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dave_dj1

dave_dj1

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 23, 2020
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1290
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1,084
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Jackson NY
Specifically what's going in my humidifier.
I run two table top humidifiers , both have wicks. They hold about a gallon of water each. I use a treatment specific for them.
On to the issue: I cleaned one entirely yesterday, installed a new wick, added treatment and this morning it looks like mold forming in the output tunnel? Should I have my water tested? or my air quality?
humidifiers are Mainstays Model: MDH-0103JW
 
Pics? I run the same one in my bedroom, just put sink water in it once a day no additives or anything. When the wick stops sucking up water I flip it over and it's good for another month or so. Never seen a drop of mold and it's never been cleaned
 
det107 said:
... and 65% humidity with snow looming here-
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Relative humidity isn't very useful when it's cold out; dew point is better.

32F air at 65% humidity is only 19% humidity in a 65F house.
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
Why do need a humidifier in humid ass Ny?
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I have forced hot air heat so dry and I am very suspectable to bad nose bleeds to the point I have been hospitalized.

[486] said:
put a pot of water on your stove
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cost prohibitive as I have an electric range

CJF said:
Relative humidity isn't very useful when it's cold out; dew point is better.

32F air at 65% humidity is only 19% humidity in a 65F house.
Click to expand...
thanks for that info.

I do have an indoor thermometer with a humidity gauge that says it's 40 but I find that hard to believe. I keep it about 70-71
 
Dew point calculator:

Dew Point Calculator

Dew Point Calculator is a web resource created by the Image Permanence Institute to help express and visualize the relationship between temperature, relative humidity and dew point.
www.dpcalc.org

I always try to go for about 50% humidity at 70F, which is a dew point of 50F. Try messing around with the sliders in the app; it's pretty cool.
 
Get a whole house STEAM humidifier. I have the Aprilaire 800, has been literally zero maintenance in 6 years...just plenty of sweet sweet humidity whenever necessary and I don't even notice it on the electrical bill.
 
SomeGuy said:
Get a whole house STEAM humidifier. I have the Aprilaire 800, has been literally zero maintenance in 6 years...just plenty of sweet sweet humidity whenever necessary and I don't even notice it on the electrical bill.
Click to expand...
You have changed the canister though? I changed a canister Friday on a Honeywell I installed right at a year ago, it was giving an error code due to not being able to drain through all the sediment. When we install them we tell people to expect yearly replacements due to our water quality.
 
The only way to run a humidifier is with RO water. When I ran straight city tap water it was a mess. I latter used a watts system filter system for humidifiers which was better but still a large maintenance problem. This was for steam systems.
 
cj3a said:
The only way to run a humidifier is with RO water. When I ran straight city tap water it was a mess. I latter used a watts system filter system for humidifiers which was better but still a large maintenance problem. This was for steam systems.
Click to expand...
Around here bypass humidifiers do ok on cold but if installed on hot water they are such a nightmare. Steam is a hard sell to most due to the up front cost. My least favorite part of heating season is fixing all the plugged up valves, solenoids, orifices due to hot water supply. We install filters in supply like you said better but still only get a year or three out of them.
 
If you have mold you have organics.


Go get your water tested


Tell them you want a BACT test.


Brace yourself for the results.


Probably not gonna be good if you have mold in the water:laughing:
 
Bowe said:
Around here bypass humidifiers do ok on cold but if installed on hot water they are such a nightmare. Steam is a hard sell to most due to the up front cost. My least favorite part of heating season is fixing all the plugged up valves, solenoids, orifices due to hot water supply. We install filters in supply like you said better but still only get a year or three out of them.
Click to expand...
What makes the difference? I need to install a new whole home humidifier. Planning to put it in the duct above the hot air wood furnace and am looking for advice. Well water with nothing in it.
 
Bowe said:
You have changed the canister though? I changed a canister Friday on a Honeywell I installed right at a year ago, it was giving an error code due to not being able to drain through all the sediment. When we install them we tell people to expect yearly replacements due to our water quality.
Click to expand...

