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What are they? 

Simply put-a humidifier is a machine that adds water vapor to the air in your home.  A central humidifier that your HVAC technician can install will humidify your entire house. 

How do they work and what do they do?

The most common type of humidifier is called an evaporative humidifier.  The beauty of it is that it is self-regulating so there’s very little work involved from a homeowner’s perspective.  As the humidity level increases, the humidifier’s water-vapor output naturally decreases. This type of humidifier also captures virtually all minerals and pollutants, making them an ideal choice for an allergy-sufferer.  If you are a highly allergic person, in some models you can even add a special filter treated with a compound that retards bacterial growth.

An HVAC tech can connect an evaporative humidifier to your home’s heating and cooling system.  A metal mesh or screen is located in the duct coming from your air conditioning or furnace unit, and water from your home’s pipes flows downward over the screen.  At the same time, air comes from the ducts, blowing across the screen, and gaining moisture.   

If you have a forced-air system, central humidifiers can be hooked up to your heating equipment and then water is pumped directly to them.  They are a highly efficient way to humidify your house, because their coverage is vast.  Central humidifiers can deliver moisture across all rooms of your home.  Just bear in mind that unlike the self-regulating evaporative humidifier, central humidifiers only work while your forced-air system is on.  They’re controlled by a humidistat that turns the unit off and on when humidity levels fluctuate outside of a set range.

To put moisture into the air, humidifiers can use different methods.  A steam humidifier disperses water vapor into the air by boiling the water. You can buy a wall-attached steam humidifier that will spray steam into a living space or into forced-air heating ductwork through a tube.  Water is piped directly into a steam unit, so you don’t have to fill it yourself.   The evaporated steam is pure and clean and does not contain bacteria or mineral deposits. 

Ductwork systems are another option for the homeowner, though generally on the pricey side.  They use your electricity to heat the water, so if you use it a lot your bills can run high.                                                                                                                

How humidifiers are installed

Whole-house humidifiers are installed in the ductwork, next to your furnace.  They add humidity to your entire home. Unless you are using an evaporative humidifier, it will often have a humidistat.  This allows you to adjust your humidity level to one that is comfortable for you. 

If your home has forced air, an HVAC tech will first screw the humidifier to a wall near the furnace.  Then he’ll cut away insulation from the duct and line up a hole-cutting template off to the side of the duct.  He’ll drill out a hole in the duct and secure the humidifier’s steam wand to the duct with screws.

Next, he’ll attach a steam hose to the steam wand and then to the wall-mounted humidifier, securing the hose with cable ties.  Then a flexible drain hose will be connected to the steam wand and then on to your humidifier.  A copper drainpipe is usually run from the underside of humidifier to a sump pump or floor drain.  Then a copper tee fitting is cut and soldered into a neighboring cold-water pipe.  This new cold-water copper is run along the piping down to bottom the humidifier. An electrician can run the electrical cable to the humidifier and to room humidistat.  Don’t try this at home-let a trained professional handle it for the safety factor!  A tech will then turn on the water to humidifier and install an air-proving switch in the duct.  He’ll set the humidity range on the high-limit switch, and then finally set the humidistat to a comfortable level for you so humidity reaches the whole house. 

With allergy suffering at an all-time high, it’s nice to know that there is a natural way to improve your health and the air quality in your home.  Call the professionals at Air Now to speak with a qualified technician about adding a humidifier to your home.