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I need to get a Humidifier for my small workshop which is roughly 15 x 10. RD drops to 20% - 30% in winter. Do you pipe yours into the water supply to eliminate filling?

Hey Rich,

Last summer my wife dragged me into a value village and there was a small one in there for 12 bucks! I snatched it and it has been in the shop and running now for about a month and a half and it works great. I am in the shop every day and it stays heated so checking the water is no big deal at all. About once every two or three days is all it needs to be filled. RH was at about 30% and is now about 48% so I am happy. My shop area for guitar building is about 330 sq ft.

Good luck

Shane

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Canada

The one I have is a cheap Honeywell one.  Not really Honeywell, I think they are made by Kaz.  It works, but the filters don't last very long.  I'm thinking of getting one that is either a steam one or an ultrasonic one that does not require a filter. Also, I have to fill this one twice a day, as it only holds about 1/2 gallon of water.  It does not have a humidistat on it, so it just runs.  I keep the dehumidifier on in case it puts too much moisture in the air.  My shop is about 270 sq ft.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks guys, hope others will post. Was looking at commercial units with in-line water supply but man they are big bucks. Was hoping I could get something rigged up for under $200 that wouldnt require me to fill a tank every so often. I spend alot of the winter months traveling for the day job and dont think I can convince my wife to check the shop (LOL).

I use one of the relatively cheap humidifiers that I got from CVS pharmacy. It has a built in humidistat and holds about a gallon of water. Florida is naturally humid anyway, so the one gallon fills last me for several days and I keep the shop at around 50 to 55% humidity.

During the summer I have to use a dehumidifier and I have a stainless steel one built by whirlpool.

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Reguards,

Ken H

I have a Holmes that works OK. Beware that the filters gradually dry and stop wicking. Then they need to be removed from the machine periodically and soaked or rinsed for a moment. Holmes directions refers to this as 'rinsing out sediment', but I think it is just rewetting. If you do not do this, you will be spending a fortune on new filters that you do not really need. I expect that is the same as is happening on the Honeywell.

The machine is set only in 5% increments, but it keeps the room within a couple of %% of whereever it is operating; however, it is mot really operating at the %% shown on the diplay. I use a wet bulb hygometer to check the actual humidity. For example, my machine set for 35% actually keeps the room at 45%.

I pop and pour a bear every once and awhile to raise the humidity

I have an Emerson that will hold about six gallons of water -- $75 on sale at the Borg.  It uses paper wicks and if you AR enough to add the two different water conditioners each time they are filled, the wicks will last about 2 months.  The Emerson is on its third winter of 24/7 running and shows no signs of slowing.  When it does poop out, I'll replace it with a Venta which does not use wicks as it will be cheaper in the long run.  It doesn't have a humistat, but I don't really see that as a real problem as they don't work well anyway.  It only takes a few days to dial it in the the humidity that I read with a hygrometer anyway, then its pretty well set for the season.  I really don't fiddle with it much.   If the hygrometer stays between 40% and 50%, I'm a happy camper.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Rich my friend I run two humidifiers - a 12 gallon Sears w/digital display for the entire 1,400 square foot condo and a 10 gallon Sears w/digital display for the 126.5 square foot shop.  My shop door is always left open as well.

In Michigan in the winter with forced air heating it can get very dry and in the summer I have to dehumidify the shop.

Both of these units are in their third year of operation for me and they work very well.  I did have to learn to clean the filters, perhaps every 3-4 weeks, so that I was not constantly having to purchase new filters.  Thanks again to Bill for this!

And the digital displays are not accurate but they are accurate to themselves in that once you set "a number" that keeps your shop at the desired level, as indicated by outboard, calibrated, and multiple hygrometers, they maintain my place at very close to 45% RH.

Hesh, do the Sears units make any noise?

[QUOTE=James Orr]Hesh, do the Sears units make any noise? [/QUOTE]

James buddy they do when they are running.......  Sorry - could not resist and that joke was far more benign then what really crossed my mind......

The smaller unit has three fan speeds and an "auto" that will increase and decrease the fan speed depending on how far off the unit is set to what the sensor reads.  I leave this one on "low" at all times - this is the one in my shop.  Remember too that since I am humidifying the entire condo the shop unit has very little work to do.

The larger unit has 4 speeds and an "auto" setting.  One of the 4 speeds is "whisper" and is nearly inaudible but I set this unit on "low".

You can hear them but they are very quiet and what I hear more then any thing else is them turning on and off since I get used to it when they are on.

I have had many humidifiers over the years and I like these units very much.  IMHO all "wick" type humidifiers may not actually put out more moisture at higher fan settings.  They are a bit like turning on the heat in a car that is not all the way warmed up yet.  The higher the fan setting, the lower the temp of the heat being blown out.

I have found that "low" is a good setting for these units and I can dump as much water into the air here on low as I can on "med" or "high."  I think that the reason why this is is that on higher fan speeds the wick is less efficient in wicking up moisture to the top and middle of the wick.

