I also have an April Air hole house humidifier and have had older portables as well. I suppose if you had something other than fan forced heat a hole house unit might not be appropriate, but for a basic fan forced heating system, they're great. I believe the one I have adjusts its output to some degree based on ambient humidity, and as Scott says the maintenance is minimal.
Bill Stephan, Kansas City MO Email: [email protected] Phone: (816)803-2469 -original message- Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] need advice about humidifiers From: Scott Howell <[email protected]> Date: 12/30/2008 15:16 Well I'll tell you that whoever made that statement that the furnace- mounted units do not work well is quite wrong. I've used both the portable units and I currently have a furnace-mounted or whole house unit. I would gladly spend the money and purchase the whole-house unit again should mine ever break. First it does depend upon what model you purchase and the one I have is made by April Air and costs about $400. Now that may seem like a lot, but considering I've gone through a couple of the portable models, I probably spent that much and did not accomplish what the whole-house unit has and can. My unit sits off the output side of the furnace and there is a piece of duct that runs from the intake side to the humidifier and puts moysture into the air. The unit has a valve that is electrically controlled to feed water through the system. It has no fan or other moving parts so is very easy to maintain, really little to go wrong with it, and is pretty easy to take care of. Matter of fact, you just replace the filter once a season or so and possibly more if it's really needed. Now yes, you do need somewhere for the excess water to go as it drips through the system. You can dump this into a sink or wherever you dump the water from the AC. Ok, this got rather lengthy, but the point I'm making here is the portable units can cover only so much area and I'd argue the efficiency of these units based on the square footage they claim to cover. If this is an open area with no walls etc. it would probably do a pretty good job. The whole-house systems can put moysture in the air that flows to each vent in the home, thus covering a larger area more effectively. SInce I've used both,, I found the whole-house systems to work very efficiently and I didn't have to keep filling them up or cleaning them regularly. I used to clean the portable units no less than once a week or they would surely start to stink and get all nasty inside. So, as far as programming, not having a clue what you got to work with, most if it's a digital unit will start at about 45 or 50 percent humidity. You may very well be fine with this, but understand that most only measure the humidity of the air in the immediate area and not measuring what is coming in to the overall system. You will find nearly all portable units blow cold air because the water is cold. The whole-house unit I have is connected to the hotwater side and thus the air is warmed a bit as a result and that is a really good thing. Oh btw, no, we don't get any mist or white powder etc on our stuff as a result of using the unit and some have complained about this. That is do to the type of unit and I forget what those are. So, back to your problem. You might try turning the fan down to help with the noise and cold feeling of the air. However, as far as the controls, not sure what to say without knowing more about the unit. Hope that rambling bit was of some value. On Dec 30, 2008, at 1:43 PM, Jo Taliaferro wrote: > 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 > > > Scott Howell [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
