Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers - Why Too Much Humidity? (started this heating season)
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Philossifer
02-12-06, 03:18 PM
My furnace is about two-years old; it's a 70,000 btu +90 Comfortmaker. The humidifier is an AprilAire 550. The house is about 1200 sq. ft, and new Windows were installed (double-Pane Vinyl) the same year as the furnace as were glass-block basement windows and a new main entrance door.
Last winter everything was perfect in terms of humidity. This year, I can't seem to get it right. Either too much humidity or too dry.
I can't do much more in anticipating the night-time outdoor temps in order to set the humidistat correctly. If I dial down the humidistat just a tad, no humidity; it I tweek it just a little bit higher, I awake to find my windows drenched.
The weird thing about it....is nothing has changed from last year other than replacing the media pad in the humidifier (could that be the problem?) Last year I used the original AprilAire pad that came with the unit, this year I bought an aftermarket pad at HomeDepot. It's hard to believe that would cause this problem.
Any Idea's?
Thanks,
Phil
Last winter everything was perfect in terms of humidity. This year, I can't seem to get it right. Either too much humidity or too dry.
I can't do much more in anticipating the night-time outdoor temps in order to set the humidistat correctly. If I dial down the humidistat just a tad, no humidity; it I tweek it just a little bit higher, I awake to find my windows drenched.
The weird thing about it....is nothing has changed from last year other than replacing the media pad in the humidifier (could that be the problem?) Last year I used the original AprilAire pad that came with the unit, this year I bought an aftermarket pad at HomeDepot. It's hard to believe that would cause this problem.
Any Idea's?
Thanks,
Phil
Jay11J
02-12-06, 04:03 PM
What is the humidity reading in the home? And your set point? outdoor temps?
Philossifer
02-13-06, 06:49 AM
What is the humidity reading in the home? And your set point? outdoor temps?
Jay,
This morning, according to my digital humidity monitor, it says the humidity in my home is at 32% RH while my analog (dial-reading) says it's about 36% RH. I think the analog stat is slower in reacting.
I always try to adjust the set-point on my H-stat according to the coldest outdoor temperature for the day. So, last night it dropped to about 15 degrees F; I set the H-Stat at 30% (according to the scale on the H-stat.) Also, I set back the furnace thermostat to between 68 and 70 degrees at bedtime.
Today, it looks like the lowest temp will be about 20 degrees F, so I adjusted the H-stat (again, according to the scale on the stat) to 35%.
Actually, this morning the humidity level seems pretty good. I only had some slight condensation in our bedroom windows and the bathroom windows. The rest of the windows were okay. The house feels very comfortable in terms of humidity. Like I said earlier though, with the changes I made today to the H-Stat, tomorrow morning, the house might be humid. Then, if I dial it back by 5%, the next day it might be too dry.
It just seems like this year, it's difficult to get it right. Sometimes, (like this morning) it's okay but by tomorrow, the humidity might be too high or too low. Again, I didn't have this problem last year and nothing (that I know of) has really changed!
Thanks,
Phil
Jay,
This morning, according to my digital humidity monitor, it says the humidity in my home is at 32% RH while my analog (dial-reading) says it's about 36% RH. I think the analog stat is slower in reacting.
I always try to adjust the set-point on my H-stat according to the coldest outdoor temperature for the day. So, last night it dropped to about 15 degrees F; I set the H-Stat at 30% (according to the scale on the H-stat.) Also, I set back the furnace thermostat to between 68 and 70 degrees at bedtime.
Today, it looks like the lowest temp will be about 20 degrees F, so I adjusted the H-stat (again, according to the scale on the stat) to 35%.
Actually, this morning the humidity level seems pretty good. I only had some slight condensation in our bedroom windows and the bathroom windows. The rest of the windows were okay. The house feels very comfortable in terms of humidity. Like I said earlier though, with the changes I made today to the H-Stat, tomorrow morning, the house might be humid. Then, if I dial it back by 5%, the next day it might be too dry.
It just seems like this year, it's difficult to get it right. Sometimes, (like this morning) it's okay but by tomorrow, the humidity might be too high or too low. Again, I didn't have this problem last year and nothing (that I know of) has really changed!
Thanks,
Phil
Jay11J
02-13-06, 03:48 PM
Ok.. I see what you mean.
Best thing to do is set it and FORGET it.
I normaly suggest people to set it at about 35 to 40%. No point of going down and make the changes everyday. If your windows has very or no condesation on it, your good to go.
Otherwise with this up and down everyday that you are doing now, it's just makes it hard to maintain the set point.
Best thing to do is set it and FORGET it.
I normaly suggest people to set it at about 35 to 40%. No point of going down and make the changes everyday. If your windows has very or no condesation on it, your good to go.
Otherwise with this up and down everyday that you are doing now, it's just makes it hard to maintain the set point.
Philossifer
02-14-06, 04:56 AM
Ok.. I see what you mean.
Best thing to do is set it and FORGET it.
I normaly suggest people to set it at about 35 to 40%. No point of going down and make the changes everyday. If your windows has very or no condesation on it, your good to go.
Otherwise with this up and down everyday that you are doing now, it's just makes it hard to maintain the set point.
Jay,
Thanks, I'll give that a shot and see what happens!
Phil
Best thing to do is set it and FORGET it.
I normaly suggest people to set it at about 35 to 40%. No point of going down and make the changes everyday. If your windows has very or no condesation on it, your good to go.
Otherwise with this up and down everyday that you are doing now, it's just makes it hard to maintain the set point.
Jay,
Thanks, I'll give that a shot and see what happens!
Phil