Heat and humidity

[bnew]

I want to know who burns wood and adds humidity(and how) to the air. Its been pretty cold here lately and its 73.7 in the house and it still feels cold.Could this be lack of humidity in the air?I have an outdoor boiler that has a seperate enclosure in the crawl space to heat the house seperate from the furnace.

 

[scalo]

I heat the house with VC Resolute Acclaim and add humidity to the house using a 7 gallon humidifier.

 

[mga]

i use a converted fireplace and my humidity level is...right now....(just looked)....25%.

since i removed all the carpeting in the house, humidity isn't a problem any more.

 

[Sprig]

If I'm not mistaken ideal relative humidity (no, not yer sweaty cousin ) is around 45-50% for a healthy house, that means you're not drying out and you're not growing mould in the corners either. My place is small, I keep an old breadpan full of warm water on the woodstove, A big pot of soup or stew if the powers out, if its really cold out and I have to crank up the fire I'll hang some wet laundry by the fire (generally not a problem with a kid and snow/muck outside ), big thick towels work very well for overnight, even leaving the bathtub water in for a while (that can be kinda gross though, especially if the otters take a swim in it). I notice pretty quick if it gets too dry in here, its like a dustmite festival, I am not beyond splashing a cup or two of hot water on the stove-top in rather primitive fashion for instant extra humidity. Home humidifiers are cheap and do their job, fancy ones will monitor levels but so will a barometer. I hated the one my dad used in the 70's, noisy and he always added that weird smelling green devil juice to the water 'for the fresh smell' guck, bletch, smelled like the subway washrooms in TO., yuck. At one point we had a humidifier system hooked into the furnace (oil I think) and have fond memories of my pop pulling out sheets of rusted out guts of furnace and inventing a few choice words doing so while the furnace guy rubbed his hands together.
My 0.02$ fer the fairly gloomy afternoon (warm though)



Serge

 

[wdchuck]

We use a humidifier, 3gals every 12hrs, on a low fan setting, to maintain 42% humidity. We could stand to have it higher, but the fan gets annoyingly loud, 50% is more comfortable, but the bloody noses, itchy skin, and that cool feeling, and other dry air maladies are gone.

The creaks and groans from the house aren't as bad either with the humidity higher.

 

[Ford's Lawncare]

don't laugh but we put 2 teapots full of water on the woodstove. Been doing ever since I've been alive so I guess I wouln't know the difference from anything else.

 

[Locoweed]

I have a steamer on the wood stove and a humidifier. I like to maintain 35-40% humidity for comfort.

 

[Mad Professor]

I have a rack that houses a 3 week supply of wood inside (nice not to have to go outside). When I fill it the last bits of moisture are drawn out of the wood and this really helps for 4-5 days. I also have a large pan full of water I picked up at a tag sale on the wood stove.

I have not used my backup heat yet this fall ( oil/forced hot air) and the season has been quite cold so far (expecting below 0 oF tonight). I'm averaging 35-40% humidity.

 

[bnew]

Right now I have a small (about 1 gallon) steamer for like colds. But I have hard water and it plugs up every 2 days. Cleaning with CLR every couple of days is a pain and expensive.Can Anyone recomend a bigger humidifyer that works well with hard water.

 

[sredlin]

Tractor supply sells a cast iron 1/2 gallon container that you put on top of your woodstove that helps put some water in the air---I have 2 on my Jotul F3 and fill them at least once a day

 

[GSP]

I have the opposite of not enough humidity.I installed an air exchanger and it makes a major difference but I still have moisture problems.the moisture on the windows leads to mold in the corners.Sometimes I have to shut the air exchanger off because the smoke from my stove blows down the roof to the intake vent if the wind is a certain way. I wish I had lack of moisture like some of you guys.

 

[goof008]

I have a cast iron tea kettle I picked up at the fireplace store. I think it's a 2 quart. The wife just ordered a new porcelain coated one that is a 4 quart from LL Bean. It's 59 bucks and free shipping. I think the two will do the trick. I would only suggest getting the coated one, the cast iron kettle looks like it's been around 50 years or so, and I bought it last winter!
Try to keep the house between 30-40% humidity. I'll run my shower on hot for a few minutes and run the furnace blower to add moisture when I need to. I just don't like a dry house.

 

[bnew]

oops! I forgot to mention I have an outdoor boiler and it pulls the air to be heated straight from outdoors.

 

[bigshow]

How about the old fashioned method of clothes drying.I wash and hang my work clothes in the basement to dry.Saves on electricity in the dryer too!

 

[chowdozer]

How about the old fashioned method of clothes drying.I wash and hang my work clothes in the basement to dry.Saves on electricity in the dryer too!

That's what I do. Saves wear and tear on your clothes too.

 

[bnew]

How do you check the % of humidity in the house?

 

[smokechase II]

Relative

Relative humidity is one of four ways to measure humidity.

It does not indicate how much moisture is in the air.

It shows the moisture in a given air mass as a percentage of what that air mass could hold.

Warm air can hold significantly more water than cold air.

******************

So the 35-45 RH figures for comfort listed here are for the temps in your home. 68-72 degree range.

******************

A teapot on the woodstove makes a lot of sense.

More moisture in the air at "room" temperature and above generally makes it feel warmer. This is because sweating is not an effective cooling mechanism when the air is closer to saturation.

 

[mga]

How do you check the % of humidity in the house?

i use a digital lab quality temperature/humidity display. it's rather elaborate, but it was free....lol

 

[wdchuck]

bnew:

How do you check the % of humidity in the house?

After getting the humidifier, went off to the aisle with thermometers and such, $5 for humidity/temperature gauge that sits on a shelf, opposite end of the room from the humidifier, and works well enough for the purpose.

 

[grandpatractor]

How do you check the % of humidity in the house?

We have one of those digital thermometers that gives inside, outside, humidity, barametric and time. Got it at Farm&Fleet I think.
I have an OWB and use a humidifier in the house. I try to keep the humidiy around 35-40%.