I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

On 12/20/2016 11:48 AM, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

Sounds like it should be working. I've got one and humidity in house is
41% compared to 59%/30 deg F outside. Maybe because you may be in a
more arid area, i.e. outside air is very low.

"Frank" wrote in message news
On 12/20/2016 11:48 AM, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

Sounds like it should be working. I've got one and humidity in house is
41% compared to 59%/30 deg F outside. Maybe because you may be in a
more arid area, i.e. outside air is very low.

Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

On 12/20/2016 12:55 PM, Tony944 wrote:


"Frank" wrote in message news
On 12/20/2016 11:48 AM, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

Sounds like it should be working. I've got one and humidity in house is
41% compared to 59%/30 deg F outside. Maybe because you may be in a
more arid area, i.e. outside air is very low.

Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then
if is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your
smoke stock.



Well, we don't get that many really cold days anymore so I guess I need
not worry about it.

Thanks

On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 11:48:25 AM UTC-5, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

First question is if the humidifier is actually running whenever the
furnace is on? Or is an inaccurate/defective humidistat the problem?
I have an Aprilaire 760 in a 3100 sq ft house and it puts out enough
moisture that it only needs to run a fraction of the on time. I do
have mine hooked up to hot water, which will increase the amount of
evaporation, but i doubt it makes a big difference. When it'd down in
the teens or 20s, I could have water dripping off the windows if I
set it high enough. If it's on all the time that the furnace is
running, is water trickling out of it? You say it has a fan, so I
assume it's one that just mounts on the hot side plenum and not a
bypass style? That's what I have, the 760.

On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 1:55:39 PM UTC-5, Tony944 wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message news
On 12/20/2016 11:48 AM, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

Sounds like it should be working. I've got one and humidity in house is
41% compared to 59%/30 deg F outside. Maybe because you may be in a
more arid area, i.e. outside air is very low.

Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.

On 12/20/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On T

snip
Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.



The recommended settings are


-20F 15% humidity
0F 25%
+20F 35%


The humidifier and humidistat is working I checked all functions
just not doing a sufficient job.

On 12/20/2016 04:17 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 11:48:25 AM UTC-5, philo wrote:
I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.


No big deal just thought I'd ask.

First question is if the humidifier is actually running whenever the
furnace is on? Or is an inaccurate/defective humidistat the problem?
I have an Aprilaire 760 in a 3100 sq ft house and it puts out enough
moisture that it only needs to run a fraction of the on time. I do
have mine hooked up to hot water, which will increase the amount of
evaporation, but i doubt it makes a big difference. When it'd down in
the teens or 20s, I could have water dripping off the windows if I
set it high enough. If it's on all the time that the furnace is
running, is water trickling out of it? You say it has a fan, so I
assume it's one that just mounts on the hot side plenum and not a
bypass style? That's what I have, the 760.


Yes, it runs continuously when the furnace is on, the water flow is
sufficient (plenty coming out the hose) and the fan is working...plus I
put in a new element

My house is only 2000 sq ft, so it should be doing the job.

Will have to investigate further.

On Tue, 20 Dec 2016 10:48:12 -0600, philo wrote:

I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.



I've found that in cold weather I have a limit on the amount of
humidity because above that limit (which varies with outside temp),
the humidifier just causes condensation on windows.

-dan z-

On 12/21/2016 06:27 AM, slate_leeper wrote:
On Tue, 20 Dec 2016 10:48:12 -0600, philo wrote:

I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.



I've found that in cold weather I have a limit on the amount of
humidity because above that limit (which varies with outside temp),
the humidifier just causes condensation on windows.

-dan z-





Yes, I know but mine is not even getting up to the recommend level, I'm
going to have another look, I think I better clean the calcium deposts
off the diverter

Yes, it runs continuously when the furnace is on, the water flow is
sufficient (plenty coming out the hose) and the fan is working...plus I
put in a new element

My house is only 2000 sq ft, so it should be doing the job.

