House Humidifier Not Working Well/Maintenance

[vins0010]

So, we inherited an AprilAire 550 bypass humidifier hooked up to our furnace on a forced air heating system. It appears to work, in that the air definitely flows through it, water comes on when it needs to, water flows into water table, etc. So, as far as I can tell, it is working as designed. I replaced the water table last season. However, the thing still didn't seem to work that well; the air in our house was drier than we'd like despite setting the humidistat where we wanted it - and setting the humidistat higher doesn't seem to put more water in the air as much as it puts more water out the drain. Part of me suspects there is still something wrong with it; part of me suspects that that little water table in the 550 simply isn't up to humidifying our 2100 sq. foot house in a MN winter. Last winter, we augmented a bit by using a table top humidifier we ran in our bedroom at night. This winter, I want to do it a little better since we have a new baby and are keeping the house warmer anyway. I'd consider maintenance or updating the whole house humidifier (with a new humidifier) if this would, realistically, allow the whole house to be amply humidified. If not, I was thinking I'd just augment our current system with more tabletop humidifiers around the house as needed. Does anyone have experience with these types of humidifiers. Should this thing (or another whole house humidifier) realistically be able humidify my whole house when it is -10F?. Any other maintenance I can do to improve the humidifier's performance? Thanks.

 

[brihvac]

So, we inherited an AprilAire 550 bypass humidifier hooked up to our furnace on a forced air heating system. It appears to work, in that the air definitely flows through it, water comes on when it needs to, water flows into water table, etc. So, as far as I can tell, it is working as designed. I replaced the water table last season. However, the thing still didn't seem to work that well; the air in our house was drier than we'd like despite setting the humidistat where we wanted it - and setting the humidistat higher doesn't seem to put more water in the air as much as it puts more water out the drain. Part of me suspects there is still something wrong with it; part of me suspects that that little water table in the 550 simply isn't up to humidifying our 2100 sq. foot house in a MN winter. Last winter, we augmented a bit by using a table top humidifier we ran in our bedroom at night. This winter, I want to do it a little better since we have a new baby and are keeping the house warmer anyway. I'd consider maintenance or updating the whole house humidifier (with a new humidifier) if this would, realistically, allow the whole house to be amply humidified. If not, I was thinking I'd just augment our current system with more tabletop humidifiers around the house as needed. Does anyone have experience with these types of humidifiers. Should this thing (or another whole house humidifier) realistically be able humidify my whole house when it is -10F?. Any other maintenance I can do to improve the humidifier's performance? Thanks.

I put these in all the time doing side work, and have one in my own 2300 sq ft house. I have absolutely no issues. A few things. I assume what you are calling a "water table" is the replaceable water panel, that's inside after you pull the front cover? Are you sure there is water going through the humidifier? You can see it draining out the tube in the bottom? Is there a damper on the bypass duct that goes between the humidifier and supply duct? The newer 550's have a damper. Where is your humidistat located?

 

[mygarageone]

I put these in all the time doing side work, and have one in my own 2300 sq ft house. I have absolutely no issues. A few things. I assume what you are calling a "water table" is the replaceable water panel, that's inside after you pull the front cover? Are you sure there is water going through the humidifier? You can see it draining out the tube in the bottom? Is there a damper on the bypass duct that goes between the humidifier and supply duct? The newer 550's have a damper. Where is your humidistat located?

I/m with you , I have not had any issues with these units . maybe the humidistat is not working , there's something we are not aware of.

