Hi Jo, I take it this is a free standing humidifier?
They come in a couple of configurations, the one I am most familiar with has a large drum under the top grills. You can lift those grills off to feel the drum. The outer wall of the drum, that part you will feel under the grills is usually made of a sort of sponge. As the humidifier is running this drum rotates, the bottom part through a bath of water which is picked up by the foam and as it is brought up the air from the fan behind the drum blows through the water evaporating it and blowing the moisture into the room area. Often one part of this surface of the drum will have a sort of funnel through which you can pour water to fill the reservoir at the bottom. you turn the drum until this is at the top then shut the machine off while you fill the reservoir. The air coming out of these is always cool. There may be some units with an electric heater I don't know I never owned one like that. There are usually two controls, one is fan speed, the other a sort of humidistat. The humidistat may be calibrated in percentage or just numbers. It doesn't matter a lot. Yours may be electronic, these days most things are, touch buttons, in that case I doubt any of us can help you much unless you know the exact model and know how to use it. The last one I owned I generally left the fan on high speed, turned the humidity to maximum and left it run until I was aware of moisture collecting on the windows then turn the humidity slowly down until the machine clicked off then left it about there. Mine had a rotating drum like gauge to show how much water there was in the reservoir, I removed the plastic window and stuck a dymo tape label at MAX and MIN so I could feel when it was empty and stop pouring water in when it was full. Years ago my parents had one wit a little red plunger on a float which would appear up through the top of the control panel when the unit was full.Theirs had a rubber belt on a pulley on the front of the fan which splashed water up onto a wick hanging over the fan, similar idea just a different implementation. >From time-to-time it is necessary to remove the reservoir from the back at the >bottom of the unit, this is usually just a rectangular plastic box to clean >it. They get filthy. There will be slime and probably some mineral scale, the >scale comes off with Vinegar or some other acidic cleaner and I used to like >to wipe it down with some dilute bleach. The wick will get stiff too with grunge and mineral, it can be cleaned in vinegar too and can be replaced with a new one purchased at most hardware stores. So, expect cold air, don't forget to keep the reservoir topped up usually once a day is enough. I hope this is helpful. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jo Taliaferro To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 1:43 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] need advice about humidifiers Hi everybody, I have a humidifier that's supposed to work for up to 700 square feet of space. First, I can't see to program the thing, second, the fan blew cold air out all night, and third, does anyone know whether there's some way for me to know what the humidity is in my house? I'm in snow country in MN, right now and even though we're having a winter storm, the air feels dry as a bone. We have a gas furnace and I'm told that humidifiers attached to the furnace don't work very well. My husband and I are both blind and he has no idea what brand we have. The thing is unwieldy to manage and I don't know at what level to set the thing for comfort. Our sighted assistant just left for Florida...RATS!!! Where can I go for info? Guess who does the home repair and maintenance in this household? No, he doesn't!!! I just need some guidance. Thanks to all the men and women on this handy list! Jo Taliaferro, empowering people to live with their choices [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