Will have to investigate further.

do you have an excessive amount of air leaking in/out of the house to the

outside?

m

On 12/21/2016 08:59 AM, wrote:



Yes, it runs continuously when the furnace is on, the water flow is
sufficient (plenty coming out the hose) and the fan is working...plus I
put in a new element

My house is only 2000 sq ft, so it should be doing the job.

Will have to investigate further.

do you have an excessive amount of air leaking in/out of the house to the

outside?

m



House is very old and hardly sealed as well as a new one. but had the
original windows replaced with energy efficient types a number of years ago.

I double checked everything in the humidifier and all is working, it
seems it just not sufficient for this house.

That said, it probably is not a new problem...it's just that this is the
first year I actually tested the humidity in here.

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 8:03:07 AM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/21/2016 06:27 AM, slate_leeper wrote:
On Tue, 20 Dec 2016 10:48:12 -0600, philo wrote:

I've had an Aprilaire humidifier on my furnace for quite some time and
it does work. but recently I got a hygrometer to check the actual
humidity in here, and see that when it gets below zero the humidity in
the house is only about 12%. In warmer weather the humidity is up where
it should be,,,in the 25% to 35% range.

I suppose I could just get a stand-alone unit but was wondering if my
on-furnace unit could be improved any. The fan is working, the water
flow is fine and I put a new element in it.



I've found that in cold weather I have a limit on the amount of
humidity because above that limit (which varies with outside temp),
the humidifier just causes condensation on windows.

-dan z-





Yes, I know but mine is not even getting up to the recommend level, I'm
going to have another look, I think I better clean the calcium deposts
off the diverter


It's installed on the hot plenum? You could put hot water into it
to increase the evaporation. It's not like you're wasting hot water.
Whatever heat is in the water pretty much winds up in the air.

But I agree something is wrong because mine only runs part time in
a 3100 sq ft house. When it's zero, I could be flooding the windows
by setting it higher.

Have you stopped it when it's active and looked at the media?
Is water covering all or most of it? If that diverter is somehow
letting all the water go down one small section, instead of spreading
it out, that would be a problem. You sure the fan in the humidifier
is running?

On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 10:43:57 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/20/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On T

snip
Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.



The recommended settings are


-20F 15% humidity
0F 25%
+20F 35%


Exactly. It needs to back off the lower the outside temps.
And I presume you have the outside temp sensor that
automatically adjusts it? That is a great feature.

On 12/21/2016 09:41 AM, trader_4 wrote:



Yes, I know but mine is not even getting up to the recommend level, I'm
going to have another look, I think I better clean the calcium deposts
off the diverter


It's installed on the hot plenum? You could put hot water into it
to increase the evaporation. It's not like you're wasting hot water.
Whatever heat is in the water pretty much winds up in the air.

But I agree something is wrong because mine only runs part time in
a 3100 sq ft house. When it's zero, I could be flooding the windows
by setting it higher.

Have you stopped it when it's active and looked at the media?
Is water covering all or most of it? If that diverter is somehow
letting all the water go down one small section, instead of spreading
it out, that would be a problem. You sure the fan in the humidifier
is running?




The fan is absolutely running, and the diverter is fine.

I just checked to see if there were excess calcium deposits and it's
fairly clean.

The media is new but it's hard to tell if it's fully saturated.

Will continue to poke around

On 12/21/2016 09:43 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 10:43:57 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/20/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On T

snip
Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.



The recommended settings are


-20F 15% humidity
0F 25%
+20F 35%


Exactly. It needs to back off the lower the outside temps.
And I presume you have the outside temp sensor that
automatically adjusts it? That is a great feature.



I don't have an outside temp. sensor, but that's OK I like to fiddle
with things.


First off, I've improved things quite a bit because I did not have the
water supply stop-cock opened all the way so now with the extra water
flow, the humidity is up almost to normal.

I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the drain
than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually put
all of the water into the air.


Also: a few years back I replaced the motor and am pretty sure I put the
fan on correctly but now I wonder which way the air is supposed to flow.

Will have to double check but I think I have it set to blow directly
into the hot air plenum. I can't imagine reversing the air flow would
make a difference???

On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 4:23:37 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/21/2016 09:43 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 10:43:57 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/20/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On T

snip
Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.



