Whole House Humidifier Tips | Jon Huss Custom Homes

Does your home have a whole-home humidifier? If so, here are some tips and information on setting your humidifier and how too much or too little humidity may affect your home.

Setting The Indoor Humidity |

If your home does have a whole-house humidifier, it will be attached to the furnace or HVAC system. For most homes, a comfortable relative humidity throughout the summer, spring, and fall seasons is around 30% and 50%. Having the humidity set at this level will allow your family to be comfortable in your home throughout most of the year.

With that being said, in the colder months, such as the winter season, you may need to re-adjust the humidity level when the temperature drops significantly. If you keep your home at 50% humidity, this may cause condensation that can damage your home’s window sills and walls. For example, when the temperature is between 0 and 10 degrees, having the humidity set at 20% will better serve your home and result in fewer chances of damages. Another example will be to set your humidity level to 25% if the outdoor temperature is 10 to 20 degrees.

You would have to track the outdoor temperature in those cases, which can be a bit of a bother. If you don’t want to do that, you can set your humidifier between 30% and 50%, then lower the humidity if you start to notice window concentration.

Too Much Humidity |

Unfortunately, too much humidity can cause a lot of damage to your beautiful home. When warm, moist air comes in contact with a dry surface, the water in the air condenses, which creates water droplets. Here are some ways you can determine excess humidity:

  • Frequent fogging of windows. The right relative humidity allows slight condensation along the lower edges of the windows.
  • Science Trick. Take a glass and drop some ice cubes in it. Wait 3 minutes and if moisture forms on the outisde of the glass, the air is too humid.
  • Moisture Buildup. Moisture buildup or mold on closet walls or room ceilings also indicate high humidity.

Cleaning your Whole House Humidifier |

  1. Turn off the device! Make sure it is unplugged to avoid any electric shock. Go ahead and disassemble the unit to start cleaning.
  2. Empty Water. once you have emptied the water reservoir, you can fill it to about 2/3rd level. Then add some chlorine bleach. (This will get rid of any microbes)
  3. Replace the water panel. This will need to be replaced annually. (Please read instruction manual for replacement.)
  4. Clean outer body. Lastly you will need to clean the outside of the humidifer. Dip a cloth in warm water or you can use diluted vineger.

Once you are finished cleaning, make sure to re-assemble your humidifier correctly!

We hope you found this information helpful on Whole House Humidifier. If you do not have one of these in your homes & are thinking of building, don’t hesitate to contact us to answer your questions! Click here for our contact information.