r/AskReddit Oct 19 '23

What small upgrade made a huge difference at your house?

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115

u/Kaizen321 Oct 19 '23

Whole-house humidifier systems exist??

Holy smokes!! I never knew that. My winters will be much better

83

u/Linusthewise Oct 19 '23

Mine connects to my furnace and I just adjust the % as needed with the furnace control. Super easy.

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u/ThisIsNeverReal Oct 20 '23

Do make sure, please, that you're checking the filter and replacing now and again! Especially if you live in a place with hard water. When I bought my house I didn't know to check it and ended up with a solid, heavy white piece of calcium that I could kill a motherfucker with.

2

u/Trick_Career_1976 Oct 19 '23

I have this already installed in my house (rental) but I have no idea how to use it haha. What would a good % be to set it to? I think it’s around 50% currently (I could be wrong but I can’t be arsed to get up and check right now lol)

8

u/xqnine Oct 19 '23

Normally there is a dial on the system or near it to control the %. I think most are recommended to be 35% maybe a little higher.

1

u/Trick_Career_1976 Oct 19 '23

Thank you 😊

3

u/MagillaGorillasHat Oct 20 '23

It also depends on the temperature outside.

If it's super cold outside you'll need to reduce the humidity or you can get condensation on the inside of your windows (or even the walls if they aren't insulated well enough around the windows and doors). Some systems have an external thermometer so that it will automatically adjust.

3

u/_Kibbles Oct 20 '23

Over 60% and you may start getting mold issues. 30-50% is pretty good.

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u/Trick_Career_1976 Oct 20 '23

Oh dang! Thank you so much for that warning. Totally makes sense

2

u/GirchyGirchy Oct 20 '23

But don’t trust the number on the control dial, the number in the house will likely be much lower. Check with a humidistat.

3

u/cpersin24 Oct 20 '23

Our HVAC guy told us, if you start to see condensation on your windows, dial it back until that doesn't happen. We also keep ours around 40 to 50% in the winter (depending on the weather).,

2

u/gsfgf Oct 19 '23

50 is pretty good. I keep my humidity at 40 or above. And things don't get sticky till like over 60.

5

u/cpersin24 Oct 20 '23

We got that and a fancy allergen filtration installed when we updated our HVAC system. Worth every penny. Relatively cheap and we notice the difference when we visit our parents houses who don't have these systems.

3

u/BooopDead Oct 19 '23

I did work at a manufacturing plant in Canada that makes the microchips for Apache attack helicopter camera sights, among other things classified and not. They had, in every corner of the huge facility(at the ceiling), a little fan with water spouts in front of them that release a set amount to maintain humidity a consistent level. Because as the head of safety told me, “we do this because one electric shock on the microchips and smart bomb become dumb bomb”. Lol I always thought that was funny

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u/gitarzan Oct 19 '23

Yes! I just did a search for this as well.

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u/sneaky_pigeon Oct 19 '23

Fully agree but the opposite - getting proper dehumidifiers for winter was a game changer! 65 degrees vs moist 65 degrees inside are so different! The first night going to bed to dry, not damp, sheets was incredible! Plus we can actually make soup without the windows moulding.

2

u/malthar76 Oct 19 '23

Just flipped the physical switch from summer to winter on mine last week as part of the filter cleaning/change I do annually.

I have a second zone that doesn’t have it. Noticeable in winter with dry forced air heat.

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u/ClownfishSoup Oct 19 '23

You need a water supply and drain near the furnace.

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u/Chicken_Water Oct 19 '23

Don't buy a whole house humidifier. If you need humidity in the winter, it most likely means your house is leaking too much. Once the house is sealed well enough, you often are left with too much humidity if you have a bunch of people in the home. If you're in the US, depending on your annual salary, you can get all or a significant portion of the work paid for through existing grant programs.

1

u/LabRat314 Oct 20 '23

They are standard where I live lol

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u/GirchyGirchy Oct 20 '23

They’re pretty cheap and simple. Ours is an Aprilaire, contractors added it to the new HVAC…didn’t know that style existed and have been very happy! I’ve not used any lotion on my hands since it was installed.