Humidifier

Now that the air conditioners off and the heat is switched on. There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re ready for heating season.  First, let’s be sure to test your heating system before you actually need it.

There’s no reason to wait to the last minute to find out your heat isn’t coming on – Switch your thermostat over to heat and let it run for a few minutes.  Stand next to your indoor heating system and listen to it start up and make sure there aren’t any strange noises.

If you have manual dampers to redirect airflow based on the season, now would be a good time to adjust those.  Remember – we want to send more of the heated air to the bottom floors of your home during the winter and restrict the airflow to the top floors.  This way the downstairs will be comfortable and the heat will naturally rise to the upstairs.  If the damper settings aren’t already labeled, label the winter and summer settings with a marker so you know where to set them next season.

As the colder weather arrives, don’t over adjust your thermostat.  Many people set the temperature too low during the day when no one is at home thinking they are saving energy.  When they return home in the evening, the system must run much longer to reach the desired temperature and much of the energy savings are lost…not to mention being uncomfortable for several hours.  A few degrees variance will do the trick.  And let’s clear up a common misconception while we’re on the topic:  Moving the set temperature on the thermostat way high (or low) does not result in more heat (or cooling).  The system will only run longer and over-shoot the desired temperature.

In the winter, open the shades and blinds during the day to allow sunlight to help heat your home.  Regularly change or clean your air filters.  Dirty filters reduce airflow causing the system to work harder and use more energy.  If you’re one that forgets to pick up replacement filters or need an odd size, let us know.  We provide replacement air filters by the case so you always have a replacement available and can provide custom sizes.

Seal up those leaky doors, windows and exterior penetrations – All those places where cold, outside air can be drawn into your home.  Warm air naturally rises and that air must be replaced – known as The Stack Effect.   Reduce the amount of air infiltration into your home and you’ll be more comfortable and save on energy usage this winter.

And those of you that have humidifiers, service the humidifier at the beginning of the heating season.  Replace the water panel and open any dampers on the bypass lines.  Usually the humidifier needs a good cleaning every season.  Check to see that the water supply is on and verify that there are no leaks.  Be sure to check the drain, too.  Pour water down the drain and make sure that it isn’t clogged.

For those of you that are members of our Peak Performance Maintenance Program, we will take care of all of the maintenance issues for you.  But it’s still a good idea to test the system before you actually need it.

In our quest for furthering our expertise of whole house comfort systems, we have gained insight on the effectiveness of humidifiers. First, let me summarize why you might need a humidifier and how they improve your comfort. You may experience static shock in your home, wake up in the morning feeling dry, or have cracking on wood furniture, drywall, etc. These are all signs that there is a lack of moisture in a home. Some homes are dryer than others – The optimal humidity level in a home is approximately 35%, some homes have been measured below 15%!

Your heating system will actually add to these problems because the process of heating the air removes moisture. A whole house humidifier can be installed on your heating system to add moisture to the conditioned air and deliver it through the duct system to your entire home helping to resolve these issues. A home with a higher level of humidity will actually feel warmer allowing you to be more comfortable at lower temperatures. I’m sure you’re familiar with this concept from the weather we experience in Maryland in the summer – It always feels much hotter than it actually is when humidity levels are higher.

Over the years, we have been to many homes in Rockville, Germantown, Gaithersburg and other Montgomery County cities where our customers have humidifiers but they feel as though their home’s air is still too dry. We have found that there are two major opponents diminishing the effectiveness of humidifiers – The first being your own heating system. In order to increase the comfort level in your home, we need to increase the percentage of moisture in the air. However, humidifiers only work when your heating system is actually running so you’re only adding moisture to your home’s air when the furnace or heat pump is on. Most systems only run a fraction of the time and even less if they’re oversized – which many older units are.

The other obstacle is air infiltration. Your home needs to exchange fresh, outside air constantly to be healthy. However, we have found that most homes allow far too much air into the home. An average healthy home would require about 5-7 complete air exchanges each day. We have measured homes with more than twice that amount! This means that the air inside your home is being humidified (not to mention conditioned) and then escaping to the outside. The humidity that you have added is being lost to the outside and you’re humidifier is unable to keep up with the drier outside air that is replacing the air being lost to the outside.

The result: The air in your home struggles to reach the comfortable target humidity levels that you want.

Solutions: We now require an infiltrometer test be performed on any home before installing a humidifier. This allows us to determine the home’s infiltration rate and the amount of moisture needed to reach comfortable humidity levels. With this information, we can determine whether the humidifier will perform as it should. We can also point out areas where simple improvements can be made to decrease the amount of infiltration to the home.

We have also found that certain equipment can help to improve a humidifier’s performance such as variable speed furnaces/heat pumps. These units operate on lower settings the majority of the time resulting in longer run cycles. This allows more time for your system to add humidity to the conditioned air. These systems also allow you to run the fan on lower speeds. The lower speed would allow you to run your fan continuously with the humidifier – providing additional humidification without requiring the system to operate in heating mode.