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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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