, it would only be doing its thing twice, too. Also, it
tended to be one of those "out of sight, out of mind" sort of
issues.

When I had that situation, the humidity in our bedroom was
low enough that my wife had problems in the morning that
were resolved by having an ultrasonic humidifier next to the
bed. No question of it working. And recently when my wife
had a flare-up of arthritis and slept in the guest bedroom to
be closer to the bathroom, she woke up with a dry throat and
nose, even though I had verified that the furnace humidifier
was functioning well. But we have Energy-Star windows, wall
and ceiling insulation, good infiltration control, etc.

I'm not going to say that you are wrong and I'm right, I'm
just making the observation that for me and my situation,
a standalone unit is more functional during house setback.

Hope that serves as a reminder, your mileage will indeed vary.

On Jan 17, 11:07*am, Mark wrote:
People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

And hey, don't forget that if you have an electric dryer
you have a resource worth keeping track of. I have one
of those boxes that directs the dryer discharge back into
the basement past another filter, or to the outside.

what kind of filter do you use to catch the lint?

I'd also like to retain the heat and humidity, but I don't want the
lint.

Mark

The typical lint filter on a dryer has something the size of
window screen wire to serve as a lint catcher. But the kit
I use has a screen much smaller. Got it from Home Despot.
Other thing is that it doesn't really catch much lint because
the lint catcher on the dryer gets initially covered, and then
is stopping it all because the lint already there is forming an
excellent "mesh" to keep any more from getting past.

Before I used the adapter, I used a nylon "footie" to make
a smaller mesh size at the dryer filter, another footie at the
end of the dryer vent hose, with it near the ceiling to keep
the dryer from pulling warm wet air back into itself.

I must be doing this okay, there isn't lint in the area around
the dryer. And the way I do it, if any did show up, it would
be caught by my furnace filter since it is being cycled at the
same time.

On Jan 17, 9:32*am, wrote:
On Jan 16, 11:29*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:

?
"cubby" wrote

Really surprised how long this has taken. *In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. *I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). *SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.

Yes, instead of checking every five minutes, check every 12 to 24 hours for
a significant change.

Did you verify that water is running through the media on the furnace
humidifier?
You should see a good steady trickle, maybe half the diameter or a
pencil flowing
through the drain hose.

They have orifices that can clog up and need to be checked, cleaned,
or replaced
periodically. *And also, if it's a bypass model, that the connecting
duct is wide
open?

Yes and yes. The flow is fine. It's a "typical" sized Aprilaire unit
(by typical I mean the pad is the most common one sold at the home
stores) and my sense is that it may be slightly undersized for the
house. However, in previous years when it was turned on from the
beginning of the winter, it coped just fine, and often I had to trim
it down a little at the stat to eliminate condensation.

On Jan 17, 12:28*pm, Michael B wrote:
On Jan 17, 11:06*am, wrote:

On Jan 17, 10:57*am, Michael B wrote:
People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

Why would that be? * Like most people, I have a setback
thermostat and I set the temp to 67 during occupied periods
during the day and to 60 starting at 11PM. * I also have a
humidifier and it works just fine. *The furnace runs enough
during those periods to keep the humidity correct. *You just
need to be sure the humidifier is correctly sized to the house.

To everyone their own opinions. And mine is that over the
night, my furnace only kicks on a couple of times to maintain
the 64 degress I have it set for. So if I had a furnace-based
humidifier, it would only be doing its thing twice, too. Also, it
tended to be one of those "out of sight, out of mind" sort of
issues.

That would seem to be the principle advantage of a whole house
humdifier that is mounted on the furnace. No hauling buckets
or water, you service it once a year.



When I had that situation, the humidity in our bedroom was
low enough that my wife had problems in the morning that
were resolved by having an ultrasonic humidifier next to the
bed. No question of it working. And recently when my wife
had a flare-up of arthritis and slept in the guest bedroom to
be closer to the bathroom, she woke up with a dry throat and
nose, even though I had verified that the furnace humidifier
was functioning well. But we have Energy-Star windows, wall
and ceiling insulation, good infiltration control, etc.

Then where does all that water that's in the air go overnight?
No question that for some medical issues having one room
high humidity, eg a vaporizer for a chest cold, can be beneficial.



I'm not going to say that you are wrong and I'm right, I'm
just making the observation that for me and my situation,
a standalone unit is more functional during house setback.

Hope that serves as a reminder, your mileage will indeed vary.

I have used a couple of humidity gauges to
actually see what the humidity is doing. And it doesn't change a
measurable amount over night. Where do you think all the moisture
that is in the air at 11PM goes by the time it's 6AM? Without
substantial air leakage, it will still be there, whether the furnace
is running or not. Also, the humidifier needs to be correctly
sized and installed. IF you have one installed using cold air instead
of hot, or it's too small, then you are going to be struggling to put
enough water into the air. Mine cycles on and off, probably
only running about 1/2 the time the furnace is on. And that's in
a 3100 sq ft house.

An additonal point. When you set back the temp to 60, you want
LESS humidity, not more. As the air cools, the relative humidity
will be going up. That's why I always turn the humdifier way down
when I'm going to go away for a few days and have the house set
down to 50. If you let it get too high, you can wind up with
condensation
and water damage, mold, etc. Same thing with outside temp. The
colder it is the lower you want the humidity to be.

On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:28:03 -0800 (PST), Michael B
wrote:

On Jan 17, 11:06Â*am, wrote:
On Jan 17, 10:57Â*am, Michael B wrote:
People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

Why would that be? Â* Like most people, I have a setback
thermostat and I set the temp to 67 during occupied periods
during the day and to 60 starting at 11PM. Â* I also have a
humidifier and it works just fine. Â*The furnace runs enough
during those periods to keep the humidity correct. Â*You just
need to be sure the humidifier is correctly sized to the house.

