Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers - Help with installing new humidifier

Hi -

My wife and I purchased our first home about 4 months ago. The home is about 3200 square feet with cathedral ceilings and hardwood floors throughout. The home was built in 1986...and in terms of it being built "tight" I'm not really sure if it is or isn't, but the only drafts I've found are a few small drafts coming around the patio doors (there are four of them in the house).

The prior owners had a 95% Efficent Goodman gas furnace installed last year. There is currently an Aprilaire 560 installed on the return using cold water that appears to function properly as far as I tell at the unit itself, but doesn't do a darn thing. The entire winter the house was at or below 20%.

I made a bit of an impulse purchase on a new Aprilaire 700a. It's brand new in the box, and I had a chance to get it for $100 so I figured what the hell.

I was hoping I could use the forums help to understand the best way to install the new unit. I'm not winning any handy-man awards with this being our first home, but I hope with a little help I can get through this project. Ya gotta learn somehow right?

So...the additional facts are:

Furnace: Goodman GMH95
New humidifier: Aprilaire 700a
Old humidifier (on return, cold water): Aprilaire 560
Thermostat: Honeywell TH8320u1008

House: 1986 3/4 Brick, finished basement, 3 story
Sqft: 3200, high ceilings

Pictures:

Current furnace installation:

Picasa Web Albums - nik - Furnace (http://picasaweb.google.com/ngiachino/Furnace?feat=directlink)

You stated you believe the house is reasonably tight, unfortunately a home built in 86 would typically loose all of its air between every hour and every two hours. Ideal is considered a complete exchange every three hours, so even with an ideally sealed home, all of that humidified air you are working to create, you have to replace it every three hours.

You sound like you want to be a DIY home owner, so start with the assumption that your house has all of the typical unnecessary air leaks that they all have and seal them up. Chimney chase, vent pipes, plumping, electrical, bath tubs, showers, recessed lights, knee walls, rim joist on foundation, exhaust vents, fireplace, attic access, and more. When a home is tight, you need very little extra moisture. In fact, most I deal with, when very tight, they have too much humidity.

Any energy auditor in your area can run a blower door test and not only tell you how tight your home is, but where to seal it up. In addition they will show you how to reduce your heating bills and save rather than spend on humidification.

Bud

Looks like the last owner put this furnace in themself, or had some one moonlight.

-The gas line going into the furnace should be replaced right away. Flex line is not allowed going into a cabinet.. It has to be a hard black pipe.

I see an awful lot of tape on the ductwork, I am afraid mounting of the 700 is going to be hard, and also you really don't have a lot of space for it as well.

As for the current model, has the pad been updated?

Bud -

Thanks for giving me the idea of doing one of those energy audits. Our utility company subsizes the cost of the audit so it's only about 80 dollars. I may just do that to prioritize a list of projects.

Jay -

Bummer to hear about the yellow flex piping. From how hacked up the duct work was, I had my doubts, but I figured maybe that was just from the renovation and not necessarily indicitive of a good/bad current installation, but then again, I had no idea! I'll look into getting that replaced.

If the 700 mounts on the front of the supply side, I think there is plenty of room, but you're abo****ely right about all the tape.

The pad was replaced on the Aprilaire 560 about 2 months ago.

If the 700 mounts on the front of the supply side, I think there is plenty of room,
You have to watch out for the A-Coil (A/C), not knowing how tall that coil is behind the duct.. but since the duct is all taped up, you may be able to pull back some where and see behind there.


Going back to the furnace, how many BTU is it? Avg run time when it's cold out?

How big is the home?

Furnace is 115k BTU. I would say average run time is about 8-10 minutes when it's cold. I have it setup for the quasi-2 stage where it runs at lower output and fan speed for the first 5 minutes then ramps up to full output and hi-speed fan after that. Not sure if that nets any benfit, but I just haven't had the time to try anything else. I'm open to recommendations if that should be changed to the auto mode, or turned off.

House: 1986 3/4 Brick, finished basement, 3 story, 3200 square feet (including finished basement, high cathederal ceilings throughout

On the furnace where the t-stat wire hooks up, is there W2?

If not, sounds like that furnace had adj. time for 2nd stage? If so, set the timer as far out you can... You'll need longer run time to get a better results.