Humidifier warning

[Steve Baker]

Well, I suppose I should have been more alert in the first place but here's my story, posted as a public service.
Late last Summer I decided that my old evaporative hybrid humidifier was pretty much done. It had given years of service but now wasn't even available any more. Home Depot had a good range of room-sized ultrasonics so I picked one up. It shoots out a very nice cloud and kept the room at around 40%.
After about 6 weeks my furnace started cutting out. The filter was clogged with a fine white powder. (See where this is going?) Replacement filters clogged after about 5 days. Seeing that white dust all over I stopped using the humidifier and reverted to in-case units 'til my new evaporative unit arrives.
My music space is a small room at the far end of the house,about as far as I can get from the cold air return duct. And yet,that little humidifier spread the dust through the entire house. I'm still wiping down newly-discovered dusty places.
So ... You may choose to learn from my mistake. Those ultrasonics are going to cause you trouble in the long run.
FWIW
Steve

[Tobin]

Thanks for posting that. I had heard of this issue before, and I am led to believe it's basically powdered scale, or lime/calcium/whatever that settles all over the house if you're using tap water in a misting type. I have a small evaporative type that uses a paper wick, and it clogs up after a couple of weeks, getting so hardened with scale that it no longer lets the water evaporate. I can just imagine all that scale being ejected into the air in a cloud, to settle around my house!

[allenhopkins]

Recommendation: use distilled water in your humidifier. Guessing the dust was from the mineral/chemical content of your tap water.

Rainwater might work, if you have a way of collecting and storing it. I use distilled water in my CPAP machine (jeez, I'm old!), because of the other substances that are naturally present in tap water, or are added to it (chlorine, fluoride et. al.).

Distilled water's not too expensive, $1.25/gallon around here, but over a whole heating season you will rack up some "water bills."

[Tobin]

Recommendation: use distilled water in your humidifier. Guessing the dust was from the mineral/chemical content of your tap water.

Rainwater might work, if you have a way of collecting and storing it.

For folks who are considering using rainwater, it's a good alternative to distilled water but only if it's properly filtered. I've had rainwater collection systems for over 10 years now, at two different homes. It's wonderfully soft water, but it does have contaminants that you may not want to drink or breathe. Most of these contaminants aren't necessarily from the rain itself, but from the collecting surface - usually a roof and gutter system, which are always filthy with dust, pollen, etc. Treating it for drinking water usually involves multiple stages of filtration followed by UV light disinfectant, but for use in a humidifier I would think that filtration alone would suffice. A metal roof is best for this. If you collect rainwater off of an asphalt shingle roof, you're getting petrochemical residue in your water. Don't evaporate that and blow it around in your house!

[Mandobart]

Or just use humidifiers that employ a replaceable wicking filter. I've been doing that for about 4 years now. I replace the filter in each unit once a year, and I have pretty hard tap water.

[pops1]

I'm with Bart, sometimes I get two years, but that's if I add something to the water to fight the lime. Our water is hard.

[William Smith]

I use the little oasis canisters in each case, also in music room and 3 bedrooms the cool air/mist types, they work granted the living room could use one, I have to clean each one about 2 times a winter, my water was great until a few years ago when across the road in the hills they put a natural gas pipeline from a well, well into New York "they wanted to go through my property but I made it hard for them, I said no and no to their 20 grand offer so they had to go around." My water is hard now. Wonder if it would be cheaper to run a unit through my heating/air conditioning system, maybe not my electric bill runs from 90-110 bucks a month all year so that's pretty good.

[Mark Wilson]

Those ultrasonics are going to cause you trouble in the long run.
Steve

I agree. I've bought some high end ones and they are impossible to clean (imo) and only last a season or 2 tops.

The last wick and fan style I bought keeps the whole house nice and has needed no cleaning. I replace the wick ($24) every two seasons

[Roger Adams]

In addition, the white dust produced by the ultrasonic can cause respiratory problems for some folks.

[pops1]

I just bought some wicks for mine at $9.99 ea. ordered 3 and got free shipping.

[Paul Busman]

Distilled water in a CPAP machine is necessary, and they don't use all that much water, but in a room/house humidifier you'd spend a fortune. We have a room sized warm mist (not ultrasonic)vaporizer in our bedroom. The tank holds a gallon and a half, and we go through one tankful in a day.

[Nevin]

Just a note that it depends on your water and your heating system. Hot water or steam heat is less likely to be a problem than forced air. The harder the water the more of a problem. That said I have been using ultrasonic humidifiers in my Vermont house for thirteen years without a problem and the water is moderately hard.

[Buck]

Just a note that it depends on your water and your heating system. Hot water or steam heat is less likely to be a problem than forced air. The harder the water the more of a problem. That said I have been using ultrasonic humidifiers in my Vermont house for thirteen years without a problem and the water is moderately hard.

That's a common belief, but it's not accurate. It really doesn't matter what type of heating system you have, as far as typical residential heating systems go. It's the low absolute moisture content in the outside air. As that air is warmed up to a livable temperature indoors, the relative humidity drops. Since most heating systems do not add any moisture to the indoor air, the system type makes little difference.