Question from Rick:
"From what I read, it says to hook up to hot water? Is this for all installations or just the fix when not getting enough humidity using the blower activation relay? My solenoids fail after a couple years and will not flow. Appears there is a build up within the solenoid. Anything I can do to prevent this from happening? EXPENSIVE replacement for every couple years."
Aprilaire Replies
Thanks for the question, Rick. You need three things to humidify your home: water, air flow and heat. Plumbing to hot water is not generally required if you are running your humidifier in conjunction with your furnace, as the air is typically 120 degrees or higher. To give a little extra boost, we do recommend you plumb to hot water if you have a heat pump, which provides air temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees. Also, plumbing to hot water is required if you are using the blower activation relay to operate the HVAC outside of a call for heat. With no call for heat from your HVAC system, you need to heat the water to provide humidification. As long as your installing dealer sized your humidifier correctly, any application will provide you with all the comfort and protection of proper humidification throughout your entire home.
As for your solenoid valve issues, certain water conditions can lead to a shortened life. Plumbing to softened water can help lengthen the life of this device. Another solution is to contact your plumber and ask about an in-line filter that captures any particles that may be causing the failures.
Thanks again for your question, Rick, and thanks for buying Aprilaire!
Commented on by Robert F. at 1-6-2010 10:33 PM
My Model 700 just doesn't seem to be doing the job on my 2700 square foot house here in Louisville KY. My furnace man came out yesterday and pronounced it in good working order and observed that he didn't think it would ever get my house to 30% or above with the current outdoor temps of low 20s. Is that true? There is no way to get my humidity up to the proper level with your product? Thanks for any info or help you can provide. PS. 20 year old well insulated house with a new furnace and humidifier and your air cleaner also. No condensation on the windows and I have about 4 different hygrometers working since they all read a little different anyway. They are currently reading in the 20-25 % range.
Robert
A model 700 CAN deliver over 30% RH to a home your size and larger. But there are a ton of factors that may be affecting this. If it's colder than 20, it might be a challenge for the humidifier to maintain above 30%. And even though you say the house is well insulated, since it is 20 years old it may be a bit "looser" than newer homes; perhaps not using the latest insulation and maybe looser windows and/or doors. This could affect the capacity to deliver higher degrees of RH.
Take a look at the info in our owners manual for more info about the settings on the control. You might be able to adjust the setting slightly to increase the RH.
It might also help to use hot water to flow to the humidifier. Not essential, but it is more efficient to the evaporation process. This, along with running your blower more often than just when there is a call for heat, will increase vapor through your ductwork.
I've written about this interesting phenomenon before; that certain types of plants might act as air filters, absorbing pollutants in our homes and releasing cleaner oxygen.
I just ran across an interesting debate about this. One is a blog which reports the findings by NASA about the filtering benefits of plants.The other, which was someone who commented on the blog post, shares a link to Building Ecology, which disputes the evidence, stating that 1. plants filtering effects are negligible, 2. the NASA study was done in static chambers which don't accurately simulate a home environment, and 3. Get this: Plants could actually contribute to poor indoor air quality, releasing excess moisture when it's already too humid. And if pesticides and fertilizers are used, those are no picnic for the indoor air we breathe.
So now you have two sides to story.
Anyway, the Building Ecology site has alot of other interesting information about Indoor Air Quality. Spend some time there.
For example, it sites a study that shows that sunlight, and its production of Vitamin D, may help control the spread of H1N1 and other viruses by assisting in "proper immune system functioning and could play a role in resistance to infections such as the influenza virus".
The site is also quick to stress "the importance of scrupulous standards of hygene to combat the spread of viruses". So don't let your guard down just because the sun is shining! Mr. Sun may help, but you still have to wash your hands!!!
It's like when we talk about the benefits of using air cleaners to reduce contaminants in our air. These are real benefits to be sure! But they should be used IN CONJUNCTION with proper hygene and taking normal precautions to avoid exposure. DUH! An air cleaner won't protect you from someone sneezing in your face, for example. Or from someone scrathing their nose and then touching your silverware with H1N1. Eeww!
