Debra, Thank you for the compliment. The reason bed shots come out well for me is probably that the daylilies are planted closer together than they should be. I thought bloom had peaked two weeks ago, and I actually had gotten the first pretty bed shot on the 5th of this month. Today, DH, the former hater, but converted daylily lover had me to take a bed shot today, in spite of the fact that I had taken one yesterday. I miss Malaysian Marketplace front and center, but there are other pretty ones that have started to bloom now. Try the manual setting on the landscape shots if they don't do well. I have always used the auto on my bed shots, and they seem to do okay, but I am going to try to learn the manual settings that do best in different lights. The problem with my camera is the little screen that lets you view the pic you've just taken is un-viewable outdoors for all practical purposes. And it is a little unhandy to run back inside every time you snap a photo. I suppose that is one of the costs of an obsession. kay

I think you should just try to pay the guy the entire amount if at all possible. He is being very nice by taking the lower bid and he will probably lose the use of his car for a few days while its in the shop being fixed. If he wanted to, he could probably ask you to cover the charge of a rental car for his use during this time. I would consider myself lucky that he isn't doing that and just pay him if you can.

Ok, further reading on this problem suggests the constant water running may be due to a couple of things from what I see: a. even with furnace off, the humidistat senses ambient humidity below what it is set at and so allows water in through the water inlet orifice and inlet valve assembly, controlled through a solenoid which itself is controlled by the humidistat. I guess the humidifier is mounted directly to the hot air supply duct as I see no separate humidifier supply takeoff duct on my system. Any unevaporated water from the flow through evaporator pad runs off into the drain pan and flows through to a household drain, which is what is coming out in force. Perhaps this is normal (humidistat sensing low humidity when set to 25 hence pulling water in) then. b. perhaps this is a solenoid valve assembly is not working correctly. Any suggestions on how to test which is the case? Water is very expensive in my town (12% additional company increase just asked for, and 6% increase from sanitation company). I conserve water.

With or without a humidifier, you might have comfort problems Nobody installs a whole-house humidifier unless they're having a problem of some kind. Many people absolutely can't stand having dry skin during winter. It can actually be painful, and a humidifier probably will help your skin from getting too dry. https://www.cooling-heating.net/ In other homes, the air gets so dry that wood furniture cracks and gaps form between floorboards. Pianos go out of tune. Everything just feels off-kilter (or off key). Super-low humidity just isn't fun. Any time your indoor relative humidity dips into the middle-20% range, it's a good idea to increase it. The thing is, humidifiers have problems of their own: They might cause mold to grow in your home. This happens more often than you might think. Since humidity sticks to cold surfaces and your home contains many cold surfaces during winter, the environment is often perfect for fuzzy, black stuff to show up. You might not see the mold: While humidifier-induced mold sometimes clings to ceilings and walls, the mold that results from your humidifier isn't always visible. It might be inside your walls or - and this is pretty common - lining the inside of your ducts. The "moldy ducts" scenario is more likely if you have uninsulated ducts or a lot of your ductwork resides in an unconditioned area (like your attic). It's cold in your attic, so moisture accumulates on the ducts when your humidifier is running. Then mold starts to grow there. Mold, as you well know, can really do a number on indoor air quality. It's bad to breathe it in. And if you've got asthma, a moldy environment can actually be dangerous. The bottom line is that you don't want to grow mold in your home, but you don't want your air to be too dry either. What can you do to increase indoor humidity without increasing the risk of mold growth? Air sealing keeps dry air out How did the air in your home get so dry in the first place? The answer is simple: Cold air from the outdoors infiltrated your home through gaps and cracks in the building envelope. Seal off the points of entry for that dry air, and you'll increase your relative humidity. If you do a good job, you won't need a humidifier at all. Think about it like this: Warm air migrates to colder environments. When you turn on the heat, the hot air generated by your furnace eventually seeps out of your home to the outdoors. To maintain a pressure balance inside a structure, the warm air that leaves your home is continuously replaced by cool air that gets in. This is air infiltration. It's the draft you feel under your front door. It's the cold air that seeps in around your windows. Most of all, it's the cold air that sneaks in through the plumbing, electrical, and ductwork penetrations between your first floor and your crawl space. When you seal off these sources of air leakage, you achieve two things: You close off the "escape hatch" by which warm air leaves your home. You prevent air infiltration from the outdoors, which keeps your indoor humidity from getting too low. Stated more simply, you should strongly consider air sealing your home before purchasing a whole-house humidifier. By doing so, you'll be in a great position to mitigate uncomfortable dryness and avoid all of the problems associated with humidifiers. The best way to discover your biggest sources of air leakage is via a blower door test. That way, you can determine both the air infiltration rate and identify the biggest sources of leakage. If you do opt for a humidifier… Air sealing should always be your first course of action to alleviate problems caused by dry indoor air. That said, there are circumstances when you might want a humidifier anyway. For example, maybe your household activities don't generate enough humidity to make you comfortable, even after you've air sealed your home. You need a humidifier to even things out, so to speak. Whatever your reasons for installing a whole-house humidifier, these best practices will help you avoid potential mold and indoor air quality issues: Get a steam humidifier:Steam humidifiers boil water on their own. Unlike bypass humidifiers, which "steal" a little hot air from your supply duct to generate water vapor, steam models are more efficient. Basically, you get more humidity during a shorter run time. Bypass models also dump hot air right back into your return plenum, which can increase the temperature of incoming air and cause your system to overheat. A proper installation can mitigate this, but it's still a risk. Only run the humidifier when the furnace is on: If your ducts are in an unconditioned space (most people's ducts are), running the humidifier while the ducts are cold increases your risk of mold growth.