New Central Humidifier- Aprilaire 800

[vindibona1]

I got sick and tired of filling floor humidifiers daily, worrying about humidity levels while on vacation, so finally ponied up for humidifier attached to the furnace. It's relatively new technology, a "steam" humidifier: The Aprilaire 800.

Unlilke the old evaporative furnace humidifiers this one produces steam that is blown through the system when the humidistat call for more humidity. It works both dependently and indepently of the furnace. In other words, it can kick on and turn the blower on, even if the thermostat isn't calling for more heat. Thus the humidifier is controlling the blower at that time. So it can run with or without the heat running and does so automatically without any user intervention.

We've had the 800 for almost a month and I've been monitoring humidity in every room in our 1200 sq ft condo. Once the humidity levels came up, which took a few days, we've been holding steady near 45%, and haven't dropped below 40%. In fact, after a few days the humidity passed 50% and I had to dial back the control a notch. The control is about at the half-way point. It varies only a few percent from room to room, so relatively even throughout. When I walk in the door from the outside I can feel the humidity initially. The humidifier is rated for homes up to 5600 sq ft.

It isn't cheap. It cost about $1000 including installation. It requires a $75 filter change annually. But I think it's worth it. I like the set-it-and-forget-it way it works. No more floor humidifiers. Will one be needed in the dead of winter when it hits -10°F? We will see. But we've had temps in the low 20's and no issues keeping the humidity up.

Just thought I'd share

[tubeamps]

That sounds interesting. It’s probably not an issue but I would be a little concerned about steam causing moisture build up in the ductwork, including seams, joints or anywhere steam could penetrate eventually leading to mold.

Is this something that is addressed in the owners manual?

[vindibona1]

Great questions. I am not the first in my building to have this unit. I have a neighbor who has had one for a couple of years. The love it. I waited almost a year before pulling the trigger and consulted once again with the neighbor before making a final decision.

Moisture itself won't produce mold. It's the micro-organisms in it. I suspect that the steam filtration system addresses that. Does the steam kill off any bacteria and micro-organisms? How could it now if engineered properly? I see no signs of condensation anywhere. Mold, obviously would be a health hazard. Aprilaire, is not a new fly-by-night company and I would imagine that they wouldn't put out a product that had a huge potential for liability suits.

[Pura Vida]

I've thought about getting central humidification installed at my house. If I can get it done for this price, I'd do it. The manual filling and emptying is a pain, plus getting someone to do it for us, when we travel, is an inconvenience.

I'm $125 x 2 humidifiers + $209 x 1 dehumidifier + $15-20 / month for humidifier filters. Granted, I've already paid for the equipment, but I'm filling 4 tanks (7.2 gallons) almost daily during the colder months, and emptying the dehumidifier 1-2x daily in the summer months.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

I've thought about getting central humidification installed at my house. If I can get it done for this price, I'd do it. The manual filling and emptying is a pain, plus getting someone to do it for us, when we travel, is an inconvenience.

I'm $125 x 2 humidifiers + $209 x 1 dehumidifier + $15-20 / month for humidifier filters. Granted, I've already paid for the equipment, but I'm filling 4 tanks (7.2 gallons) almost daily during the colder months, and emptying the dehumidifier 1-2x daily in the summer months.

Exactly. We had two humidifiers in each bedroom, one in the living room and were filling all of them daily. The evaporative humidifier in my guitar room when on full was super loud. Our furnace had an old defunct Aprilaire evap system that we hadn't used in a decade. When asking our HVAC maintenance guy what we could do he recommended the 800. I was skeptical, but after talking to my neighbor did some more research and we decided to go for it.

One of the things about getting the humidity up is that it's that the walls and furniture absorbs moisture, so it's not just about pumping moisture into the air intermittently. The humidity has to be at a level and maintained at that level so you don't have cycles of drying and moisturizing. I was surprised that it took 4 days for the 800 to get us up to 45%. But once there just hangs in that general area, regardless of the temp swings outdoors. In full disclosure we haven't had any bitter cold days yet, but had one or two days down to 20°F (or lower) and we've been in the mid 20's at night most nights, if I recall correctly.

[beninma]

I think you did well, price sounds good, and the better steam unit will pay off.

I think the install price must depend on what must be done.

I have a 600 series.. (non-steam). In our case the HVAC company had to install a bypass duct, run a hot water pipe, install the computer + humidifier, etc.. we paid more than you 5-6 years ago and ours is not the steam version.

The service costs on mine have already made it not pay off vs. paying for the more expensive steam version.

Yours is probably not running very much if is only humidifying 1200sq. ft and it's rated for 5600sq. ft... if it's not running a lot it will last a long time.

The non-steam version can't dissolve the water into the air as efficiently and hence has to run more.

We've had a computer failure, a solenoid failure, and a water clog in 6 years.. it is pretty finicky stuff compared to the furnace itself.

It makes a huge difference though!

45% is not really doable in our house when it gets really cold though.. we don't want the windows fogging/walls condensing. The computer takes care of dropping the humidity level as the outdoor temp drops. It was 15 degrees when I woke up yesterday, so the air was still dryer than I'd like. If it's up near 35-40F though it will keep us up near 40% and it's very comfortable.

I still keep my guitars cased with humidipaks.

Even the non-steam version is super clean & sanitary compared to room units. All the time I've maintained mine I've never seen any evidence of bacteria/mold growing in it whereas I don't think I've ever seen a room unit not growing mold & bacteria after a couple days.

I'm not sure what if anything could fail on ours to justify changing it to a steam unit but if it did I'd go steam for sure.

[beninma]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

I've thought about getting central humidification installed at my house. If I can get it done for this price, I'd do it. The manual filling and emptying is a pain, plus getting someone to do it for us, when we travel, is an inconvenience.

