Whole-house humidifier (Update: Done)

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Dedicated_Dad
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Whole-house humidifier (Update: Done)

Post by Dedicated_Dad »

UPDATE: I installed the "Desert Spring" unit - will update with pic perhaps tomorrow... Will also let you know how it works... I swear - I am DYING. I got busy ~14 hours ago - as slow as I move with this knee... I'll spend tomorrow in bed, making love to my ice-packs and pain meds...[update]

Hi guys...

The new furnace is KILLING us with the dry air. Just rolling over in bed looks like fireworks from the static, 3/4 of us getting nose-bleeds... I'm told this is normal, though...

I've been boiling a 4-gal pot on the stove ~18 hours a day but the furnace just clears it out again.

Went to the 2 major "home" stores today. Bought a unit but then came home and started looking at it - it's got to have a new pad at least once a year among other "drawbacks"... That got me to thinking about the one the other store was selling since it uses plastic discs that don't need replacing, and has a "flush" unit that is supposed to keep minerals from building up.

The (Honeywell) one I bought goes in the "hot" air, preferably right in the side of the AC coil. This would be easy for me to do. Looking at it more, it appears that it pulls "outside" air across the pad, meaning it's going to cut the efficiency of my heating since the furnace is in the unheated garage - it will add cold air to the system AFTER the furnace. It also appears that when it is operating, water runs in the top and out the bottom - whatever doesn't become humidity goes out into a drain line.

The other one goes in the cold-air return and requires a take-off from the hot air - this one has no fan, it uses the pressure from the furnace for its air-flow - thus it seems to me the furnace would remove a lot of the humidity just added. The biggest worry I have is that the "hot air supply" is supposed to be mounted at least 1" higher than the humidity-unit - which is just not possible with my installation unless I put the humidifier right on the floor - I can't do that because I need a drain, so I'd have to add a pan and pump to handle flushing it out...
Seems to me that I COULD just ignore the "1" higher" recommendation - which I truly don't understand unless it is intended to prevent accidental overflow running down the duct and etc - since in my installation I could put the hot-air takeoff right into the side of my AC coil - which has its own drain already - I think this would be no problem. Further, I think I could run the "drain" line right back into the side of the AC coil, down low, and let the flushing from this one drain right into the condensate drain system.
Lastly, this one uses a float-assembly, so there's no wasted water-the float fills a pan and the disks rotate.

Anyhow....

Here's the one I bought (HE360A)
Here's the one I would rather have if I could use it.

all input appreciated!

DD

ETA: Here's a pic. I think I might actually be able to do this...
Image
Last edited by Dedicated_Dad on Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:38 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Aglifter
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Re: Whole-house humidifier

Post by Aglifter »

We use the cabinet style units, and I don't put them near the air return -- I don't like the idea of having hot/damp air blowing around -- although if set properly, there's really no reason that it would create a mold problem... I think you'll be impressed how much more comfortable a house is that is properly humidified.
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Dedicated_Dad
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Re: Whole-house humidifier

Post by Dedicated_Dad »

The way this thing dries the air, I don't want to mess with the cabinet, having to fill it up, etc. Too much PITA.

Here's a pic of my setup - I think I might actually be able to do it...

DD

Image
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cu74
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Re: Whole-house humidifier

Post by cu74 »

We have the Desert Spring unit on our system. As far as I can tell, it works as advertised.

Observations:
- Humidity changes will be very slow. It takes a long of time to change the humidity in a large space.
- Our maximum achievable humidity is about 33-35%. Good for personal comfort, but we still have some minor static electricity problems.
- Unit is trouble-free and maintenance-free. When we switch form heat to A/C we merely turn off the unit, shut off the water supply and slide a baffle into place to isolate the unit from the plenum. Reverse in the fall when switching back to "heat".
Jim Dozier - Straight, but not narrow...
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