The recommended settings are


-20F 15% humidity
0F 25%
+20F 35%


Exactly. It needs to back off the lower the outside temps.
And I presume you have the outside temp sensor that
automatically adjusts it? That is a great feature.



I don't have an outside temp. sensor, but that's OK I like to fiddle
with things.


First off, I've improved things quite a bit because I did not have the
water supply stop-cock opened all the way so now with the extra water
flow, the humidity is up almost to normal.

Bingo.


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the drain
than into the air.

IDK what the ratio is, but with the excess water goes the minerals
that would foul it up.



If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually put
all of the water into the air.


And all of the minerals, bacteria, etc into the unit.



Also: a few years back I replaced the motor and am pretty sure I put the
fan on correctly but now I wonder which way the air is supposed to flow.

It's supposed to blow air out from the fan, through the media, into
the plenum.



Will have to double check but I think I have it set to blow directly
into the hot air plenum. I can't imagine reversing the air flow would
make a difference???

Reversing it might make a huge diff, but it sounds like you have it
going the right way.

On 12/21/2016 4:23 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the
drain than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually
put all of the water into the air.



I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace. When I replaced the furnace (old and
anyway, only 80% efficient), I replaced the humidifier with an Aprilaire
flow through and despite the increased water consumption, I need to do
far less maintenance on the unit and I believe that the increased water
bill is far lower than what it used to cost me to purchase as many drum
sponges as I required to keep the drum humidifier working properly. I
recommend NOT changing to a drum type humidifier unless there's a model
that automatically, periodically, flushes the water in the pan and that
unit gets good user/testing reviews from a reputable source.

On 12/22/2016 08:40 AM, Peter wrote:
I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace.

Yah, hard water can fusk up a humidifier for sure.

So what I did was feed mine with water from the reverse osmosis unit
(which I had anyway). Problem solved.

On Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 8:40:41 AM UTC-5, Peter wrote:
On 12/21/2016 4:23 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the
drain than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually
put all of the water into the air.



I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace. When I replaced the furnace (old and
anyway, only 80% efficient), I replaced the humidifier with an Aprilaire
flow through and despite the increased water consumption, I need to do
far less maintenance on the unit and I believe that the increased water
bill is far lower than what it used to cost me to purchase as many drum
sponges as I required to keep the drum humidifier working properly. I
recommend NOT changing to a drum type humidifier unless there's a model
that automatically, periodically, flushes the water in the pan and that
unit gets good user/testing reviews from a reputable source.

Back in the 70s, I think it was Sears that had a drum type made
like you suggest. It had a drain and when it was running, the
drain opened and allowed a constant small flow of water to take
the minerals away. I think it worked better than one would with
no drain, but it also had water constantly flowing through it,
just like the Aprilaire. And I agree that so far, the Aprilaire
is the best I've seen. I can go at least two years, usually
longer with the same media. And they are very simple to change
and there is little else to clean.

On 12/21/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 4:23:37 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/21/2016 09:43 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, December 20, 2016 at 10:43:57 PM UTC-5, philo wrote:
On 12/20/2016 04:19 PM, trader_4 wrote:
On T

snip
Concerning Health issues you Relative Humidity should be around 50-60%
And yes when is cold outside "demand" for Humidity will be greater then if
is warm.
Because your furnace is displacing RH or taking it out through your smoke
stock.

I'd say 50% is the upper limit when it's moderate temps outside.
When it's below zero, like Philo has, I'd say 30% or so is tops,
unless you want water condensing at windows, inside walls, etc.



The recommended settings are


-20F 15% humidity
0F 25%
+20F 35%


Exactly. It needs to back off the lower the outside temps.
And I presume you have the outside temp sensor that
automatically adjusts it? That is a great feature.



I don't have an outside temp. sensor, but that's OK I like to fiddle
with things.


First off, I've improved things quite a bit because I did not have the
water supply stop-cock opened all the way so now with the extra water
flow, the humidity is up almost to normal.

Bingo.


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the drain
than into the air.

IDK what the ratio is, but with the excess water goes the minerals
that would foul it up.



