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    Default Whole house humidifier recommendation

    I am looking to replace my old-school aluminum box humidifier. Did some research and most websites recommend two types of whole house humidifier, by-pass or steam.

    All the ones available at Home Depot are made by Honeywell and they received very sub-par review. It seems like that's the only brand Home Depot carry. In fact, even the King Air and Lennox brand from other stores (eg Rona and Lowes) received sub-par reviews.

    What are people using in their home (if you have one). What type and what are the pros and cons of your unit?

    BTW, this is for a 1500 sq. ft. home.

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    I switched from the Wait 5000 (those are fine, but the pad gets a lot of build-up, had a valve fail and parts are price) to a Desert Spring.
    Can't really tell you if it works any better, but it's easier to maintain.
    Hmm Canadian Tire has 'em $50 off, says clearance, wonder if they're dropping the line.

    http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/de...3101p.html#srp

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    Have heard good things about desert spring.

    Steam is a good way to pump a lot of moisture into the system, but not sure how much energy they use, and how they handle Calgary hard water.
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    I have a basic honeywell one but it gets softened water to reduce the buildup. You can hit the diffuser with some clr every few months to extend its life pretty easily.
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    Sounds like from a cost efficiency stand point, the basic rotary disc type is the way to go.

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    I have a cheapo drum type, works waay better in terms of adding humidity to a large house than a single waffle pad.

    Was a life (nasal) saver this past winter ..... however it does need annual maintenance in terms of pan cleaning and the drum pad, either mid season or post winter..... whereas a pad you just toss.

    The Desert Spring is the optimal solution but with the autoflush system it does approach north of 350$

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    I used to have a basic drum one, now have a passthrough, not the most efficient thing, but not like you are going to notice 25c worth of water on your bill.



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    ^ so thats just a water soaked pad that air has to flow through ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by revelations View Post
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    ^ so thats just a water soaked pad that air has to flow through ?
    Metal mesh pad, I have that one.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ExtraSlow View Post
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    Metal mesh pad, I have that one.
    Yea those dont work really well in bigger homes.....

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    Quote Originally Posted by revelations View Post
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    Yea those dont work really well in bigger homes.....
    No they do not.
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    Works well enough in mine, too well even, I'm at 1600 square feet.

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    +3 for the Desert Spring. Works way better then our GerenalAir unit.

    Quote Originally Posted by revelations View Post
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    The Desert Spring is the optimal solution but with the autoflush system it does approach north of 350$
    You can get it with the autoflush from Amre Supply for $323.


    Quote Originally Posted by eblend View Post
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    I used to have a basic drum one, now have a passthrough, not the most efficient thing, but not like you are going to notice 25c worth of water on your bill.
    Our GerenalAir "mesh" would clog really fast and the solenoid finally clogged on ours (no water softener).
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    ^ yea if we decide to stay here past 2020, I would invest in that for sure.

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    Humidifier discusison update! Seriously considering Desert Spring. Have the Generalaire pictured above currently. Have 2/4 people in my household with respiratory issues that would be greatly reduced with higher humidity.

    How tough is the install? I'm handy-ish, but want to know if there's tips or pitfalls.
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    How is the GeneralAire not keeping up? I can jack mine up to insane humidity levels in winter if I want. 2000 sq ft house.

    Is it installed on the proper side?

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    Quote Originally Posted by suntan View Post
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    How is the GeneralAire not keeping up? I can jack mine up to insane humidity levels in winter if I want. 2000 sq ft house.

    Is it installed on the proper side?
    Interesting question, how is it SUPPOSED to be installed? I always assumed it was, but hey, I'm willing to investigate.
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    I have a similar metal pad style and it seems to work ok. I’ve got it linked up to my ecobee and keep it set at 40%. I would really like to go 55% but want to avoid mold and also frost issues when it starts to get super cold. Nice thing is that ecobee has this setting called “frost control” where it will temporarily turn off the humidifier when it hits a certain outdoor temp (I think -18 or something)

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    I guess I did discover this summer that the Furncae was drawing WAAAAY too much fresh air into the house when it was running, so I have that damped down to much less and that should help with humidity too.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ExtraSlow View Post
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    Interesting question, how is it SUPPOSED to be installed? I always assumed it was, but hey, I'm willing to investigate.
    Check out the manual:

    https://www.cgfproducts.com/fck_uplo...%20REV%20B.pdf

    The unit is supposed to be installed onto the return air plenum. The illustration is preferred even though it says it doesn't matter, as our air is so dry that the temperature differential matters (source: every furnace guy that looks at my furnace and shakes their head).

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