Humidifiers

Why Home Humidification is Important: One thing that makes winter uncomfortable for humans, even inside a nice warm building, is low humidity. People need a certain level of humidity to be comfortable. In the winter, indoor humidity can be extremely low and the lack of humidity can dry out your skin and mucous membranes. Low humidity also makes the air feel colder than it actually is. Dry air can also dry out the wood in the walls and floors of our houses. As the drying wood shrinks, it can cause creaks in floors and cracks in drywall and plaster.

Types of Furnace Mounted  Home Humidifiers:
Although all furnace mounted humidifiers work under the same principles, there are two basic types.

The humidifier may be a flow-thru type where the water flows through a Repacement Panel or Pad in the humidifier and drains out; or it may be a reservoir type which uses a reservoir of water and a rotating drum to introduce the moisture necessary for humidified air.

With flow-through humidifiers you don't have to worry about possible bacteria growing in the reservoir's standing water which can cause illness or humidifier fever.

Aprilaire or Honeywell Flow-through humidifiers may be mounted to the air return duct and connect to the hot air supply off the furnace by using a humidifier supply take offf duct. The supply takeoff bypass duct diverts some heated air to the humidifier by taking advantage of a natural pressure differential between the supply and return sides of the furnace. The warm air absorbs moisture from the evaporator Water Panel inside the humidifier and returns to the warm air stream through the cold air return duct and furnace.

Some models such as Aprilaire or Honeywell may be mounted directly to the hot air supply duct and do not use a supply takeoff duct at all.

How a Home Humidifier Works:
Aprilaire and Honyewell  mounted humidifiers work under a principle of introducing moisture from water and evaporating it into a warm air stream coming from the furnace. The water is distributed over what is know as the Humidfier Water Panel, Pad, or Filter. This Replacement Water Panel should be inspected and replaced annually to prevent mold and unpleasent oders in the home.