I’d also look at steam if you have allergy issues. The bypass can grow mold if you are not careful as it will remain damp for some time after the humidistat reaches its desired level.
We don’t have this issue in Colorado, it’s so dry we don’t really get mold on bypass systems I’ve never seen that. I can definitely see how this might be true in other regions
Very thorough and informative video, thank you for sharing your thoughts. What are your thoughts about potential mold buildup in ductwork, and standing water in the unit? Question #2 If a home has hard water, how hard is it to clean the scale buildup for a steam humidifier? I would think that could be a frustrating situation. Looking forward to your reply…
Sorry for the delayed reply this slipped through the cracks, but long story short is hard water isn’t a big deal on steam at all. The canisters are easy to swap… you actually want harder water on steam because the electricity conducts better, otherwise technically distilled water has much lower conductivity so you have to use a special low conductivity canister. I don’t worry about mold ever in Colorado because it just doesn’t happen here that often, water leaks from other sources (roof plumbing etc) in the summer are more likely to cause that because relative humidity jumps. But I don’t worry about mold because typically you’re not installing these in environments conducive to mold growth. Relative humidity without one in our house would be 15% for example! Very dry!
The added electricity cost of the steam humidifier cant be overstated. I like how well my Aprilaire 800 maintains humidity, but it uses basically the same amount of electricity as my AC does in the summer time.
Good to know! I have not had that experience at our house. Are you sure it’s all from the humidifier? Not sure if you have a heat pump or furnace but that seems higher than what I’ve heard or experienced personally, but if you have bigger home I don’t doubt that it runs a lot! Thanks for the feedback!
Great Info I have installed Aprilair 800 unit in my house in Vegas, My question is do i need this unit running in summer months I have noticed when unit kick on rooms get real hot. Should i turn unit off and only run during winter months?
Your AC is technically dehumidifying in the summer so it just counterproductive when it runs. What’s the humidity set to in your home in the summer? You could run it year round if you still need it in the summer but like I said your AC is technically removing condensation from the air when it’s running
That is very interesting there, I assume you come from US (you said Colorado) or Canada maybe have the same rules, because bypass is allowed to be used as humidifiers. Here in Germany it's restricted, we can only use steam or system with fine spraying nozzles. Hoewer, bypass is only used as adiabatic cooling system in vents which are getting the air out of the building, and then filtrated back throug filters.. All because of the mold and possible bacteria in bypass systems
Yes in the USA here, we have those “swamp coolers” too, but we don’t worry about mold too much because relative humidity is so low 18% in the winter sometimes lower. I’ve never seen mold we always see scale buildup from hard water but that’s about it
What about hooking up hot water vs. cold water to bypass humidifiers? I found that hot water works much better and that the water going down the drain is actually cool after it passes through the humidifying pad. Our boiler is 95% efficient, so not worried about wasting energy. Steam is expensive for electricity use and my experience with Honeywell Truesteam was a maintenance nightmare.
So I have an Aprilaire bypass and even with the humidistat set at max, I can’t get over 30% in the living space. I believe it’s because I have a large cap furnace that never needs to run very long, even when outside temps are 20F or below. What I’d like to be able to do is have the humidistat run just the blower to get the levels up - is that possible? Trane XE90 (the largest version).
Yes, you can get a humidistat that has blower on activation. It’s just not as efficient at humidifying as when the furnace is running, because the air going across the bypass pad will be room temp instead of hot furnace air. But Aprilaire makes a humidistat that can do that.
They work for adding smaller amounts of humidity and in general are a great budget option. Whether it’s a heat pump or furnace as long as the supply temp is hot enough to get the bypass to evaporate effectively. Only downside to bypass is if you have a shorter heating season they won’t work as well on the shoulder seasons (spring / fall).
I would think the less the better… I don’t see a benefit to humidity for electronic components but I’m not sure honestly if there’s a reason to install one. I would be more concerned with keeping humidity down.
@@TheHVACDopeShow the lower the humidity the higher the static electricity. The ideal humidity levels for server rooms are 40-50 percent, but I want to make sure the solution I implement isn't overkill, i just wanted to see if you had any insight on what is commonly used. I appreciate the swift reply by the way!
relative humidity tells you nothing, humidity is to be measured in relation with the temperature, so proper measure of the level of water in the air is a dew point
Relative humidity does factor in the temperature (it literally means the percent saturation at a given temperature). You may be thinking of absolute humidity.
@@hbarisic never said it was anything special bruv. You just said it didn’t factor in temperature and it’s literally right in the definition. On top of that you’re describing dew point as a measure of humidity / water content in air and it’s not. Dew point is the TEMPERATURE at which a given vapor pressure fully saturates the air and condensates. Psychrometrics is a lot more complicated than your clearly limited understanding and yes relative humidity does tell you something, as does specific humidity, absolute humidity, enthalpy, dew point etc.
For more tips on how to get the best HVAC for your home make sure you’re subscribed to the channel youtube.com/@TheHVACDopeShow?sub_confirmation=1
I’d also look at steam if you have allergy issues. The bypass can grow mold if you are not careful as it will remain damp for some time after the humidistat reaches its desired level.
We don’t have this issue in Colorado, it’s so dry we don’t really get mold on bypass systems I’ve never seen that. I can definitely see how this might be true in other regions
Very thorough and informative video, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
What are your thoughts about potential mold buildup in ductwork, and standing water in the unit?
