Dehumidifiers

[walker1]

Wondering if anyone here has tried this as an option to lower house humidy. My house is just under 6 years old and I upgraded my windows to low E with Argon. Still have lots of ice and moisture inside the windows.

Exhaust fans run, blinds are up a few inches, etc., etc., dissconect the humidifier on my furnace.

When it is -30 maybe this is the best it gets???????

Anyone use the dehumidifier and see a difference?

 

Thanks

[timjorourke]

I find that as soon as I see any condensation building up on the windows I turn my humidifier control down to the appropriate level for the current ambient temp and the condensation disappears after a few cycles of the furnace. My house is 7 years old with similarly energy efficient windows. Did you shut the water off to your humidifier as well as the power? If that doesn't work then maybe your furnace cold air supply is not sufficient to introduce dry air from outside. Just some thoughts...

[nickt]

if you have hardwood you really do not want to use a dehumidifier it will split it apart like crazy. when webuild new houses and you do not have humidifier within 2 weeks you can see how much has changed. dehumidifies are good for the coast where it is very humid at all times but for cow town you do want o add a little to the mix. the trick is finding thesweet spot.

[dube]

You guys could bottle up all your humidity and ship it over here. My house is going on 60 and could not be more dry at this moment, I'm sure I could have a humidifier on each floor and still have clear windows.

[walker1]

I find that as soon as I see any condensation building up on the windows I turn my humidifier control down to the appropriate level for the current ambient temp and the condensation disappears after a few cycles of the furnace. My house is 7 years old with similarly energy efficient windows. Did you shut the water off to your humidifier as well as the power? If that doesn't work then maybe your furnace cold air supply is not sufficient to introduce dry air from outside. Just some thoughts...

 

 

Hi Tim

I did shut the water off and remove the tray, assembly, etc. I did not shut the power to the small motor as I turned the dial on the humistat to 0% and this should take care of that.

 

Although I am not sure, I feel the furnace does get enough fresh air for combustion. I put a Hoymey Damper on last year on the reccomendation from the buys who last cleaned my ducts and furnace. It opens when furnace fires. Good invention some of you may want to look at.

 

The hardwood is not an issuse as it is prefinished and has the natural lines between each piece. Only minimal movement around a few vent openings. The inside hunidity is probably around 50% which should be fine for the floor.

 

It is a 2 story and the main floor is not bad. More of an issue upstairs. 2-3 degrees colder I assume.

 

Playing the waiting game.

Thanks all who replied.

 

[walker1]

Where I had a few nightmarish issues with quality from our builder, I may take a piece of casing off one of the upstairs windows to ensure things are insulated well. You never know. It would illiminate one option.

[timjorourke]

Not sure what it could be then...I like the sound of that Hoyme Damper. It tends to get a little colder in my basement because the furnace room is not insulated...could be the thing. How much did it cost you to put in the damper?

[Ricinus]

If you're running 50% humidity in these temps, it's way too high. The link below has some guidelines

 

 

http://www.blueflame.org/datasheets/humidity.html

[walker1]

If you're running 50% humidity in these temps, it's way too high. The link below has some guidelines

 

 

http://www.blueflame.org/datasheets/humidity.html

I realize 50% is to high and this is something I already stated. It looks to me that with a family of 4 ( 2 little fishermen) and cooking, laundry, etc., we are putting a lot of vapour in the house.

Much better the past 24 hours as it is only -12. NICE WEATHER!!!!!!

[walker1]

Not sure what it could be then...I like the sound of that Hoyme Damper. It tends to get a little colder in my basement because the furnace room is not insulated...could be the thing. How much did it cost you to put in the damper?

I

 

The damper seems like a can't miss! On most furnaces, there is the BUCKET where the fresh air intake is supplied for the furnace. Put your hand there or better yet check out the ice on it when it is 20 below. Drafty and cold!!!!

 

The Hoyme replaces the bucket and only allows air in when the furnace calls to fire up.

I bought mine at Wolsey ( sp.) for around 200 bucks. Installed myself in a half hour. You need to wire it into your thermostat.

 

Very basic. Google or PM for more info.

[Weedy1]

Walker - a few questions and suggestions.

 

One, how are you measuring your humidity? With what kind of instrument?

 

Two, is your exhaust fan for your range hood vented to outside or does it recirculate the air back into the kitchen?

 

Three, when you turn on an exhaust fan in your home does your furnace start? The exhaust fans should be interlocked with the furnace in order to have the furnace draw in air from the outside when the exhaust fan(s) are removing air from the home. I'm not in the residential business but I think this may be a code requirement that came in in the last 10 years or so..

 

Four, have you checked your dryer venting to ensure there are no restrictions? (A blocked dryer vent will cause the humidity to go up fast.)

 

Five, check your soffits to ensure they are not covered over with blown in insulation. Make sure the temperature in the attic is about the same as outside.

 

Six, do you have a heat exchanger for your fresh air into the furnace or is it ducted directly into the return air plenum? If ducted into the return air plenum check to ensure the damper for the outside air isn't blocked or shut off.

 

Seven, is the pressure in your home negative or positive with respect to outside when running the exhaust fans, dryer, etc? It should be neutral to prevent backdrafting of the furnace flue gases when the furnace is running.

[walker1]

Hi Weedy

 

Some good points indeed. Thanks.

The humidity # I quote is based on the click I get on my humistat control. Only accurate within 5%. Might have to look at a measuring device.

Will look in attic tommorow for insulation blocking soffit.

My furnace does not turn on when any exhaust fan is running.

Vents should be good but, will revisit.

My fresh air supply for furnace is ducted to a controled hoyme damper. No heat exchanger.

 

Thanks

[Weedy1]

The humidity # I quote is based on the click I get on my humistat control. Only accurate within 5%. Might have to look at a measuring device.

The click on your humidistat may be accurate to within 1/2 a percent or accurate to within 90%. They are typically cheap devices that are out of calibration drastically. Try checking it with a half decent humidity probe or take it out of the duct and measure it against a known humidity. You may have received a crappy one to when the unit was installed.

 

My furnace does not turn on when any exhaust fan is running.

You should check with your building codes department about this.

 

 

My fresh air supply for furnace is ducted to a controled hoyme damper. No heat exchanger.

 

You should have two ducts coming in from outside. One for your combustion air (the Hoyme damper duct) and another duct that is connected to the return air plenum of your furnace. I was asking about the one that is connected to the return air plenum of your furnace. What should happen is that when your furnace starts the fan will draw air from both the return air grilles inside the home as well as from the duct that is connected to outside. The air from outside serves as a source of "makeup air" for all of the air that is exhausted out of your house by the exhaust fans.

 

[walker1]

The click on your humidistat may be accurate to within 1/2 a percent or accurate to within 90%. They are typically cheap devices that are out of calibration drastically. Try checking it with a half decent humidity probe or take it out of the duct and measure it against a known humidity. You may have received a crappy one to when the unit was installed.

 

 

You should check with your building codes department about this.

 

 

 

 

You should have two ducts coming in from outside. One for your combustion air (the Hoyme damper duct) and another duct that is connected to the return air plenum of your furnace. I was asking about the one that is connected to the return air plenum of your furnace. What should happen is that when your furnace starts the fan will draw air from both the return air grilles inside the home as well as from the duct that is connected to outside. The air from outside serves as a source of "makeup air" for all of the air that is exhausted out of your house by the exhaust fans.

 

weedy

Could you pm an email address and I will snap a few pics to show you the furnace room.

Thanks

Rob