I'm $125 x 2 humidifiers + $209 x 1 dehumidifier + $15-20 / month for humidifier filters. Granted, I've already paid for the equipment, but I'm filling 4 tanks (7.2 gallons) almost daily during the colder months, and emptying the dehumidifier 1-2x daily in the summer months.

All that work and if you live in a cold enough area it won't really do the trick. The OP is discussing a 35 gallon/day humidifier. The one I have is 21gal/day.

The furnace mount ones are actually cheaper if you were to compare like to like in terms of capacity. Not that I can imagine anyone maintaining 10+ individual room humidfiers in the winter to keep the whole house healthy.

One nice side effect I've noticed is the hardwood flooring is much happier!

[RalphH]

Sounds like a great option - we only tend to think about our guitars (or at least I do!) but it's much healthier for people to be at 40-50% RH too. Not that the kids will crack if they dry out a bit...

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by beninma

All that work and if you live in a cold enough area it won't really do the trick. The OP is discussing a 35 gallon/day humidifier. The one I have is 21gal/day.

The furnace mount ones are actually cheaper if you were to compare like to like in terms of capacity. Not that I can imagine anyone maintaining 10+ individual room humidfiers in the winter to keep the whole house healthy.

One nice side effect I've noticed is the hardwood flooring is much happier!

It's pretty mild here in NorCal. Just to clarify, the tank capacity is 3.6g (2g tank, 1.6 bottle) per unit, but 24 hour output is 12 gallons with continuous use. So, if I manually kept filling them or attached a water line, they'd push up to 24g/day, which would be enough for my house (4300sf) and climate.

But, yes, I would rather not have to babysit my RH. Also, I'd want to make sure it could self-regulate, so I don't become too humid, when I run the house fan in the summer nights.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

It isn't cheap. It cost about $1000 including installation. It requires a $75 filter change annually. But I think it's worth it. I like the set-it-and-forget-it way it works. No more floor humidifiers. Will one be needed in the dead of winter when it hits -10°F? We will see. But we've had temps in the low 20's and no issues keeping the humidity up.

Just thought I'd share

It's absolutely worth it and it's something I plan on having in my next home.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

I got sick and tired of filling floor humidifiers daily, worrying about humidity levels while on vacation, so finally ponied up for humidifier attached to the furnace. It's relatively new technology, a "steam" humidifier: The Aprilaire 800.

Unlilke the old evaporative furnace humidifiers this one produces steam that is blown through the system when the humidistat call for more humidity. It works both dependently and indepently of the furnace. In other words, it can kick on and turn the blower on, even if the thermostat isn't calling for more heat. Thus the humidifier is controlling the blower at that time. So it can run with or without the heat running and does so automatically without any user intervention.

We've had the 800 for almost a month and I've been monitoring humidity in every room in our 1200 sq ft condo. Once the humidity levels came up, which took a few days, we've been holding steady near 45%, and haven't dropped below 40%. In fact, after a few days the humidity passed 50% and I had to dial back the control a notch. The control is about at the half-way point. It varies only a few percent from room to room, so relatively even throughout. When I walk in the door from the outside I can feel the humidity initially. The humidifier is rated for homes up to 5600 sq ft.

It isn't cheap. It cost about $1000 including installation. It requires a $75 filter change annually. But I think it's worth it. I like the set-it-and-forget-it way it works. No more floor humidifiers. Will one be needed in the dead of winter when it hits -10°F? We will see. But we've had temps in the low 20's and no issues keeping the humidity up.

Just thought I'd share

Not sure who advised you to put that in your condo but based on my understanding those should only be put in large homes.

I had one in my house at one point and it was too much, would bath the windows Etc...After the fact I was told that my house was too small for one of those types of units....I have almost 2700 square feet.

I now have a conventional one and it is fine. It can run irrespective of whether or not the furnace is running for heat.

In any case, good luck. You better make sure you keep an eye on outside temp and adjust accordingly with a unit like that. My panel auto adjusts based on outdoor temp. Hopefully yours does aswell.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by tubeamps

That sounds interesting. It’s probably not an issue but I would be a little concerned about steam causing moisture build up in the ductwork, including seams, joints or anywhere steam could penetrate eventually leading to mold.

Is this something that is addressed in the owners manual?

Your instincts are correct based on my understanding of those types of things units...Definitely need to be careful...

[Mbroady]

Congrats on your humidifier unit. Looked into a unit that I can hook up to a heat pump. The quote was at least 4 times the price mentioned and the cost of operation seemed to be over the top. Instead I picked up 2 $15 Vick’s humidifiers. I went to the nearest box hardware store and purchased 2 plastic storage tubs. I poked a hole in the plastic humidifier chambers and placed them in the storage bin which I fill up with water. I put a drop of salt in the water and it It lasts about 4 days each. Been using it for 2 years now and it keeps the house (2 floors) right around 40% in the dry winter months. I also find that it aids In keeping the house warm

[kjcole]

We had a steam unit installed like the OP, when we had to have our HVAC system reworked for other reasons. Like the OP's system, steam is produced by a unit attached to the furnace supply plenum and the furnace fan runs when the humidistat calls for humidity. This is our second winter with it and it has worked flawlessly. I set it at 45% but may dial it back on those really cold days when condensation shows up on the windows. No issues with condensation in ductwork. I'm running it with a zone-controlled system (by floor) and 4500 square feet. Surprised by how well it keeps up.

[Pura Vida]

Our furnaces are in the attic, and there are two of them.

1. Do I need two of them? Probably.

2. Can the humidity settings be controlled remotely? I'm not climbing through my attic to adjust a dial.

Something tells me my solution may become a little more expensive with these requirements.