AprilAire Humidifier?

[Bubba]

Obviously another idiot that hasnt tested a thing on his own. Bite me and read my other post. Bubba

[Bubba]

and hit the pad with an infrared thermometer in several spots. Now switch it to the cold water line in the same scenario and look at your temperatures. Feel the "hot" water as it comes out of the drain. "Gee mom, it aint hot no mo." Bubba

[Bubba]

I would guess because you believed some crap you saw and hooked it up that way. If someone told you that if you took a dive head first into an empty pool because it would make you healthy and rich would you do it?

And Im telling you that hooking it up to the hot water line will give you little to no added humidity unless you do something ridiculous like turning the water heater way up and removing the restrictor orifice so it literally pours water through that pad like a flood. A central air cleaning system has nothing to do with humidity or how a humidifier works. You really dont pay attention, do you? Try my temp test if you dont believe it. Bubba

[Rick Brandt]

One of the ways water releases its heat is to evaporate (the goal here no?). The fact that the water that didn't evaporate has cooled down by the time it comes out the drain is not relevant.

Why would you think that simply passing through an orifice will cool the water? It will to the extent that some of the heat is transferred to the orifice body, but that will be negligible after the first ounce or so.

[trader4]

Let's see, on one side there are about 6 of us, many who have actual units, plus Aprilaire the manufacturer. On the opposing side, there is hmmm, just Bubba, with his opinions, grounded in what?

Who thinks that because the water exiting the humidifier is luke warm means that using hot water doesn;t result in more evaporation. Here's a clue: Evaporation causes cooling. So, while the water exiting when you use hot water may be close in temp to the temp when using cold water, that says nothing about how much water was evaporated. And as anyone with any grounding in science knows, (that excludes u bubba), more water will evaporate when u use hot water, rather than cold.

It's the most basic science. As someone asked, what planet do u live on bubba, where cold water evaporates as fast as 130 deg water?

[Smarty]

Bubba,

The outcome of my "test" was entirely what Aprilaire and all other well-informed sources predicted: a significant increase in humidity once I switched my Aprilaire over to a hot water supply. I don't know how your method of infrared temperature measurements was developed, but it obviously has led you to some very false conclusions.

I'm sure it is no coincidence that vaporizers and other medical humdifiers work by heating water also.

Your theory that Aprilaire encourages this practice of using hot water so as to sell more humdifiers is also about the least logical idea I have heard in years.....

Smarty

[nicksanspam]

Compressible water? :-)

A small water flow over a large area might quickly reach the air temp, regardless of the initial water temp.

Nick

[jmeehan]

Maybe because we actually went to physics classes and know your theory is all wet.

[Bubba]

You?........hardly. Bubba

[trader4]

We have read your posts, which hurl insults instead of answering simple questions. We're still waiting for an answer to the simple question of what universe you live in where hot water does not evaporate at a faster rate than cold water? And why is it if hot and cold water evaporate just as easily that clothes dryers HEAT the clothes instead of just tumbling them and passing air over them?

Your lack of grounding in science leads you to erroneous conclusions. Like thinking that the fact that the water leaving the humidifier is not hot supports your case. It does not. Evaporation causes the water to cool. Starting with hot water, MORE water will evaporate and the water leaving after it's journey across the media pad can still be at about the same temp as it would if cold water was used, yet more humidity is going into the air.

This is elementary school science. And the notion that Aprilaire has some reason to lie about this is particularly funny. Let's see, they can be lying when they recommend hot water to increase capacity and sell a customer a unit that is too small which they will not be happy with, have help line calls, returns, etc. Or if it were true that hot water doesn't increase the capacity, they could just say that and sell a bigger, more expensive unit and have a satisfied customer. Does lying about this sound like a good business practice to you?

[Bubba]

Your EE gets you squat with this one. Very simple. Try what I said. How hard is it to take some measurements and strap on another cheap saddle valve to switch from hot to cold? Stop flapping your lips and try the experiment. Oh wait, thats right. It was on the internet so it has to be true. Bubba

[nicksanspam]

IIRC, you said the water leaving the humidifier was always cold, whether it started out hot or cold. That seems odd... With lots of extra water flow to avoid mineral buildup, you'd think the hot water would come out hotter. With less flow, you'd think both would come out close to the furnace air temp.

Nick

[Boden]

There is so much evaporative cooling that the water that is wasted does come out cool. Next time I'm in my basement I'll measure the temperature.

Boden

[dj.nolan]

This is a great topic and I side with the hot water crowd. The next argument I want to start relates to the bypass mechanism. If I put in a bypass humidifere with a 6-inch bypass and I have a two-ton furnace with a 20x14 filter, I am wasting about 10% of my air flow (check my math) thru the humidifier, instead of going thru the heater coil.

Anyway I cant wait to see my heat bills. The humidifere with hot water tap fogs my windows! But do I even need humidification if I have a tight house? I shut down the humidistat for a week and the humidity dropped fairly slowly. Well I have bought the humidifier so i guess I am stuck with it! Cheers!

[ransley]

My unit is after the furnace, You are too humid if windows fog, then it drips, then mold, then wood rot, then skin disease, then your hair falls out. Yours is not the auto adjust unit I see.

[Stormin Mormon]

Furnaces aren't measured in tons! They are measured in BTU per hour! You have your humidistat set too high! Turn it down! As air leaks through your house, the humidity will come down! You're not stuck with it! You can take it out! Abuse of exclaimation points can be treated! Find a self help group! You need to get through the denial, and realize your're an exclaimation point junkie! It's a stimulant like caffeine or nicotine! Your life is worth it! Get help!

[Nate Nagel]

yes, this. I have hygrometers at various places around the house (cheap ones intended for use in humidors, but I did calibrate them) and with the humidistat controlling my humidifier set to keep humidity roughly in the 45-55% RH range, I have no condensation on any of my windows, and they're 1980's Andersen units (that is, not the most leak-proof... way better than the old single pane units the house likely came with, but certainly not as good as new ones could be) I consider that $20 or so well spent, now I'm certain that I'm not damaging anything or spending too much money on gas heating excess water in the air.

nate

[ransley]

de quoted text -

Right you are not damaging stuff, OP is condensing on glass you are not, but at -10 -15f your humidity of 50% will condense, I also have andersons and calibrated humidistats

[trader4]

I don;t know about the specifics of the calculation, but you are right about the principle. Bypass models short circuit some of the air flow. Also, the path through the duct presents additional heat loss, which in an unfinished basement or attic, is a waste. And then if you or some homeowner who isn't on the ball doesn't close the path off in the summer, you are also short circuiting cooling air in the summer. Finally, a fan powered unit can be easier to install.

For all those reasons, I chose the Aprilaire 760 which uses a small fan instead of the bypass duct. There are others who favor the bypass model. One reason I've heard is that with the unit sitting on the hot side of the funace, if any water should leak, it's more likely to make it's way to furnace electronics. Not sure if that really happens or applies to all models of furnace, etc.

You should not have fogging of windows, whether you use hot water or cold. That is too much humidity. If it's condensing there, it is also condensing in other places, like around recessed lights that are in ceilings that have unheated attic above, etc. That can lead to long term damage, or even immediate damage from water staining paint, etc. The humidistat needs to be adjusted to get below the point of window condensation and keep it below 50% max. It's much better to err on the side of too little. If you get to just the point where you no longer have static shocks, that's a good indication of a safe level. You can probably go higher, but be carefull.