Whole Home Humidifiers in Smithville, ON — What to Set It To, and When to Turn It Down

A whole home humidifier in Smithville is a box fitted to your furnace, not a jug you fill in the bedroom. It adds moisture to the air the furnace is already moving through the house. Set too high, it becomes a problem of its own.

Why a Smithville House Goes Dry Between November and March

Cold outdoor air carries almost no water, and heating it does not add any. Warm air can hold far more water than cold air can, so the same air warmed to room temperature is drier than it was outside. Relative humidity is how much water the air holds against the most it could hold at that temperature.

The numbers are worse than people expect. Outside air at −30°C, holding all the water it possibly can, sits under 2 percent relative humidity once it is heated to 20°C indoors. (5) Nothing has to be leaking for the air to get that dry.

The range Health Canada gives for a home is 30 to 50 percent, and it notes that low humidity may aggravate skin allergies and cause respiratory infections. (1) In winter, aim near the bottom of it, around 30 percent. (2)

Floors and trim are the other reason people call, and the honest version is not the one usually sold. The Canadian Conservation Institute’s damage table is built on the size of the swing in relative humidity, not on dryness alone. (3) A house at 20 percent all winter and 55 percent all summer is harder on a wood floor than one held steady.

How We Fit a Whole Home Humidifier to Your Furnace

Yes, one can go onto a furnace you already have, and most of these installations are exactly that. The unit is a box on the furnace or the ductwork beside it, with a small water line and a humidistat, the control that reads the humidity and switches the unit on.

Two kinds get fitted around here. One runs water down a panel while the blower pushes air through it, so the air picks up moisture on its way past. The other boils water and injects steam into the duct.

Room is what decides it in an older Smithville house. The unit needs a spot on the ductwork, and a bypass duct has to run between the supply and the return. Mike Peddle holds a TSSA Heating Contractor registration, which is what opening a furnace cabinet calls for.

Setting It Too High Costs You More Than Setting It Too Low

The federal moisture guide says to run a dehumidifier and cut the moisture if water is condensing on cold surfaces such as window panes, or if the humidity is above 50 percent. (4) Its checklist for clearing a moisture problem says to unplug and remove humidifiers. (4)

That gives you a test needing no meter. Water on the inside of your windows on a cold morning means turn it down. The glass is the coldest surface in the room, so it is where water leaves the air first.

It also answers whether to run one in summer. No. Summer air here arrives with plenty of moisture already, and the same 50 percent line applies all year. Older windows in a Beamsville house show it sooner, because single glazing runs colder.

Keeping a Humidifier Working Through a Smithville Winter

The water panel is a wear part. It comes out at the end of the season coated with minerals from the water, and a furred-over panel stops passing air long before it looks finished.

Standing water is the part worth taking seriously. Bacteria collect and multiply in the sitting water of a cool-mist humidifier, Health Canada warns, which does not boil the water and so does not kill them. (2) Running one without cleaning it can cause breathing problems for someone with asthma or severe allergies. (2)

That warning is written about portable units, and the principle travels: any humidifier holding water needs the water dealt with rather than left. Shut the water off at the end of the season so nothing sits in it over the summer.

What Affects Whole Home Humidifier Cost in Smithville

Five things about the job move the quote:

• which type goes in, since a panel unit and a steam unit are different installations
• where the unit and its bypass duct can sit in the ductwork you already have
• whether a water line has to be run to reach the furnace
• the water panel, which is a yearly cost rather than an installation one
• how far the property sits from the office, out toward Caledonia and West Lincoln

The water line surprises people. A furnace beside the laundry is a short run; one at the far end of the basement is not.

Whole Home Humidifier Questions From Smithville Homeowners

Can you put a whole home humidifier on a furnace I already have?

Yes, in most cases. What decides it is whether there is room around the furnace for the unit and its bypass duct, and whether a water line can reach it.

What should I set the humidity to in a Smithville winter?

Near 30 percent. Health Canada gives 30 to 50 percent for a home, and winter sits at the bottom of it. (1)(2)

Can I install a whole home humidifier myself?

It mounts on your furnace and the ductwork around it, which is why this is not a homeowner job. Mike Peddle holds a TSSA Heating Contractor registration.

Do I still need a whole home humidifier if I run a portable one in the bedroom?

A portable treats one room, and a furnace unit treats the air going everywhere. There is also a warning about bacteria in the sitting water of a cool-mist portable, so it is not the low-maintenance option it looks like. (2)

Should the humidifier run in summer?

No. Health Canada’s moisture guide says to cut moisture once the humidity is above 50 percent or water is condensing on window panes, and a Smithville summer gets there without help. (4)

Book a Whole Home Humidifier Visit in Smithville

Call the office with the make of the furnace, where it sits, and how far the nearest water line is. Environmental Heating & Cooling has been family-owned in Smithville since 2014, and we cover Grimsby, Beamsville, Caledonia and West Lincoln as well.

If you are still working out what the house actually needs, the category page sets out which air quality work makes a real difference.

References

1. Health Canada, Healthy Home Guide, canada.ca
2. Health Canada, Cool-mist humidifiers, canada.ca
3. Canadian Conservation Institute, Agent of deterioration: incorrect relative humidity, canada.ca
4. Health Canada, Guide to addressing moisture and mould indoors, canada.ca
5. National Research Council Canada, Moisture Problems in Houses, Canadian Building Digest CBD-231, nrc-publications.canada.ca