What Is a Whole House Humidifier and How Does It Work?

There are two primary factors that contribute to how comfortable your home is: temperature and humidity. Temperature is the factor that people are the most familiar with, because we mostly interact with our furnaces via the thermostat by adjusting the temperature level. But during the heating season, low humidity levels can also make your home very uncomfortable, in addition to causing various health problems and damage to your home. The best solution for addressing low humidity is to install a whole house humidifier. Today we’re going to explain how a whole house humidifier works so that you can understand just how much it can benefit your home!

What is a whole house humidifier?

A whole house humidifier is a device that is connected to your home’s heating system. It is installed by a professional heating contractor like Jerry Kelly and connected to your ductwork so that it has access to your home’s airflow. A whole house humidifier is an add-on to a furnace, so it is not included in every home, but it can have enormous benefits in your home during the heating season by regulating the humidity levels in every single room. Many programmable thermostats can also connect to the humidifier and allow you to monitor and adjust your home’s temperature and humidity levels at a single point.

Why is a whole house humidifier better than a portable humidifier?

The types of humidifiers that many people are familiar with are the portable models that you place inside of a single room. Although these models can be effective for one room, they are not nearly as a good of a solution as a whole house humidifier. Here’s why:

• A whole house humidifier is connected to your ductwork, so it will humidify the air that’s delivered to every room in your home from a single unit.
• A whole house humidifier is installed out of sight, so you don’t have to have a clunky unit sitting in the middle of the floor.
• Unlike portable humidifiers, which require daily maintenance and changing of water reservoirs, whole house humidifiers require very little maintenance and are connected to your home’s water supply.

How does a whole house humidifier work?

As mentioned above, a whole house humidifier is connected to your furnace’s ductwork and your home’s water supply. Inside of the humidifier, water flows through some sort of collection media (depending on the model) such as a pad, disc or “biscuit.” This is what provides your home’s air with much-needed moisture that will raise its humidity levels.

When your furnace pulls in air from around your home through the return vents, a portion of that air is directed into the humidifier. As it passes through, the air picks up moisture from the water collection media inside. When air exits the humidifier on the other side, it retains that moisture and joins back up with the rest of your home’s air supply. As a net result, all of the air that flows through your home contains higher moisture levels, which means your humidity levels will no longer be low.

If you have any questions about how a whole house humidifier works, or if you’d like a heating system serviced or installed in your home, contact Jerry Kelly, your St. Louis furnace installation and repair contractor. We provide service all over the St. Louis area, including towns like St. Paul, St. Peters and Town and Country, MO.