To everyone their own opinions. And mine is that over the
night, my furnace only kicks on a couple of times to maintain
the 64 degress I have it set for. So if I had a furnace-based
humidifier, it would only be doing its thing twice, too. Also, it
tended to be one of those "out of sight, out of mind" sort of
issues.

When I had that situation, the humidity in our bedroom was
low enough that my wife had problems in the morning that
were resolved by having an ultrasonic humidifier next to the
bed. No question of it working. And recently when my wife
had a flare-up of arthritis and slept in the guest bedroom to
be closer to the bathroom, she woke up with a dry throat and
nose, even though I had verified that the furnace humidifier
was functioning well. But we have Energy-Star windows, wall
and ceiling insulation, good infiltration control, etc.

I'm not going to say that you are wrong and I'm right, I'm
just making the observation that for me and my situation,
a standalone unit is more functional during house setback.

Hope that serves as a reminder, your mileage will indeed vary.

Well, I decided I didn't want the hassle of maintaining the whole
house humidifier when I replaced my furnace about 8? years ago, so I
did not have one installed. This is a roughly 40 year old house in
south-central Ontario, with only 2 occupants. It is a 1200 sq ft 2
storey with a finished basement (so aprox 1800 sq fr living space) and
the humidity varies from 24-28% all winter.
We generally find that acceptable, and on the coldest days (below
about -4F) we get a wee bit of condensation on the old kitchen window
(last of 2 still not replaced with vinyl framed thermo-pane)

cubby wrote:

Really surprised how long this has taken. In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.


Tell her you're doing it for her. You'd hate to see her skin dry out and
begin to flake off...

A woman without skin is a terrible thing.

On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:36:45 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Jan 17, 12:28Â*pm, Michael B wrote:
On Jan 17, 11:06Â*am, wrote:

On Jan 17, 10:57Â*am, Michael B wrote:
People that have temperature setback thermostats
obviously need a standalone unit.

Why would that be? Â* Like most people, I have a setback
thermostat and I set the temp to 67 during occupied periods
during the day and to 60 starting at 11PM. Â* I also have a
humidifier and it works just fine. Â*The furnace runs enough
during those periods to keep the humidity correct. Â*You just
need to be sure the humidifier is correctly sized to the house.

To everyone their own opinions. And mine is that over the
night, my furnace only kicks on a couple of times to maintain
the 64 degress I have it set for. So if I had a furnace-based
humidifier, it would only be doing its thing twice, too. Also, it
tended to be one of those "out of sight, out of mind" sort of
issues.

That would seem to be the principle advantage of a whole house
humdifier that is mounted on the furnace. No hauling buckets
or water, you service it once a year.



When I had that situation, the humidity in our bedroom was
low enough that my wife had problems in the morning that
were resolved by having an ultrasonic humidifier next to the
bed. No question of it working. And recently when my wife
had a flare-up of arthritis and slept in the guest bedroom to
be closer to the bathroom, she woke up with a dry throat and
nose, even though I had verified that the furnace humidifier
was functioning well. But we have Energy-Star windows, wall
and ceiling insulation, good infiltration control, etc.

Then where does all that water that's in the air go overnight?
No question that for some medical issues having one room
high humidity, eg a vaporizer for a chest cold, can be beneficial.



I'm not going to say that you are wrong and I'm right, I'm
just making the observation that for me and my situation,
a standalone unit is more functional during house setback.

Hope that serves as a reminder, your mileage will indeed vary.

I have used a couple of humidity gauges to
actually see what the humidity is doing. And it doesn't change a
measurable amount over night. Where do you think all the moisture
that is in the air at 11PM goes by the time it's 6AM? Without
substantial air leakage, it will still be there, whether the furnace
is running or not. Also, the humidifier needs to be correctly
sized and installed. IF you have one installed using cold air instead
of hot, or it's too small, then you are going to be struggling to put
enough water into the air. Mine cycles on and off, probably
only running about 1/2 the time the furnace is on. And that's in
a 3100 sq ft house.

An additonal point. When you set back the temp to 60, you want
LESS humidity, not more. As the air cools, the relative humidity
will be going up. That's why I always turn the humdifier way down
when I'm going to go away for a few days and have the house set
down to 50. If you let it get too high, you can wind up with
condensation
and water damage, mold, etc. Same thing with outside temp. The
colder it is the lower you want the humidity to be.
Leaky houses, or those where doors are opened often to let kids and
dogs in and out really DO need humidifiers in the winter. A reasonably
tight house that stays closed most of the time can often get by on
human breath, showers, and cooking to keep the humidity reasonable.

On Jan 17, 1:36*pm, wrote:
Then where does all that water that's in the air go overnight?
No question that for some medical issues having one room
high humidity, eg a vaporizer for a chest cold, can be beneficial.

Be careful about "vaporizers". They warm the water, it
becomes vapor, and then becomes condensate when
it encounters cooler air.

On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:05:04 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

cubby wrote:

Really surprised how long this has taken. In prior years, when I have
not forgot to turn the WHH on, we've had no problem keeping it at the
right level. I wonder if there is a latent effect due to not just the
air, but everything in the house such as furniture and carpets etc
having been so dried out (after all, it did start at 22%...). SWMBO
thinks I'm more insane than ever (obsessing about humidity and
checking the readings every five minutes) but the thought of having
the floors buckle in the humid summer scares the crap out of me.


Tell her you're doing it for her. You'd hate to see her skin dry out and
begin to flake off...

A woman without skin is a terrible thing.

A woman with a thin skin is bad enough!!