So, let the sunshine in, get some fresh air, filter the air you breathe in your house and keep your hands clean (and every other surface you can reach). And if Aunt Gladys is sick with the flu, tell her to stay home and rest. It'll do you both good.
Here's to a 2010 without H1N1.
This type of pollution isn't just found in ice arenas or the like. Think about it...do you have an attached garage? That pollution from your car can easily make it into your home. During this time of year when it's cold outside and everything is buttoned down that pollution lingers inside your home. Add a high efficiency air cleaner to your HVAC system and you can remove that pollution before your family breathes it.
Mr. T. Cadorette- a Homeowner in Sun City shared his story:
“We are looking for Comfort. We did not like the smell in our home. We would clean and odors would remain. We tried potpourri. Our carpet was feeling wet or damp when you walked on it. At night I would get sweaty and would have trouble breathing. We also kept our thermostat in the low seventies during air conditioning season.
“Yes, we smoke in the house and now it is hard to tell. I feel it is because Prestige (our HVAC contractor) installed an Aprilaire Dehumidifier. Our carpet feels drier and I do not have night sweats anymore. In fact we have been able to be comfortable in our home with the thermostat set in the high seventies during the summer. Our home does not smell anymore either.”
Recently Aprilaire came out with an upgrade to the original 201/401 media. The new MERV 13 media uses new technology that holds more dust, captures nearly twice as much particulate and restricts less airflow throughout its useful life. We use the new style media in our 2000 and 4000 series air cleaners, but the greatest thing about it is you can upgrade your current Aprilaire Air Cleaner to use the improved media without having to buy a whole new air cleaner. We have an upgrade kit that slides into your older air cleaner and allows it to accept the new media. You only need to purchase the kit once and then you just replace the new media just like you did the 201 and 401 filter. You can get the upgrade from your normal heating and air conditioning contractor; if you are interested in capturing more dust and more particulate out of your homes air just tell your contractor you want to upgrade! You can even do it yourself it takes about 2 minutes and you don't need any tools.
It doesn’t matter if you have a 1” filter or you have an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner make sure your filter hasn’t past its useful life.
If you only use a 1” filter you should seriously consider having an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner installed. 1” filters have 3 major problems with them. First, they are either low efficiency (Meaning they don’t capture much particulate out of the air.) or they are high efficiency, but also have a high pressure drop (Meaning they restrict the air going through them. Picture a brick wall it would make a great filter, but no air could get through it.) high pressure drop wastes energy and puts more stress on your HVAC system meaning it shortens the life of your system. The final drawback to a 1” filter is cost; a $12 filter that lasts 30 days will actually cost you $144 a year. An Aprilaire replacement filter lasts 1 year and will cost you less then half the amount of replacing 1” filters plus you’re getting a better performing filtration system that requires less maintenance. For the benefit of your HVAC system and your family’s health think about ridding your life of 1” replacement filters and make the move to an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner.
Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you feel cold and clammy, even though the temperature seems to be at the right level? Do you have musty odors or smells in any areas of your home? It could be that your home’s relative humidity (RH) is high.
Excess RH can cause all of the above and more. The old saying "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" rings true in many ways. Excess RH can cause discomfort, trigger health issues such as allergies and asthma, and cause severe damage to your home. Experts in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) agree that maintaining your RH between 30% and 60% is optimal to control or eliminate problems associated with excess moisture in the home. The question is, how can you do this? The answer is, with a whole-house dehumidifier from Aprilaire.
Aprilaire is your whole-house solution
Unlike portable dehumidifiers that only remove moisture from the room they're in, Aprilaire works in conjunction with your home’s HVAC system to efficiently remove moisture from every room of your home. Maintenance is also a breeze with Aprilaire, as only periodic cleaning of the air filter is required. No messy, heavy tanks to empty and clean on a daily basis, which is what you have to do with the portables.
