I need to do something about the dry air in my house. On the weekend I picked up a humidifier (Honeywell) and when I set it up I was appalled at how loud it is. I’m going to take it back, it’s just unbearable to have in the living room, even on the lowest fan setting.
Can anyone recommend a really quiet humidifier, big enough for aobut 850 sq. ft?
Thanks!
If you don’t like the sound of the fan, get a warm-air humidifier. These work by heating the water instead of blowing air by a wick. I recently got one at Home Depot; it was about $40-50, has a humidistat (that doesn’t work), and is about 2.5 gallons per day, which it says is enough for about 650 sq ft.
This is a topic that comes up on the pipers’ list from time to time, as dry mid-continent winter weather screws up chanter reeds like nothing else can.
Try using an acoustic (ultrasonic) cool mist humidifier. Sunbeam, Oster, and Walgreen’s are the brands I see most often here in the midwest. They are very quiet and can put out about 2.5 gallons a day.
They have the advantage of producing little or no heat if you run out of water.
[ This Message was edited by: Pat Cannady on 2003-01-13 16:35 ]
Your new digs a bit dry.
If I remember you bough your own home. If its forced air see about putting one on your boiler.
Er, what about the old pans or wet towels over the heaters* ? I mean, the old style evaporators ? Ok, it sounds all very Art Drecko in my description, but you can make it look good, too.
Low-tech Paul.
Or air vents, if its air-con for you…
Elk-songs Whistling Quite Ltd
[ This Message was edited by: Zubivka on 2003-01-13 17:40 ]
Zoob, it’s wood stove for me (if you even remember old-style things like that) and I simply can’t fit any more pots and pans on top of it but still I don’t get enough humidity in the air. Bummer.
At least I am not worried about my Overtons, like Pat is worried about his pipes…
You have to be careful with the humidity. I don’t kno what kind of dwelling you have, but in single family homes a weird thing happens when you have cold temperatures outside and high humidity inside. Many times, the fiberglass insulation in the walls settles and there is a small area all along the walls that is not insulated. That area starts to sweat and people think they have a leak around the parimeter of the house. so if you see water streaks on your walls, it could stand to be dryer
Bagfed, thanks for the tip. At this point I am just trying to get the humidy from less than 15% up to 30%, which is about the lowest comfort level for a dewlling. My wood furniture is cracking and warping, it’s so dry these days… 
Bloom, what dou you think I heat my house with ?
You do need evaporators.
Don’t they sell such in your hardware stores ?
They’re like plastic cabinets you hang to the heating (or sides of the mantlepiece) and there’s orta big rug-wick thing inside. The more you heat, the more they evaporate.
Now the trick is also having one of these big old-style fans hanging from the ceiling.
They help both heating and humidity dissipation, for an even atmosphre in a room.
For years, I used a vaporizer, typical of the ones found in pharmacies. When it died I bought a Holmes cool mist 4 gallon/day ‘loud assed’ monster humidifier and never liked it. I bought a Duracraft 2 gallon/day warm mist humidifier when Service Merchandise had a going out of business sale and only regret… having not bought several, as this thing is GREAT.
I did a search on places that sell them:
http://customer.honeywell.com/MapStoreLoc/lookupwithmodel.asp?model=DH-910
http://www.dmartstores.com/duracraft.html
Bloo, don’t waste any steamy stuff…we put a standard box fan in front of the bathroom and pull the steam out of there, in the worse of it, we pipe some of the air from the clothes drier in the basement.
Also, Brookstone sells some VERY quiet humidifiers.
The problem with many humidifiers is that they break up viruses and puts them into the air with the vapor. Go with an ultrasonic if you can.
Tyghress,
NEVER re-route the flex pipe from your clothes dryer so that some or all of the warm air stays in the house. Along with that warm air you’re also introducing free-floating lint into the air in your laundry room. I know it’s tempting to save that heat now that it’s cold out but I’ve been a professional firefighter for over twenty years and I can tell you that dryer lint is flammable and ALL electrical appliances give off sparks. Guess what’s going to happen sooner or later???
What about the chemical toxins that come from fabrics when heated excessively? tyghress, those fumes don’t bother you?
Interesting graphic there Zoob, looks like a Brooks saddle with some bar ends attached.
JB
On 2003-01-13 17:39, Zubivka wrote:
Elk-songs Whistling Quite Ltd
- All the answers to questions you didn’t ask. *
Thanks for the advice folks. We haven’t done this much, and your warnings will be taken under serious advisement.
Tony, no, I don’t fret heated fabrics. We haven’t done this often, and we have a filter over the end of the hose to keep the lint down (cleaned regularly).
On 2003-01-14 09:49, brownja wrote:
Interesting graphic there Zoob, looks like a Brooks saddle with some bar ends attached.
Glad you like the whistle stand I hung over my mantlepiece. Gives a castle flair to Zoob’s mansion 
And Bravo! You WIN… er, my hearty consideration ?
Yes, 'tis the original Brooks All-Terrain springed thing (you’d think it heavy for a downhill telefork nowadays 
) and bar-ends including Cannondale’s infamous “XYZ” longhorns!
When I’m tired of cycling, I love recycling…