Not yet, in 6 years light hasn't come on saying to change it, still maintains humidity settings just fine...it is getting softened water though, so that probably has slowed the build up substantially. I have a spare waiting to go in though whenever it decides it's done with the current canister. It's honestly one of the best decisions we ever made to help air quality in the winter.
 
I assume just more minerals in solution with the hot water. The hot vs cold decision kinda comes down to if you’ll use the humidifier with just the fan running or not, if trying to humidify with no heat on obviously having hot water to the hum will greatly increase the amount of humidity vs cold supply. Becomes a trade off on needing less water to achieve desired RH but using more energy to get there.

We have ran into isssues on heat pumps not being as conducive to adding humidity due to the lower supply temps over gas heat. If a fella has the money for it I’m really impressed with steam units.
 
SomeGuy said:
Get a whole house STEAM humidifier. I have the Aprilaire 800, has been literally zero maintenance in 6 years...just plenty of sweet sweet humidity whenever necessary and I don't even notice it on the electrical bill.
Click to expand...
They are bacteria, mold, mildew kings. OP is using the correct style, cold water and fan.

The steam ones can really screw a house up and make people sick repeatedly.
 
Bowe said:
I assume just more minerals in solution with the hot water. The hot vs cold decision kinda comes down to if you’ll use the humidifier with just the fan running or not, if trying to humidify with no heat on obviously having hot water to the hum will greatly increase the amount of humidity vs cold supply. Becomes a trade off on needing less water to achieve desired RH but using more energy to get there.

We have ran into isssues on heat pumps not being as conducive to adding humidity due to the lower supply temps over gas heat. If a fella has the money for it I’m really impressed with steam units.
Click to expand...

Since I have wood heat the plenum is pretty warm all the time, max air temp around 200. Would they work well there?
 
dave_dj1 said:
Specifically what's going in my humidifier.
I run two table top humidifiers , both have wicks. They hold about a gallon of water each. I use a treatment specific for them.
On to the issue: I cleaned one entirely yesterday, installed a new wick, added treatment and this morning it looks like mold forming in the output tunnel? Should I have my water tested? or my air quality?
humidifiers are Mainstays Model: MDH-0103JW
Click to expand...
Did you use new wicks or old wicks?
 
Poke said:
They are bacteria, mold, mildew kings. OP is using the correct style, cold water and fan.

The steam ones can really screw a house up and make people sick repeatedly.
Click to expand...

Uh, no? They boil water to create humidity, it kills anything that could possibly grow...and the one I have drains entirely when not in use so no sitting water.
 
larboc said:
Since I have wood heat the plenum is pretty warm all the time, max air temp around 200. Would they work well there?
Click to expand...
I’d imagine really well, usually we’re around 120-130 plenum temp on a gas unit. There’s some debate on it but most installs mount the bypass humidifier on the return air with a pipe back to plenum or take-off area. This is generally more for ease of install and service than anything else I believe. I’ve heard talk of rotting duct work depending on location but I’ve only seen that from poor/nonexistant hum maintenance or a solenoid that never fully shuts water flow off.
 
Bowe said:
I’d imagine really well, usually we’re around 120-130 plenum temp on a gas unit. There’s some debate on it but most installs mount the bypass humidifier on the return air with a pipe back to plenum or take-off area. This is generally more for ease of install and service than anything else I believe. I’ve heard talk of rotting duct work depending on location but I’ve only seen that from poor/nonexistant hum maintenance or a solenoid that never fully shuts water flow off.
Click to expand...

That's kind of how mine is setup now, however the humidifier is located in the oil out/wood in duct. The blower in on the supply side of the downflow oil unit so the hum only has cold return air going through it and doesn't work worth a fak. Its also 30 years old and hack. There is no solenoid, the stat turns a motor on or off that spins a column of wick material.
 
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