Heating your home causes the humidity in the air to dissipate, and the outside air this time of the year doesn't provide much humidity to the home. Abnormally low humidity levels can cause any number of conditions, all of them uncomfortable.  Your skin dries out, your lips chap, your sinuses dry out, your dog starts itching, you get carpet shocks from doorknobs, your wooden furniture dries out, you notice more space between the slats of your hardwood floor, you get those hard dry thingies around your fingernails (don't you hate those?) and, even with the furnace on, you always feel a draft.  And what about the poor piano?  And even the drapes and tapestries wear out prematurely if they are allowed to become brittle and dry.  Do you have any leather?  Laminated counter tops?  NOT FOR LONG if you let everything dry out.

Just to put your home into perspective, the average relative humidity in the Sahara Desert is 23%.  Death Valley, California - 25%.  Your Home Without a Humidifier - 8%.  Now doesn't that make you want to wet your lips? Well, DON'T - they'll only get more dry, and the stockholders of Chap-Stik will have to make an extra trip to the bank this week.

The answer to ALL of these problems -- stop whining and get a HUMIDIFIER. 

The humidifier is a simple device.  It evaporates water into the air, increasing the ambient moisture of the home.  In winter, a home needs a LOT of humidity added to the air to make it comfortable.  The more effectively a humidifier can deliver water into the air, the better the unit is.

In order to continue working, a humidifier must receive regular maintenance.  Whatever type of humidifier you have,  look inside of it now.  There should be moisture -- something WET, where the air meets the water.  If you've got a portable room-type pad humidifier, during the heating season, it should be putting at least five gallons of water per day into the average home to maintain a comfortable humidity level.  The pad inside the humidifier should not be petrified, but should be wet throughout, capable of delivering moisture from every square inch of its surface.  If the pad is full of lime, and all clogged, and rusty -- replace it.  With some brands of portable humidifiers, you might end up writing to the manufacturer for a replacement pad.
 

Maintaining Your Central Humidifier

If you've got a built-in humidifier, at least you're not carrying water buckets back and forth all day to feed the thirsty thing, but you've still got to maintain the unit.
 

Look inside of the humidifier -- there's some kind of pad or evaporating surface where the water is distributed.  Pictured here are two of the most popular home central humidifiers.  In one, the tabs (A) slide off, and the water line above the solenoid valve is unscrewed to allow access to the water panel. In the other one, the entire hood of the unit snaps out (spring loaded) to allow access to the pad (7).

Once you have the unit apart, inspect the water media.  Is the surface of the media all rusty or caked with lime?  It's time for a new water panel.  The water panel should be replaced once per year. If you've let this small chore go for more than a year, you've got a real surprise coming.  Our service technicians bring back some really rusty limestone nuggets once in awhile, especially from Waukesha, where the water has a high mineral content.
 

Our Parts Counter -- We've Got What You Need!

When it comes to built-in central humidifiers, we've got ALL of the Aprilaire brand filter pads in stock, and many sizes for other brands too.  These don't cost much  For the comfort they deliver -- they're well worth a trip to our parts department. (635 S. 70th St., Milwaukee, open 9-4 Mon, Tue, Thurs, and Fri, 9-6 Wed, and 9-1 on Saturday)

Other components of the humidifier should be clean and lime-free as well.  Look for clogged parts, change the in-line water filter, clean the inside of the unit (the water pad itself can't be cleaned, but must be replaced). Our parts department carries a full line of humidifier parts for Aprilaire and Carrier humidifiers, and some parts for other brands of central humidifiers as well.
 

Don't Want to Do It Yourself?  Call US!

You Don't Have One?  GET ONE!

To arrange a FREE in-home estimate for new equipment, or for further information about us or any of the many home comfort services we offer, please leave us an e-mail message, leave your mailing address and/or phone number, and our representative will be calling you within the next business day.

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