When it gets around 0F out the larger unit has trouble maintaining and my place will fall to about 40%RH.  The shop unit then comes on more and all is well except my dog's hair sticks out in all directions.....

I should have mentioned that the larger unit I refill, completely since it runs dry, 3 times a day this time of year.  The bottle holds just short of 2 gallons.

The smaller unit I refill about once every day and a half so you can see who is doing most of the work here.

One of my other objectives was to keep the place humidified for the Flushtone show room and racks of guitars.

This one keep me happy. So quiet ya barely know it's there. Large enough that it only runs maybe 10-20% of the time... Change the filters once a year...

It can be plumbed for auto re-filling, too....

grrrr. f*&#@ng edit button stupid missing phargling feature dumba$$  removed bull $^!)....

It's a Sears unit; search their site or your catalogs.. It's on sale right now, too.

Thanks again guys, and Grumpy - this is what I was hoping for, something I can pipe in so will take a run to Sears tomorrow. Thanks again to all of you for responding. YOu guys always rock !!!

I have one like Grumpy's, but have never changed the filters, 4 years.

The one in my shop however got to stinking recently.  Had to change out the rancid water, so keeping them clean is a good point or you'll sometimes begin growing stuff that stinks.

My big one came from Lowe's Home Improvement, but it's a kissing cousin to the one pictured above.

I use a holmes and some other brand. Both hold about 3-4 gallons each, humidifying a 900 sq foot shop with 10' ceiling in Georgia, and they have to be filled every day and a half on low humidity days.  Right now, I am fighting massive swings in outdoor humidity-humidifier one day, de-humidifier the next.  GAH!  My wife keeps 'em going when I am at work....gotta luv her!

Rich, to pipe it directly, you'll need to go to a home center or hardware store, and get a separate kit. They're complete kits, which will include the line and floats and everything. It's similar to the kits they sell to plumb a fridge or ice maker.

May I suggest you also add an overflow and run a larger hose(like a garden hose) to a drain, if you have one nearby? Aways good to have a little assurance <g>.

Brad, sounds like you need to at least get yourself one of these large ones. You'd go at least 3-4 days between fillings, and you'd likely save enough on power usage to pay for it in a year or two.

I agree with you, Mario.  It's on my list. 

I looked at getting a steamer, but although they are the best at
humidifying large areas they are expensive to buy and expensive to
maintain. I'll bet we spent at least $800-$1000 per year replacing the
steam cartridges in all the units up at Elderly's. I talked to Nortec about
getting one of their units for my shop, but when I said "Ann Arbor", they
said forget it. The water tastes great, but it has such a high mineral
content that they said I would need a serious filtration and de-ionizer
system to make a single cartridge last one season.

I ended up getting a Kenmore Central Humidifier 3000. It's a rotating
drum filter style, designed to mount to a furnace. The cool part is that it
also has it's own blower, so I mounted it off the furnace with hot air still
ducted in to it. This way the hot air will pick up moisture on it's way out
which is the most efficient way, but it will also draw plenty of air through
and work as needed when the furnace is off. It's bolted to my ceiling with
water run through a filter and then straight in to the unit, and the
hygrometer switch mounted in the middle of the shop. I change the water
filter twice a year, rinse the drum wick/ filter once a year, and never have
to touch it otherwise. It runs about 15%-20% of the time, and keeps my
1100 sq.ft. shop at 50% no problem. I'm in a bomb shelter though, so it's
pretty tightly sealed.

Whether a using a floor or central humidifier, it is so nice to have water
plumbed straight to it. Aside from not having to fill every day when you're
there, you have less to worry about when you're away for a few days.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I've got a Honeywell HCM 6011 with humidistat. Six gallon that lasts for days. When filters are new it's great. After a few weeks you see a decline in the humidity. Wonder if you can soak the filters in something to help them hold the water a little better?
At $24 bucks a pop for filters, they need to last a little longer.
Dave

Thanks, Hesh. Much appreciated. All of my wood and what not lives in
my room's second closet. I've been afraid of what I fear will be like living
with a running washing machine, lol.

My pleasure James.

Dave Bill told me to wash my wick style filters because I was only getting 3-4 weeks too.  I take them out and put them in a sink or tub with some bleach and soak them and them ring them out about 10 times, rinse again in clean water and they last like and work like a new filter again.  Also, I am using Sears bacterostat additive and it further extends the life of the filters in between washings perhaps 50%.  My current filters have been in use for 3 months now and are still going strong.

Thanks Hesh! I'll try the rinse w/bleach today. I've got a Holmes humidifier that I used the chemicals in before, and they did seem to last longer. This new Honeywell has a little devise in it called a "Protec cleaning cartridge", and it's supposed to keep the water clean. So far they work--no oders or mineral build up.
Dave

If you have hot air heat you can get one fixed into the unit for a reasonable cost. Up to that point I used a house hold unit with a 3 gallon reserve that ran for 12 hours.
   There is another piece of advice and that is to be sure any concrete is sealed , this can pull and put moisture into the air.
   john hall