Adding a humidifier to a furnace recomendations?

[Sylvanfan]

I am in the process of doing some home renovations and part of that renovation involves adding some hardwood flooring to my house to replace some carpet. I live in a two story house and have about 300 square feet on the lower floor of new hardwood and will be about 180 upstairs. I will have to add a humidifier onto my heating system to maintain a consistant humidity in the house to mimimize my expansion and contraction for the floor. Anyone have any experience doing this before and where the best places to go are? Should I go to a specialty heating ventilating contractor, or can you get a better price at the box stores. I think even calling someone like Direct Energy is also an option as they have services for this type of thing as well. Any advice would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

[shane_c]

When we put in our hardwood I went out and got a room humidifier since the room isn't that big and because I was under the assumption that my furnace didn't have one. But then one day I was down to turn the water off and saw a clear plastic line which I followed to the side of the furnace to a box that said humidifier. It was turned off so then I just turned it on and put the room humidifier away.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I am in the process of doing some home renovations and part of that renovation involves adding some hardwood flooring to my house to replace some carpet. I live in a two story house and have about 300 square feet on the lower floor of new hardwood and will be about 180 upstairs. I will have to add a humidifier onto my heating system to maintain a consistant humidity in the house to mimimize my expansion and contraction for the floor. Anyone have any experience doing this before and where the best places to go are? Should I go to a specialty heating ventilating contractor, or can you get a better price at the box stores. I think even calling someone like Direct Energy is also an option as they have services for this type of thing as well. Any advice would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.

I sell/distribute/specify hardwood floors for a living.

Beyond a good installation there is no factor more important than proper humidity in a home if you have hardwood. When you say "lower floor" I assume you are referring to the main floor (solid hardwood can't typically be installed below grade). Make sure you acclimate the wood beforehand by stacking the boxes inside your home for a minimum of 48 hours (the more time the better. Also have the humidifier on and running by this time or there is no point in acclimating the wood.) What kind of wood is it? Most domestic species(maple, oak, birch etc) are less stable than an exotic like brazillian cherry for example.

If you are handy then just go to a box store. Get a "flow through" humidifier as the old "drum" types are not nearly efficient enough for Calgary's dry winters. You should be able to install it yourself with a very basic set of tools. Remember, the key is not how high you have your humidistat on the wall set at. The key is to maintain, as well as you can, a constant level of humidity in the home. It is the drastic changes from 35% RH(relative humidity) to 15% and back up again that really hurts the floor. Find a percentage you can live with (if you see ice build up or heavy condensation on your windows in the winter you are probably to high on the humidistat) and keep it there.

This is a site I use often:http://www.woodfloorsonline.com/tech...oodwater6.html

[Titan]

We had a humidifier installed as my kid is very sensitive to dryness and we have found the general living conditions in our house much better. I guess my point is that it has benefits beyond the floor.

[psicodude]

I just installed a flow through humidifier that I bought from The Home Depot 3 weeks ago. It has a digital display on it that lets you see the current humidity level in the house as well as the desired level and how much water is currently being used. It was fairly simple to install and I have really noticed a difference.

Here is the link to the one I got: http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

I am sure that Sportsjunky can tell you if it's any good though.

[Hemi-Cuda]

going down to the Dominican for a week really opened my eyes to how bad Calgary is for dryness. i have never breathed easier in my life or had my skin feel so good as when i was down there, and stepping off the plane back in Calgary i could almost feel the moisture being sucked out of my body

anyone have any recommendations for standalone humidifiers that someone could use in a condo?

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, by low floor I mean the main floor. Thanks for the advice SJ, I'll head to one of those evil "Box stores" and take a look.

[Sylvanfan]

So by complete fluke I'm downstairs cleaning out the cats litter box and notice a box similar to the link psicodude posted. Turns out theres one of the 5000 units inside the house that the previous owner left behind. Looks like it was a replacement for a defective one. Anyways the packaging is all new and the video is there. I'll install this sucker and see if it works.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

So by complete fluke I'm downstairs cleaning out the cats litter box and notice a box similar to the link psicodude posted. Turns out theres one of the 5000 units inside the house that the previous owner left behind. Looks like it was a replacement for a defective one. Anyways the packaging is all new and the video is there. I'll install this sucker and see if it works.

Maybe you should pickup a lottery ticket before you install it.

[Inferno099]

I having my basement developed & adding engineered hardwood (about 900 sq ft). We already had the contractors place a superseal.ca drycore subfloor as well.

My question is that the HVAC subcontractor recommended an automated humidifer as my home will have close to 2,500 sq ft of hardwood along with some custom cabinetry being placed in the basement.

This steam humidistat being recommend though is over $1,900 - therefore I would like to know other people's opinions / insight.

http://www.generalaire.com/catalog/categories/653-Duct_Mount_Steam_Humidifiers/items/8551-Model_DS_35_Steam_Humidifier

Is something like thisreally a benefit or does the builder grade Honeywell that has the water line work ok?

Currently I've held off saying yes as I want to learn more before making any additional expenditure.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Inferno099

I having my basement developed & adding engineered hardwood (about 900 sq ft). We already had the contractors place a superseal.ca drycore subfloor as well.

My question is that the HVAC subcontractor recommended an automated humidifer as my home will have close to 2,500 sq ft of hardwood along with some custom cabinetry being placed in the basement.

This steam humidistat being recommend though is over $1,900 - therefore I would like to know other people's opinions / insight.

http://www.generalaire.com/catalog/categories/653-Duct_Mount_Steam_Humidifiers/items/8551-Model_DS_35_Steam_Humidifier

Is something like thisreally a benefit or does the builder grade Honeywell that has the water line work ok?

Currently I've held off saying yes as I want to learn more before making any additional expenditure.

Is it all engineered hardwood? I think engineered flooring is supposed to be really tolerant of humidity and moisture.

[Inferno099]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is it all engineered hardwood? I think engineered flooring is supposed to be really tolerant of humidity and moisture.

Just the basement will be engineered hardwood

The main is hardwood currently since we built the house 5 years ago.
And 2nd floor will have regular hardwood added.

I am just concerned as I see furnace duct humidifiers ranging from $150 through now this contractor recommended steam system for $1,900...
and it is a significant expenditure, but if something like that would be very beneficial - then it would be nice to get some feedback from others here at CP.

House currently always seems dry even when we turn humidity to 40% in the late spring & through early fall.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Inferno099

Just the basement will be engineered hardwood

The main is hardwood currently since we built the house 5 years ago.
And 2nd floor will have regular hardwood added.

I am just concerned as I see furnace duct humidifiers ranging from $150 through now this contractor recommended steam system for $1,900...
and it is a significant expenditure, but if something like that would be very beneficial - then it would be nice to get some feedback from others here at CP.

House currently always seems dry even when we turn humidity to 40% in the late spring & through early fall.

Hmm. Is there anything unique about the wood that would require such a high-end humidifer?

We had our entire main floor (except bathrooms and laundry room and kitchen) done in acacia, and we just have the cheap DIY humidifer that attaches to the furnace. I am skeptical about how well that really works, since our house is already humid from 30 or so tropical plants we have everywhere.

Just out of curiousity, who is doing your install? I was a bit disappointed in ours, as some gaps and sock catchers were apparent right away.

[Inferno099]

We are getting hardwood probably through Divine Hardwood (as same company when house was built)

But install I think will be done a person our contractor exclusively uses... I'll find out his company next week & send you a note.