Whole-Home Humidifier

[5thofjuly]

Since it's house question day, I thought I'd ask mine as well. We just moved into a house that has a gas furnace. Next to the thermostat there's a separate control for humidity. Does anybody have something similar? Any advice on how it works? It says "Aprilaire" on it and, based on the color scheme (brown and gold) I'd say it's as old as the furnace (about 30 years.)

[LoveTrains]

I want one of these. It should allow you to turn the humidity up in the winter to account for the dry air being pushed through your duct works. Forced hot air = dry air.

I wake up with nosebleeds every morning. And I have a humidifier in my bedroom. The house is SO dry.

[orangeblossom]

I have a console unit, but would prefer one thsf is hooked up to the furnace.

I would google that brand and see what the recommended setting and cleaning routine is.

I've heard that 40-50% humidity is what you should strive for.

[Susie]

Our furnace has a humidifier. There's a lever on the side of the furnace itself, and you switch it from one side in the summer (humidifier off) to the other for winter (humidifier on). I wouldn't say it's life changing, but it helps a little with the dryness from the forced air heat.

[dragonfly08]

We have an Aprilaire whole house humidifier on our furnace. It definitely helps DHs allergies and DD #2s asthma in the winter. Plus my skin is a lot less dry than it used to be, before we installed it.

[linus]

Lurker chiming in; we recently bought a house that has one of these. Our attic was full of mold due in part to the humidifier combined with poor attic ventilation. We just paid $2500 to have the mold remediated and we fixed the ventilation in the attic and turned the humidifier off. The dry air is rough on our skin/noses, but much better than the mold! If your house isn't sealed well to the attic and/or the attic isn't vented well, whole-house humidifiers can definitely lead to mold problems.