become a perfect mold distribution device. If your furnace is located in
a crawlspace or house attic area you might not even know that you have a
whole house humidifier installed. Please, check it or if you can’t,
have someone else do it for you. Those areas are always full of
surprises…
Whole house humidifier basic maintenance tips:
Furnace humidifier maintenance #1. Check your humidifier unit
visually on regular basis. If the humidistat is located somewhere close
to the humidifier, turn it to OFF position
and than back ON to the higher setting while listening for a “click”
like noise from the unit itself (flow through type humidifier / check
all whole house humidifier types).
If it clicks, the solenoid valve should be operating. After you hear
that click listen for the water running through the plastic tubing. If
the humidistat is on a different floor, ask someone to turn it, and
listen for the solenoid valve to click – this test requires furnace to
be ON / operating.
For the whole house humidifiers equipped with a float valve, you have
to remove the humidifier enclosure cover and slightly push the float
valve down to see if the water starts flowing.
Wick type whole house humidifier needs to be removed from the furnace air duct in order to
evaluate it.
Furnace humidifier maintenance #2.
Make sure that there’s no water dripping from the whole house
humidifier itself and any of its components
(water supply line, drain line, shutoff valve, enclosure, area
underneath the unit, or furnace itself)
Furnace humidifier
maintenance #3.
Replace the whole house humidifier water pad / evaporator pad / filter /
foam on seasonal basis (or more often if required, e.g. with private
well water). Make sure that you re-assemble everything correctly to
prevent water leaks
Furnace humidifier
maintenance #4.
Clean the whole house humidifier components contaminated with mineral
deposits after the heating season ends – it will be much easier to do it
when everything is still wet and soft. You can use 50/50 vinegar-water
solution for heavier contaminated components. Just soak them for 15-30
minutes (or longer if necessary) and that should help with cleaning.