Question #2
If a home has hard water, how hard is it to clean the scale buildup for a steam humidifier? I would think that could be a frustrating situation.
Looking forward to your reply…
Sorry for the delayed reply this slipped through the cracks, but long story short is hard water isn’t a big deal on steam at all. The canisters are easy to swap… you actually want harder water on steam because the electricity conducts better, otherwise technically distilled water has much lower conductivity so you have to use a special low conductivity canister. I don’t worry about mold ever in Colorado because it just doesn’t happen here that often, water leaks from other sources (roof plumbing etc) in the summer are more likely to cause that because relative humidity jumps. But I don’t worry about mold because typically you’re not installing these in environments conducive to mold growth. Relative humidity without one in our house would be 15% for example! Very dry!
The added electricity cost of the steam humidifier cant be overstated. I like how well my Aprilaire 800 maintains humidity, but it uses basically the same amount of electricity as my AC does in the summer time.
Good to know! I have not had that experience at our house. Are you sure it’s all from the humidifier? Not sure if you have a heat pump or furnace but that seems higher than what I’ve heard or experienced personally, but if you have bigger home I don’t doubt that it runs a lot! Thanks for the feedback!
Wow thanks for the impartial perspective
Great Info I have installed Aprilair 800 unit in my house in Vegas, My question is do i need this unit running in summer months I have noticed when unit kick on rooms get real hot. Should i turn unit off and only run during winter months?
Your AC is technically dehumidifying in the summer so it just counterproductive when it runs. What’s the humidity set to in your home in the summer? You could run it year round if you still need it in the summer but like I said your AC is technically removing condensation from the air when it’s running
That is very interesting there, I assume you come from US (you said Colorado) or Canada maybe have the same rules, because bypass is allowed to be used as humidifiers. Here in Germany it's restricted, we can only use steam or system with fine spraying nozzles. Hoewer, bypass is only used as adiabatic cooling system in vents which are getting the air out of the building, and then filtrated back throug filters.. All because of the mold and possible bacteria in bypass systems
Yes in the USA here, we have those “swamp coolers” too, but we don’t worry about mold too much because relative humidity is so low 18% in the winter sometimes lower. I’ve never seen mold we always see scale buildup from hard water but that’s about it
What about hooking up hot water vs. cold water to bypass humidifiers? I found that hot water works much better and that the water going down the drain is actually cool after it passes through the humidifying pad. Our boiler is 95% efficient, so not worried about wasting energy.
Steam is expensive for electricity use and my experience with Honeywell Truesteam was a maintenance nightmare.
I agree hot evaporates better (it’s already warm) but idk what the manual actually states, I’ve used both
@@TheHVACDopeShow Aprilaire 600 manual says use hot water if over something like 4000 ft2, I think.
So I have an Aprilaire bypass and even with the humidistat set at max, I can’t get over 30% in the living space. I believe it’s because I have a large cap furnace that never needs to run very long, even when outside temps are 20F or below. What I’d like to be able to do is have the humidistat run just the blower to get the levels up - is that possible? Trane XE90 (the largest version).
Yes, you can get a humidistat that has blower on activation. It’s just not as efficient at humidifying as when the furnace is running, because the air going across the bypass pad will be room temp instead of hot furnace air. But Aprilaire makes a humidistat that can do that.
@@TheHVACDopeShow Thanks, and yeah, good point about air temp. Still preferable for me vs standing up a wick humidifier. Appreciate your vids!
@@modquad18 for sure! Thanks for watching 😁
Any advice for bypass humidifiers on a high efficiency heat pump system?
They work for adding smaller amounts of humidity and in general are a great budget option. Whether it’s a heat pump or furnace as long as the supply temp is hot enough to get the bypass to evaporate effectively. Only downside to bypass is if you have a shorter heating season they won’t work as well on the shoulder seasons (spring / fall).
Hello, what is recommended for a server room?
I would think the less the better… I don’t see a benefit to humidity for electronic components but I’m not sure honestly if there’s a reason to install one. I would be more concerned with keeping humidity down.
@@TheHVACDopeShow the lower the humidity the higher the static electricity. The ideal humidity levels for server rooms are 40-50 percent, but I want to make sure the solution I implement isn't overkill, i just wanted to see if you had any insight on what is commonly used. I appreciate the swift reply by the way!
Best...
relative humidity tells you nothing, humidity is to be measured in relation with the temperature, so proper measure of the level of water in the air is a dew point
Relative humidity does factor in the temperature (it literally means the percent saturation at a given temperature). You may be thinking of absolute humidity.
relative humidity tells you NOTHING @@StraightRocketFuel
@@hbarisic never said it was anything special bruv. You just said it didn’t factor in temperature and it’s literally right in the definition. On top of that you’re describing dew point as a measure of humidity / water content in air and it’s not. Dew point is the TEMPERATURE at which a given vapor pressure fully saturates the air and condensates. Psychrometrics is a lot more complicated than your clearly limited understanding and yes relative humidity does tell you something, as does specific humidity, absolute humidity, enthalpy, dew point etc.
@@StraightRocketFuel dude, the one that is limited is clearly you. I will not waste my time anymore. Cheers!
Sounds like this has already been clarified by @straightrocketfuel 🙏😂 thank you lol… “rh tells you nothing…” hmm there’s a head scratcher 🤔