Call your local Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your whole-house dehumidifier today. Your dealer can help you choose the model that is right for your home and make it possible for you to sleep better tonight.
Aprilaire - Protecting you and your home for over 50 years!
Do you have high levels of moisture in your condominium or town-home, but don't like the fact that portable dehumidifiers are noisy and an eyesore? Not to mention the pain-in-the- back hassle of emptying the tank every day. If so, Aprilaire has the whole-house solution for you.
Compact size makes dehumidification easy
The Aprilaire Model 1730A dehumidifier is the solution to whole-house dehumidification in smaller homes and condominiums. Its compact size allows for easy installation in smaller equipment closets where standard-sized units won't fit. It works in conjunction with your HVAC system, quietly removing damaging moisture from every room in your home. Maintenance is a breeze; all you have to do is clean or replace the air filter on an annual basis. There are no messy tanks to empty and clean, no stress on your back, and no hassles.
Contact your local Aprilaire dealer and schedule the installation of your Aprilaire whole- house dehumidifier today. You'll be glad you did.
Aprilaire - fresh ideas for indoor air.
Your HVAC equipment can both help and hurt the quality of your homes air. If you take care of your equipment by having an Aprilaire Whole Home Air Cleaner installed your HVAC will help to make your home healthier. If you neglect your HVAC system it can become a breeding ground for unhealthy stuff to be spread throughout your home.
Take action now to make your home healthy. Call your local Aprialire Contractor today for solutions to improve indoor air quality.
I don't often link to blogs because there are so many out there that go right to poorly-worded content about how great portable room air purifiers are without giving mention to whole house solutions. Of course they always link to ads for.....room air purifiers. Horray!
Here's a better one! Not only because it discusses whole house solutions but also because it doesn't have an ad associated with its contents. Pretty credible, then.
For anyone who owns an Aprilaire 2000 series or SpaceGardAir Cleaner, you can now upgrade to a higher efficiency filtering media.
If you change filters yourself, you should be asking for the 1213 or 1415 Upgrade Kits to replace your old 201 or 401 filtering media.
If these Upgrade Kits are not available where you usually purchase your filter, then you are either buying cheaper, less-efficient knock-offs at a home store or hardware store, or you are buying filters online or from a dealer who should be offering the upgrade kits instead!
The best way to handle this is to call your local Aprilaire dealer and tell them you want to upgrade!
Why upgrade? The new kits are easier to install, but the best reason is that they are up to 2 times more efficient at removing crap from your air; Better air for you to breathe and better protection for your expensive HVAC system.
Isn't that the reason you have an air cleaner in the first place?!!??!
Yes an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner does really work and it would most certainly help to reduce the amount of pet dander in your home's air. But I would be remiss to say that if you installed an Aprilaire whole home air cleaner all your problems with your granddaughter would be solved. A whole home air cleaner will remove particulate from the air and if you run your fan all the time the air cleaner will constantly be cleaning your air, but if you have pets in your home it's going to be almost impossible to get rid of all the dander in the air. Further, the air cleaner isn't going to help remove the particulate that has settled on your coffee table or carpet. For a less severe case of allergies I would say that air cleaner would be enough, but it sounds like she's got a severe case of allergies and although the whole home air cleaner will help remove allergens it's not going to make your home completely allergen free.
Installing an Aprilaire 4000 Series Air Cleaner with MERV 13 performance and One Touch Control would be a great option for you and make your home more accommodating for your granddaughter; an Aprilaire Model 5000 would be an even better option for you as it is our most efficient air cleaner.
"Those with asthma are four-times more likely than those without the
respiratory disease to end up hospitalized if they contract H1N1, and Dr.
William Busse of the UW School of Medicine says that's raising concerns about
the effectiveness of the vaccine among that population.
