Low indoor humidity. It’s a problem you’re probably all too familiar with if you suffer from dry hair, peeling skin around your fingernails, nosebleeds, or susceptibility to illnesses such as influenza, bronchitis and sinusitis in the wintertime. The low humidity inside your home may also account for cracked and warped wooden door frames, window frames, flooring and furniture – not to mention peeling paint.
Worse yet, dry air feels cooler than it actually is. That may compel you to run your home’s heating system more often, which in turn accelerates wear and tear on your furnace, increases your energy bills, and forces you to pay more money for air filters.
Greater comfort. Lower susceptibility to disease. Preservation of your property. Reduced expenses. You stand to gain all of these benefits by adding a whole-house humidifier to your home’s HVAC system. A whole-house humidifier’s attachment to your plumbing system won’t just spare you the inconvenience of refilling. In addition to creating the ideal indoor humidity level, it will operate quietly, increase your home’s value, and require relatively little maintenance.
Granted, the HVAC industry has yet to produce a device which truly requires zero maintenance. If you’re evaluating whether or not to add a whole-house humidifier to your home, then you may wonder what new responsibilities owning the appliance will entail. To be sure, you won’t have to do much for your whole-house humidifier in order to ensure its smooth operation – but you will have to tend to the following!
Whole-House Humidifier Maintenance: There’s Not Much to It
Whole-house humidifier maintenance requires surprisingly little effort. At the very least you must replace its evaporator panel filter once every year (provided you have a ducted model). But if you want to take a more thorough approach to DIY maintenance, then you only have to do the following every one or two weeks:
- Disconnect the power by unplugging the unit.
- Remove the water reservoir, empty it, clean it with warm, soapy water, and then add a couple drops of chlorine bleach (note that some manufacturers advise against using bleach in their respective models).
- Clean the evaporator panel filter by soaking it in cold water and then gently wiping it down. Unclip the pads, wring them out, and clean them with a weak solution of vinegar and water. If the pads are hard, replace them.
- Check for leaks – standing water beneath the unit likely indicates the presence of a malfunction.
- Check the humidistat (provided that your model has one) after you turn the whole-house humidifier back on. Ensure that it is working properly, and then finish up!
Note that every whole-house humidifier comes with its manufacturer’s own set of cleaning and maintenance instructions. These take precedent over our general overview.Would you like to add a low-maintenance whole-house humidifier to your home? Or do you already have one, and would prefer to entrust its care and repair to a local HVAC professional? Then we welcome you to contact Haugan Heating & Air Conditioning today. We service residential and commercial properties throughout the greater Sioux Falls, SD area, and we carry high-quality humidifiers by AprilAire!