Humidifier for older cast iron radiators (2025 Update)

pet wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.com:

Didn't have to look too far to find this...

What difference does it make what kind of heat you have? Air from outside, with low humidity, comes inside and is heated. Giving it a relative humidity lower than the Sahara Desert. Get a whole house humidifier, or individual room ones, and be done with it. We use an ultrasonic one in our bedroom, Wal-Mart at about $40. It calls for using distilled water or soft water. I collect rainwater, gets the job done nicely. During A/C weather, I use the condensate.

But they're having 'production problems'. And they tend to encourage mold growth if you don't take them out and wash them thoroughly on a regular basis, with a vinegar rinse thrown in.

"Michael Baugh" wrote in news:Tkwcd.177090 $ snipped-for-privacy@bignews3.bellsouth.net:

Would this not have always been a problem?

You missed the point. I know all about whole-house humidification. I am trying to help an older person find a replacement for what she already has. She has hot water heat and cast iron radiators. The humidifiers she presently has are beginning to leak.

I saw this before I posted in this newsgroup. The site says production problems which indicates that the supplier has problems producing the goods.

It's odd that only one site offers these units. I was hoping for more.

It matters not what humidification system one has, keeping the system clean is best for longevity of the system as well as health of building occupants.

And a lot of things have come along since then. Some of the things have been an improvement. Or glance at

Why would you want to add humidity during the cooling season? Isn't the air in summer humid enough already? ron charlottesville va

My mother just put a baking dish of water on top of some of the radiators, but those radiators had a flat top; some don't.

I'd be reluctant to use one of those Kilian units; my brother in law drinks and that thing looks too much like a urinal.

If you have old > Looking for a source selling metal humidifiers for older style cast iron

Reasonable question. The A/C works by removing moisture from the air. Moisture that was carrying heat. But if I remove a lot of moisture, my family becomes the humidity source, so my wife was waking up with dry eyes, scratchy throat, etc. Daughter had respiratory effects as well, with allergens being trapped in a more viscous nasal secretion. Humidifiers cut that out, and I suspect helped the A/C to do its job. Humidity went into the air, became a vapor carrying the BTU's, then gave it up at the A/C coil.

William A Killian Hardware has Stainless Steel Radiator Humidifier Pans I have gotten them from there and they work great.