Central humdifier doesn't seem to work
 

I live in the northeast US and I have a forced-air furnace with central
air and an attached humidifier but the air in the house seems dry.

The humidifier pad looked dry so I poked around a bit and found the
humidistat plugged with dust and I blew it out with some compressed
air. I then saw a trickle of water over the pad but a week or so later
the air was still dry. I turned the humidistat up to 40% then 45% and
waited a day or so each time. No (noticable) change.

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at least
I'll know for next winter.)

Get a humidistat

"Chris" wrote in message

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at least
I'll know for next winter.)

Buy a hygrometer so you can see what the humidity is. Even a cheap one is a
pretty good guide.

Keep an eye on the pad to be sure it is getting wet, that it is rotating if
it is the type that does. Humidifiers are easily gunked up with minerals so
it should be kept clean for best results.

Chris wrote:
I live in the northeast US and I have a forced-air furnace with
central air and an attached humidifier but the air in the house seems
dry.

The humidifier pad looked dry so I poked around a bit and found the
humidistat plugged with dust

How is that again? If the pad looked dry and found the humidistat was
plugged? Could you mean the valve? The humidistat should not be located
near the pad - humidifier, but on the return air duct or by the thermostat.

How old is the pad. Likely it needs to be replaced.

and I blew it out with some compressed
air. I then saw a trickle of water over the pad but a week or so
later the air was still dry. I turned the humidistat up to 40% then
45% and waited a day or so each time. No (noticable) change.

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at
least I'll know for next winter.)

I suggest getting one of those cheap digital meters that will display
the temperature and humidity. Try some place like Brookstone or Sharper
Image. It will not be 100% accurate, but close enough.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

In alt.home.repair on 16 Mar 2005 05:04:31 -0800 "Chris"
posted:

I live in the northeast US and I have a forced-air furnace with central
air and an attached humidifier but the air in the house seems dry.

The humidifier pad looked dry so I poked around a bit and found the
humidistat plugged with dust and I blew it out with some compressed
air. I then saw a trickle of water over the pad but a week or so later
the air was still dry.

Blowing out the humidistat as you did was a good idea, but obviously
didn't solve all the problems. IMO the odds are that the valve where
the water goes into the humidifier is clogged. They probably sell
parts to repair it, or the whole valve to repair the humidifier.

The valve/connection where the tube to the humidifier connects with a
water pipe can also clog. Or it rusts into two pieces and the second
piece stays stuck in the water pipe. Especially if you turn off your
humidifier there each spring. (You don't run your humidifier in the
summer, do you? Remember, it's automatic. You have to do something
to stop it. Well, maybe not on a good one. I have el cheapo, with no
motor, and it works fine except that I have to turn off the water each
spring. The company that made this model seems to be gone.)

If either of these is true, or even if you're just checking them, make
sure you don't have a polyethylene (translucent white plastic) tube to
your humidifier. They will sprout leaks for no apparent reason (did
so to my humidier and a friend's refridgerator ice maker. Good thing
we were both home at the times.). Replace it with copper. Not hard.
Not expensive. Plastic is NO good.

I turned the humidistat up to 40% then 45% and
waited a day or so each time. No (noticable) change.

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at least
I'll know for next winter.)


Meirman
--
If emailing, please let me know whether
or not you are posting the same letter.
Change domain to erols.com, if necessary.

"Chris" wrote in message
ups.com...
I live in the northeast US and I have a forced-air furnace with central
air and an attached humidifier but the air in the house seems dry.

The humidifier pad looked dry so I poked around a bit and found the
humidistat plugged with dust and I blew it out with some compressed
air. I then saw a trickle of water over the pad but a week or so later
the air was still dry. I turned the humidistat up to 40% then 45% and
waited a day or so each time. No (noticable) change.

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at least
I'll know for next winter.)


Not sure what brand you have, but on my Aprilaire, which uses a bypass duct,
there is a baffle that needs to be open or shut every heating season. If it
is shut, you won't get any humidified air.

Not sure what you mean by a trickle. It should be enough to moisten the
pad. Mine uses a metal grate that should be cleaned/replaced every so
often.

Is it a tumbling drum type, or a square vertical pad? Atached to the plenum,
or flow through type? Float valve or electric solenoid? What brand? Waht
model? How old? Does it have a drain? Does it have a pan under the
evaporator pad? Is it 110 volt or 220 volt? Does it have a power source at
all? Or is it mechanical?

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Chris" wrote in message
ups.com...
I live in the northeast US and I have a forced-air furnace with central
air and an attached humidifier but the air in the house seems dry.

The humidifier pad looked dry so I poked around a bit and found the
humidistat plugged with dust and I blew it out with some compressed
air. I then saw a trickle of water over the pad but a week or so later
the air was still dry. I turned the humidistat up to 40% then 45% and
waited a day or so each time. No (noticable) change.

Aside from foggy windows and not waking up with a dry throat, how can
you tell if a humidifier is working? What else can I tweak, clean,
etc. to get it working? (Or course, we're turning the corner from
winter into spring and I won't want extra water in the air but at least
I'll know for next winter.)