Researchers at the UW School of Medicine are now looking for possible
interactions between asthma sufferers and the H1N1 vaccine. They're conducting
clinical trials to determine how much of the vaccine needs to be given to people
with asthma, along with what impact any medication they're taking could have on
its effectiveness."
When we seal-up our homes for the on coming flu season, it's important to remember to take preparations to prevent sickness in ourselves and family. Gargle with mouthwash or salt water, wash hands regularly, keep your hands away from your face and keep your home as clean as possible. One way to do this is install a whole home air cleaner. Getting a high efficiency air cleaner can removes up to 98% of the airborne particulateit traps from your air, down to .3 micorns (including virus sized particulate).
Aprilaire makes the model 5000 electronic air cleaner that captures and kills small virus sized particles. Go to www.aprilaire.com to learn more about high efficency air cleaners today.
Pet dander is an uncomfortable reality for many people. Swollen eyes, itchy nose, and sneezing are all symptoms of a four leg allergy. If this describes the relationship between you and your fuzzy critter then read on Scratchy!
Interestingly, airborne dander and hair can be captured by a whole home air cleaner. A whole home what, you ask. Yes, a whole home air cleaner. This air cleaner attaches to your air handler and cleans the air of particulate as small at .3 microns. Go to Aprilaire.com and learn how a whole home air cleaner can be the foundation of a beautiful relationship between you and your furry four legger.
It is totally true - properly humidified air is healthier, more comfortable and can save energy. Of all the indoor air quality issues and products made to fix those issues, a whole house humidifier probably addresses the most problems in the easiest way.
A dehumidifier does too, for the same reasons.
Air cleaners, purifiers, ventilation and all those things are important; especially if you have chronic respiratory health problems or allergies.
But even if you don't, being more comfortable while you breathe healthier air is a slam dunk! Humidity control is what it's all about.
Comment from Denise
It's time for me to replace the filters on my Aprilaire humidifiers. Please contact me with information on how to do that. Thank you.
Hi Denise,
The filters you refer to are called water panel evaporators and they are the heart of an Aprilaire humidifier. This is where the moisture is picked up by the air in your heating system, and from there is distributed throughout your home. To maintain optimum humidifier performance, it is recommended that you change this item on an annual basis.
The best way to have your humidifier properly serviced is by your local Aprilaire dealer. Your local dealer will have the expertise to not only change out the water panel evaporator, but also to check other critical aspects of the humidifier to ensure it performs properly this upcoming heating season.
If you feel you can do it yourself, you can still purchase the water panel evaporator over
the counter from your local Aprilaire dealer. If you don't have a dealer, you can purchase from the Aprilaire e-store. All orders ship out same day for your convenience.
Thank you for your inquiry, Denise. And thank you for supporting Aprilaire.
When it comes to indoor air quality concerns, there are special considerations for condo owners, apartment dwellers, etc.
In some cases, if you can't control the ductwork in your dwelling, you're stuck with portable solytions to humidity control and air cleaning.
For many condo owners, though, there may be avenues if you have control of a ducted HVAC system. Aprilaire now has humidifiers, dehumidifiers and even air cleaners that are small enough for many condo applications.
Your local Aprilaire contractor should be able to determine the products that are right for your home.
Do electronic air cleaners have MERV ratings?
Electronic air cleaners cannot be given a MERV rating.
The reason is this. The MERV test standard (ASHRAE standard 52.2) requires the use of a specific “loading” dust to simulate the effect of time, where the filter gradually captures more dust. This “loading” dust contains a significant percentage of carbon. The carbon in the dust causes shorting in the electronic component of any electronic air cleaner, reducing the removal efficiency below the level it actually performs at (carbon dust is not normally present in homes).
Because of this, the only test that can be performed is the initial efficiency test, which is not enough to get a true MERV rating per the ASHRAE standard. If we tested the Aprilaire Model 5000 by replacing the carbon based dust with a non carbon dust that is the same particle size the Model 5000’s performance will be equal to a MERV 16, but this is the official test.
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