 

[vins0010]

Thanks for your response. Yes, the correction, I meant water panel and not table. The 550 appears to be working as far as I can tell. It looks like it is mounted on the cold air return duct before the air heads into the air filter and furnace. The humidistat is mounted above the humidifier on the cold air return, I think. If I turn it up (more humid), when the heater turns on, it does seem to open the valve and water will flow to the top of the bracket that holds the water panel, which is damp. If I turn it up though, it seems like the thing is always on whenever the heater is running. It is connected to the cold water supply (not hot). The bypass dampers are open (there are actually two...one on the 550 and one just upstream on the duct connected to the 550). I can feel the hot air coming through if I remove the cover and the heater is on. I suppose I could just crank the humidistat and see how that goes...and maybe get an independent humidistat to track the humidity in the house as the temperature goes down...and better track how much it is on when the heater is on. The current water panel has a season on it, so I could try replacing that as well. I'm still only going on my impression that the house felt too dry last year and a little bit on cold days (20s/30s) this year so far. Anything else to check?

 

[vins0010]

I think I'll also take some pictures to see if that helps...

 

[mygarageone]

Having lived in Mpls , I do know it gets very dry in the winter . By any chance does your house have any wood paneling or wood ceilings ? That is a big issue as is ***** up Hugh amounts of humidity , I have that problem with my home.

 

[brihvac]

My house thermostat does my humidity and everything. To be honest with you, without looking at what the humidity is on my thermostat, I do not notice a bit of difference in my house. I set it at 45% and it maintains it. I have turned it up, and it goes up on the thermostat, but it feels the same to me. I have a IAQ Honeywell Pro 8000 stat and you can set it up many ways. It sounds like yours only runs when the blower is on (probably tied into the heaters board). Mine runs through the thermostat and I can run the humidifier and my blower independent of the heat.

 

[Rockhead261]

I've installed hundreds of these units. They need to be perfectly level in order to evenly distribute water across the panel. Also, you should be using hot water.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

 

[danielzig]

Does your furnace run often? Maybe it is an issue where the fan just isn't running enough. Try turning the fan to the on position. Hopefully this activates the humidifier. I know my humidistat will cycle the fan on every hour for 3 minutes to check the humidity of the air. If the air needs humidifying, the fan and humidifier will run without the heat.

 

[vins0010]

So, I went home and took some pictures. I did check a few things that were suggested and I noticed...
1. It is level
2. Our house is a 20s Craftsman Bungalow, so we have a lot of woodwork....hardwood floors, cabinets, trim, molding, etc.
3. I turned it up to about 40% (it is currently 20F and 51% humidity in Mpls). When the heater comes on, the panel became saturated pretty quickly but the water just keeps running as long as it is on. Maybe it'll change in a few hours. However, at the moment, is is draining a good amount of water...a decent trickle.


It does seem to output a fair amount of water when on, from the nozzle. I'm not sure if this is normal. I'm starting to wonder if I simply didn't have it turned up high enough in the previous year. I guess I'll wait and see. At the same time, I'm wondering if there is a malfunction with the nozzle or orifice in that, while on, it is letting in so much water. Is it normal for it to drain so much?

thanks for your help and patience

 

[brewchief]

You will always have some water draining through, perfectly normal.
Hot water will give better results, we always install on the hot side unless a customer specifically requests otherwise.
That looks like one of the honeywell replacement pads the has a fabric feel to it, I've seen several of those fall apart and cause water damage to a finished basement, we only use genuine Aprilaire pads.

I recommend turning the humidistat up until you are getting condensation on your windows then turning it down until it just goes away, every house is different on how much humidity it can handle.

 

[vins0010]

I looked up the 550 specs...and the drain is draining about right (3gph)..which seems like a lot but Aprilaire says that is needed to keep down scale on the panel. Overall, I think the thing is working correctly. As I looked up the specs, though, it does look like my house might be pushing the capacity of the 550, which is 2100 feet for a house of average tightness (and presumably more average climate than MN). I'll monitor more closely this winter and see how it goes. The next step, I think, would be to hook it up to a hot water line to see if that could push out more moisture.

 

[starquestMM]

I probably need to switch my 600 to hot water also. Its struggling to maintain 40% in this 20deg weather.

A tip I have is to use a flashlight on the panel itself to see the wet areas. If an area doesnt have any shiny water on it, shim the panel or frame to help direct the water across the whole panel.