Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers - what are ways to increase humidty...

with out using a humidifier? We have a 2100 sq ft house, that was built in 1921. We live in Ohio, cold in Winter. Our house is really dry. I have tried using some room humidifiers but haven't noticed any results. What is the best way to humidify a house? I also tried putting bowls of wate on cold air retuns and in front of vents, with seemingly no effect.

single room humidifiers take some time before you notice improvement but they will help. you're not only humidifying the rooms, but all the materials in the house too. give them a little more time. houseplants also help. large leaf mass, ferns, tropicals, etc. try leaving the bath exaust fan off and the door open when showering. good time of year to cook meals involving boiling water. again, leave the range vent off if you can

jwalker9,

You can raise the humidity in your house by either making it tighter so less moisture ecapes, add more moisture by the use of a humidifier or a combination of the two.
You likely have given some thought to upgrading your home's energy efficiency but untill you can make major changes it would be considerably less expensive
to install a whole house humidifier on your furnace.
I'm afraid there is no way to effectively humidify your whole house by using any kind of portable device.
Because humidity needs change with either your activity or the weather, it is impractical to have to fill buckets of water to do it, considering that it could take several gallons of water per day to meet the demand.