System:
Lennox SLP98 70k Furnace
Lennox XP 16 2-ton HP
iComfort wifi T-stat
iComfort zoning controls (3 zones)
Aprilaire 600 humidifier fed with hot water & controlled by t-stat
Humidifier level in t-stat set to 45% (t-stat typically keeps it up to 40% and considers it good if within 5% so I set it 5% higher than what I want which is 40%)
House is 5 years old and low infiltration levels based on blower door tests
So conveniently during the -18F weather it appears my humidifier stopped working. The humidity in the house plummeted down with the outdoor temperature and bottomed out at 22% but I expected that as the t-stat should adjust accordingly to help reduce window condensation. Once the weather warmed up again, the humidity level didn't increase with it. Upon investigation I found the solenoid valve on the humidifier was not working or at least plugged and not allowing any flow when open. I couldn't clean it enough to get adequate flow so I replaced the solenoid valve.
After the valve replacement, there was good flow and now there is a steady stream of water coming out of the humidifier and to the floor drain as I would expect. It has been this way for over a week now but my humidity still isn't where it should be. Humidity levels are now up to 33% but I think that was more a result of outdoor temps reaching 60F+ and RH levels outdoor raised bringing in outside moisture instead of the humidifier doing work.
Could this be an issue of something as simple as an old humidifier pad? The one in there is 2 years old. At the start of winter I took it out and washed all the white powder (i think that is salt because we have soft water) and put it back in use. It currently does not have any of the white powder buildup on the pad. Seems odd as I would have thought there would be some level of buildup after a couple months of usage.
One other thing that could impact this is that i ran my softener out of salt sometime in january and I think i stopped having softwater for a couple weeks.
Any suggestions on what might be going on?
Lennox SLP98 70k Furnace
Lennox XP 16 2-ton HP
iComfort wifi T-stat
iComfort zoning controls (3 zones)
Aprilaire 600 humidifier fed with hot water & controlled by t-stat
Humidifier level in t-stat set to 45% (t-stat typically keeps it up to 40% and considers it good if within 5% so I set it 5% higher than what I want which is 40%)
House is 5 years old and low infiltration levels based on blower door tests
So conveniently during the -18F weather it appears my humidifier stopped working. The humidity in the house plummeted down with the outdoor temperature and bottomed out at 22% but I expected that as the t-stat should adjust accordingly to help reduce window condensation. Once the weather warmed up again, the humidity level didn't increase with it. Upon investigation I found the solenoid valve on the humidifier was not working or at least plugged and not allowing any flow when open. I couldn't clean it enough to get adequate flow so I replaced the solenoid valve.
After the valve replacement, there was good flow and now there is a steady stream of water coming out of the humidifier and to the floor drain as I would expect. It has been this way for over a week now but my humidity still isn't where it should be. Humidity levels are now up to 33% but I think that was more a result of outdoor temps reaching 60F+ and RH levels outdoor raised bringing in outside moisture instead of the humidifier doing work.
Could this be an issue of something as simple as an old humidifier pad? The one in there is 2 years old. At the start of winter I took it out and washed all the white powder (i think that is salt because we have soft water) and put it back in use. It currently does not have any of the white powder buildup on the pad. Seems odd as I would have thought there would be some level of buildup after a couple months of usage.
One other thing that could impact this is that i ran my softener out of salt sometime in january and I think i stopped having softwater for a couple weeks.
Any suggestions on what might be going on?
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?2226948-Humidifier-Issues&goto=newpost
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