Setting The Humidistat in Your Home

There are many factors involved in maintaining proper humidity in your home. After you've made the first step and purchased a whole house furnace mount humidifier, you need to make sure you're maintaining the proper level of humidity. This section tells you how to do that.

The proper relative humidity for your home depends on a variety of factors.

These factors include the number and type of people living in the home, outdoor air temperature, type and placement of insulation, vapor barriers, effectiveness of weather stripping, type of windows and doors (including frames and jams ) and whether or not storm windows and doors are used. With all these variables it is nearly impossible to recommend a proper humidity setting that is correct for everyone. The best humidistat setting is one that you are comfortable with.

Refer to the Relative Humidity Chart below for a starting point for the proper setting for your humidistat.

Generally, in a tighter and better insulated house, the humidistat may be set higher than in a drafty, uninsulated house. Also, as the out door temperatures fluctuate, it may be necessary to adjust the humidity level of your system a few times during the heating season.

When the amount of water vapor in the air gets to a point where it is higher than the air at that temperature will hold, it begins to condense out on colder surfaces such as wall or windows. When this happens, the humidistat must be adjusted to prevent this. A prolonged condensation problems can lead to wood rot, bacteria and mold or mildew growth. When you notice this condition, adjust the humidistat setting downward, and wait. If it still exists after several days, continue turning the setting down in 5% increments until it disappears.

If you experience static electricity problems, or personal health problems such as dry mouth or mucus membranes, bloody noses the humidity level is too low and should be turned upward in 5% increments until the problems disappear.