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Old 11-25-2012, 01:43 AM
silverdoctor silverdoctor is offline
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Default Static and humidity.

i'm confused over the humidity settings in my apartment. I have a climate master - I assume combo furnace, hot water on demand and humidifier.

The static shocks are starting to hurt like heck, touch any light switch and I can see the arc. The humidistat shows the lower the temp outside, the lower the humidity setting. but everything I read, the humidity should be higher as it gets cold and dry.

Whats the reality here, go buy a humidifier?



Last edited by silverdoctor; 11-25-2012 at 01:57 AM. Reason: pic added
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Old 11-25-2012, 01:57 AM
dewalt18 dewalt18 is offline
 
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turn the humidifier up, in slow increments, until you find the sweet spot. as it gets colder, watch your windows. when they start to condensate, you're to humid. if you are looking for a flow through type humid for your furnace, I strongly recommend a general aire 1042.
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Old 11-25-2012, 02:02 AM
silverdoctor silverdoctor is offline
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I don't own the place and can't modify anything. The humidifier is an americanaire unit. The humidistat is set to 40% as shown in the pic, no condensation.

Think i'm more curious to know why the humidistat suggests the lower the temp, the lower the percent humidity. I'll kick it to 45% to see what happens.
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Old 11-25-2012, 02:23 AM
dewalt18 dewalt18 is offline
 
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The percentage is based on "relative humidity". I won't go into details, but basically it's the amount, in percentage, of moisture that air can hold at a certain temperature before becoming saturated. Cold air, being more dense, can hold less moisture than less dense warm air can. that's why watching the windows is key. As the air hits the window (the biggest heat loss point in a house), it cools rapidly causing it to become saturated, thus condensation. Even though you may feel more comfortable at this higher humidity, it is wise to back the humid off a bit as condensation can cause considerable damage to windows, casings, and even framing around them, and can even promote mold growth.
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Old 11-25-2012, 03:50 AM
justsomeguy justsomeguy is offline
 
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Go to Canadian tire and get a humidistat to see real humidity. Then u may need a humidifier, but have to watch windows and condensation. We have plastic on all of outs, that tape on and hair dryer stuff.
You'll never get rid of the static, need to find balance between it, how dry air impacts your throat is the issue for us. Need humidity or sore throat all winter.
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Old 11-25-2012, 04:45 AM
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CaberTosser CaberTosser is offline
 
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Verify that the humidifier's water supply is open, and that its distribution media is indeed wet. Some humidifiers have rotating drums with water pans that fill from a float valve, others may use a solenoid valve to control water flow over a media pad. Some even have misting nozzles. Advice on setting the humidistat based on avoiding condensation on your windows is correct; keep it as high as passible and keep backing it down as dictated by your windows.
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Old 11-25-2012, 06:42 AM
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omega50 omega50 is offline
 
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Drink more tea- keep a kettle on more often pumping warm moisture into your abode.

Maybe your place has an electrical problem if you are getting zapped that badly.
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Old 11-25-2012, 08:32 AM
Back Country Hunter Back Country Hunter is offline
 
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Just a "non-technical" thought to help your shocking problem.........what do you wear for socks at home? When I wear my wool socks I have no shocking problems. I also have a couple of pairs of "winter" socks of unknown materials blend that will cause me to be shocked by my light switches. Wearing a heavy fleece vest in the house often causes me grief as well. Not saying that this will be the permanent solution to your problems but it may help a little.
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Old 11-25-2012, 08:40 AM
Trap30 Trap30 is offline
 
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Default coffee can

Keep a metal coffee can full of water on the heat register. Puts moisture back in to the air and cuts down on the static electricity.
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Old 11-25-2012, 10:18 AM
silverdoctor silverdoctor is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaberTosser View Post
Verify that the humidifier's water supply is open, and that its distribution media is indeed wet. Some humidifiers have rotating drums with water pans that fill from a float valve, others may use a solenoid valve to control water flow over a media pad. Some even have misting nozzles. Advice on setting the humidistat based on avoiding condensation on your windows is correct; keep it as high as passible and keep backing it down as dictated by your windows.
The thought that it's not working crossed my mind last night. Tried pulling the cover off just now, not budging and there's calcium deposits hitting the floor so chances are it's bunged up pretty good. i'll pull it later when i'm a little more awake.

I'm thinking just buy a floor model humidifier and be done with it. Can't use glasses on the registers here, it's all bulkhead across the ceiling and the air blows down.

Socks, just standard cotton. it wasn't a problem over the summer, but now that it's cold and dry
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Old 11-25-2012, 11:11 AM
silverdoctor silverdoctor is offline
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Ok, got the cover off, pretty cheesy system. Looks like gravity water feed through a vertical layers of mesh and big fan to push. Can't see any light through the metal mesh, it's full of calcium.

What's the best way to clean this? Soak it in CLR or something?
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Old 11-25-2012, 11:13 AM
justsomeguy justsomeguy is offline
 
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Yup, soak it in a bath of CLR, or just take it to a hardware store and get a new one, probably the same cost as a gallon of CLR
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Old 11-25-2012, 10:11 PM
silverdoctor silverdoctor is offline
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Well, that seemed to work well. Soaked the mesh, cleaned up the water dispenser and sensor, reassembled and i'm seeing water through the drain tube now.
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