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Heating & Air Conditioning

Do I need a whole house humidifier for my HVAC?

4 years ago

We built a house that was completed last June and there is a humidifier that is part of our HVAC, but when the humidity this winter kept falling below 30 (after setting it to 40), I reached out to our HVAC people who said "the humidifier on the furnace only runs when the furnace is in a heating call and fan is running, it will only put humidity in the air during the heating cycle" and that what we really need is a whole house steam humidifier, for which he quoted us $2800 for equipment and install. (Wish someone had mentioned that we may want this while they were building our house!) Anyhow, is this something we NEED? We have pre-finished hardwood floors throughout the entire first floor which I really don't want to get destroyed. We live in Michigan, so we definitely have cold, dry winters (though fortunately this winter has been very mild thus far.) Please advise.

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Comments (4)

srea123
4 years ago
No you don’t need it, especially since you have the humidifier on your hvac. 30% in winter is fine. If you feel it’s still dry just get a table top humidifier and put it on every now and then.
mike_home
4 years ago
Low humidity in the winter is usually caused by leakage issues. It is disappointing to hear your new construction is suffering from low humidity. Even a tight house can become dry when the outdoor temperature and humidity are low.

How large is your house, and what size is the furnace? Does the furnace cycle on and off for short period of times? If it does, then the furnace is not running long enough for the humidifier to raise the humidity.

I think it is possible to wire your humidifier to turn on your furnace blower whenever the humidity is low. This would avoid spending another $2800 on a second humidifier. If you have an Aprilaire humidifier then it may be possible to install a Aprilaire 60 humidstat with blower activation. I have no experience with this set up, but it is worth investigating if you have a compatible humidstat and furnace.
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Comments (6)
Sure, a leaky house will be dry in winter. Also cold. I don't think most people who participate here live in places so porous as to be described as "leaky", but perhaps some in old structures needing moderization do. Do normal home activities produce enough humidity in cold climates to serve as an alternative to humidifiers? I didn't think so, but my understanding is limited. Fresh air is always needed for a variety of reasons, including CO2. The ventilation devices you mention preheat or cool incoming outdoor air but do nothing for water content (except those that are part of a humidifier). Getting back to the topic, every house has air infiltration, ventilation, or some combination thereof. In cold climates, outdoor air produces excessively dry indoor air when warmed. In milder seasons (fall & winter), the same leaky houses are not so uncomfortable. That's all I was saying.
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Comments (27)
I think the rheem quote looks good. If its 8-grand less thats a major reason to go with that quote. 95% efficient 2 stage furnaces are plenty comfortable and efficient. A good thermostat will make it run in the low-stage most of the time. True modulating or 3 stage furnaces are more comfy but maybe its overkill. Just make sure your not oversized. Remember 95% efficient furnaces put out 15% more heat than the same size 80% efficient furnace. FYI - those rheem A/C's in the quote are plenty efficient also and RHEEM makes good quality stuff I think.
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Comments (11)
Sizing can be less of an issue when you have multiple units. Because each unit is controlled independently, provided of course the unit itself is not over sized for the area in which it serves resulting in excessive short cycling. In your case 3 ton plus 2 ton isn't necessarily equal to 5 tons of cooling... unless you drive those thermostats really low. By having two systems with total capacity of 5 tons (which, most of the time this would be oversized for a 1700 - 1800 sq ft structure) has a few advantages. 1. You have the ability to use one system only during low heat days or set the opposing unit higher. The unit set higher only runs if load conditions warrant.... meaning if it's not hot, the thermostat controlling the unit does not call... the unit can not run without a call... 2. Utility bills can be much less... because you rarely use both systems at the same time. You run the bedroom system when you sleep, the other when you're awake. If you have a home office in one the bedrooms you may need to rethink things a bit. 3. Extra capacity for when it's hot out. When it's hot you have the capacity to cool the home. (even while entertaining guests --- additional people add heat) Remember heat waves come, heat waves go... a so call 'properly sized' AC system is essentially properly sized roughly 10% of the time... especially if that system is a single speed AC system. Alot of people I come across like to sleep cool. So for that reason I doubt I would change the configuration of the space. Once you realize what you have, the choices you make are mostly budget type concerns. Essentially a set up like this runs like a 2 stage system. This kind of subject is above the pay grade of many... choose your contractor wisely. I service the Katy, Texas area.
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Comments (7)
Personal experience (not a pro). We actually had to cut the line on our humidifier to service our water heater in our last house (not exactly sure why) but we didn't bother reconnecting it. The whole house humidifier was a nuisance, tbh. Way too much humidity in the house, our windows would ice up and then melt, causing damage to our window trim (and probably windows as well). We opted to just humidify the rooms that needed it instead (which, in a new build tight house, only ended up being the baby's room just because). Current build we opted not to install, and so far the builder has cautioned us repeatedly about too much humidity in the house and how to manage it. Apparently people over humidify and then ruin their windows, and it's such a common problem that we got a sermon in our walk-through, an email, a printed sheet, a warning from the service manager, and a warning from the project manager. We live in MN - doesn't get much colder. Anyway, before doing anything maybe live with it for awhile.
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Carla Adams
Original Author
4 years ago
OK, thank you! Our house is 4200 sq ft. We have a separate furnace for each floor - the first floor is 2700 square feet and that is the floor with hard wood floors, so not concerned about the second floor as much (although of course air flows between the 2 floors). All I know is it is a modulating furnace. Less worried about this winter since it's so mild and dipping just below 30, but in the future if we don't do anything, I'd expect humidity might drop much lower.
mike_home
4 years ago
If it is a modulating furnace, then it should run for longer periods of time. Perhaps the humidifier is not operating properly.

You may also be able to install a thermostat which has humidity control. It does require a tech who is knows how to install it properly. I fear the company you are talking to wants to sell you more equipment and not interested in coming up with a low cost solution.
Carla Adams thanked mike_home

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