Whole-Home Humidifier FAQ – Everything You Need To Know
There seems to be a lot of questions surrounding whole-home humidifiers. Like, do humidifiers really work? Even if you’ve installed one, there are still some unknowns Canadians need answers to. Whether you’re just curious or you own one yourself, here are some of the more popular questions about whole-home humidifiers.
How Many Types Of Humidifiers Are There?
Not your average portable humidifiers, a “Whole Home” humidifier’s responsibility is to add humidity throughout the entire home. Drum, flow-through and steam are the three main types of central humidifiers that Canadian’s trust.
Drum Humidifiers
A basic whole-home humidifier is powered by a motor and rotating belt. It works by rotating the belt through a small tray of water, the water then evaporates off the belt into the air and into your return air ducts where moisture-laden air is then distributed throughout your home. These humidifiers are extremely simple and not especially precise. Although it’s the cheapest humidifier out of the three, it does require frequent maintenance.
Flow-Through Humidifiers
Flow-through humidifiers utilize an evaporator pad to distribute moisture into your home. A stream of water continuously passes by the pad to ensure it’s always moist. Like the drum humidifier, the water is then evaporated into the return air duct and spread out into the home. An efficient humidifier that requires less maintenance.
Steam Humidifiers
The steam humidifier is the most precise and efficient humidifier out of the three. This electric-powered humidifier produces an electrical current that heats and evaporates the water. This creates moisture heavy air that is then sent throughout the home to balance indoor humidity. A more expensive product but requires little maintenance.
How Do You Know If You Need A Humidifier?
Low humidity can cause all sorts of trouble, both for your health and your home’s indoor air quality. At the core, low humidity is simply dry air, a lack of moisture and is most common in cold weather.
With dry air comes dry skin. If your wrists and scalp are always itchy and flaky during the winter, your home has low humidity.
Colds and sinus infections (and other health issues) aren’t only passed from snotty nose kids but from dry air as well. Running humidifiers will keep your throat and nasal passages moist – supporting your body’s natural protection against airborne infections.
Are your door’s stuck or floor’s creaky? This is probably due to the low humidity. The dry air in the room will shrink and warp everything wood, from your flooring to your furniture. If you want to check your home’s humidity levels before catching a cold or suffering itchy skin and static shocks you will need a hygrometer. A hygrometer is a tool created to measure the humidity levels in the room.
How Is Your Humidifier Controlled?
Every humidifier is equipped with a humidistat. The humidistat is usually installed in the same location (basement) as the whole-home humidifier. Similar to a thermostat, humidistats are connected to your forced air heating system to either manually or automatically adjust the humidity in your home.
What Is The Ideal Home Humidity Level?
The recommended humidity levels during the summer of 40-50% and the ideal humidity level in winter between 30 and 40%.
What Is Forced Air Heating?
Forced air heating and whole-home humidifiers work hand in hand, creating a very efficient heating and cooling system experience. Both help each other work better and efficiently. In a nutshell, forced air systems use a series of pipes (ducts) to pull cold, dusty or dirty air into the system and then push conditioned (heated, cooled, filtered, humidified) air throughout the home.
Forced air heating via natural gas is one of the most common ways to heat a home in Manitoba. As well as being an efficient way to heat your home, balance home humidity levels and improve your air quality, all in one system.
What Are Trusted Brands For Humidifiers?
Aprilaire and GeneralAire are very efficient and lead the way in defeating dry air during the winter. These brands ensure your home is adequately humidified and balanced. Both are properly designed to prevent mold from forming within the systems.
Humidify With GLT
If you need a Whole-Home humidifier installation or desire an upgrade, give GLT a call. We install quality brands of whole-home humidifiers and have acquired the knowledge to show you how to use and maintain them. If you’re ready, request a quote with us today!
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