If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually put
all of the water into the air.


And all of the minerals, bacteria, etc into the unit.




Think I may just keep the one I have, don't want to take a chance with
stagnant water and microbes, or messing with additives

On 12/22/2016 07:40 AM, Peter wrote:
On 12/21/2016 4:23 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the
drain than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually
put all of the water into the air.



I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace. When I replaced the furnace (old and
anyway, only 80% efficient), I replaced the humidifier with an Aprilaire
flow through and despite the increased water consumption, I need to do
far less maintenance on the unit and I believe that the increased water
bill is far lower than what it used to cost me to purchase as many drum
sponges as I required to keep the drum humidifier working properly. I
recommend NOT changing to a drum type humidifier unless there's a model
that automatically, periodically, flushes the water in the pan and that
unit gets good user/testing reviews from a reputable source.



Thanks for the feed back,. I will not go for the drum type unit.

On Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 9:35:36 AM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
On Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 8:40:41 AM UTC-5, Peter wrote:
On 12/21/2016 4:23 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the
drain than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually
put all of the water into the air.



I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace. When I replaced the furnace (old and
anyway, only 80% efficient), I replaced the humidifier with an Aprilaire
flow through and despite the increased water consumption, I need to do
far less maintenance on the unit and I believe that the increased water
bill is far lower than what it used to cost me to purchase as many drum
sponges as I required to keep the drum humidifier working properly. I
recommend NOT changing to a drum type humidifier unless there's a model
that automatically, periodically, flushes the water in the pan and that
unit gets good user/testing reviews from a reputable source.

Back in the 70s, I think it was Sears that had a drum type made
like you suggest. It had a drain and when it was running, the
drain opened and allowed a constant small flow of water to take
the minerals away. I think it worked better than one would with
no drain, but it also had water constantly flowing through it,
just like the Aprilaire. And I agree that so far, the Aprilaire
is the best I've seen. I can go at least two years, usually
longer with the same media. And they are very simple to change
and there is little else to clean.

yes, a good humidifier system needs TWO ways for stuff to leave.

One way is via the air.

If that is the ONLY way, you will get dust or a build up of minerals.

The usual other way is through waste water to the drain.

m

On 12/22/2016 9:51 AM, philo wrote:
On 12/22/2016 07:40 AM, Peter wrote:
On 12/21/2016 4:23 PM, philo wrote:

[snip]


I've been reading up and see that I have a "flow-through" type
humidifier which is not efficient in that more water goes down the
drain than into the air.

If I decide to replace it, the "drum" type is supposed to actually
put all of the water into the air.



I used to use a drum type whole house humidifier. It created loads of
problems. The drum sits in a pan of water that is replenished by a feed
pipe controlled by a float valve. As there is no mechanism to refresh
the water in the pan, there is a concentration of minerals in the pan
which leads to rapid crusting of the media sponge on the drum, the sides
and bottom of the pan, and the part of the float valve that senses the
level of water in the pan. If I forgot to manually clean out the water
in the pan at least every 6 weeks, the media sponge would need
replacement at least once each heating season. Once I got lazy, we had
a particularly cold month, and the float valve became so heavy with
mineral crust that it didn't float up when the pan filled and the water
overflowed into the furnace. When I replaced the furnace (old and
anyway, only 80% efficient), I replaced the humidifier with an Aprilaire
flow through and despite the increased water consumption, I need to do
far less maintenance on the unit and I believe that the increased water
bill is far lower than what it used to cost me to purchase as many drum
sponges as I required to keep the drum humidifier working properly. I
recommend NOT changing to a drum type humidifier unless there's a model
that automatically, periodically, flushes the water in the pan and that
unit gets good user/testing reviews from a reputable source.



Thanks for the feed back,. I will not go for the drum type unit.
IMO that's a good decision. In the early 70s, I got an Aprilaire. We
had very hard water, but they don't recommend using softened water
because of dissolved salts in the softened water. Actually, with very
hard water I only had to change the element about every 2 years. It
outlasted the original furnace and, when I sold the house in 2008, was
on a 2nd furnace and was still going strong.