Unlike regular humidifiers, furnace-mounted humidifiers can help a lot when it comes to distributing increased humidity evenly throughout the home, as opposed to just focusing on a single room. If you get a small humidifier unit and turn it on in your living room, for example, it will have very little effect on the bedroom, kitchen or dining area unless you move it around the house manually.
A far more practical solution is to get a humidifier for your furnace and use the HVAC system’s ducts to deliver moist air throughout every area of your home. In areas like Denver, where the weather is typically extremely dry, residents have to rely on superior humidifier technology to avoid the adverse effects of the local atmosphere’s reduced humidity levels.
The Different Types of Furnace-Mounted Humidifiers
There are a number of different types of furnace-mounted humidifiers, but the basic principle is generally the same: you have a unit that’s strapped onto some part of the HVAC system’s air ducts, and it uses them to deliver moisture throughout your home. Depending on the type of humidifier you have, you might need to mount it either directly on the hot air supply duct, or on the cold-air return duct, which is typically the case with flow-through humidifiers.
There are three basic types of furnace-mounted humidifiers that you can choose from:
- Flow-through humidifiers, which use freshwater that already flows through the system and drains away through the HVAC’s normal flow;
- Reservoir humidifiers, which use a reservoir of water that moistens a rotating drum;
- Steam humidifiers that heat up water through an independent heating system and then inject steam into the forced airflow of your HVAC system.
Furnace repair Denver CO contractors will tell you that each type of humidifier has its own unique pros and cons, and depending on what you actually want to achieve with it, you might find it best to choose one or the other. However, the actual benefits of selecting a furnace-mounted humidifier over a regular one will turn out to be pretty clear once you actually have the unit installed and working properly.
The Advantages of Installing a Humidifier on Your Furnace
Probably the main advantage of having a furnace-mounted humidifier is that it can use the furnace’s duct system, air flow and sometimes even the furnace itself to distribute and/or heat water so it can reach the various rooms in your home equally.
Another benefit is that you can use your furnace to distribute more or less humidity accurately to various rooms. If your ductwork is designed to control the airflow with good accuracy, then you can use it to also achieve different humidity levels in different rooms or areas of your home.
Many humidifiers are also designed with very precise humidity sensors and an accurate control system to keep the flow of water properly adjusted and even calibrated according to the airflow and heat output of your HVAC. If you suffer from a condition that requires you to stay in areas with heightened humidity and you live in Denver, then having one of these units installed is basically the best way to stay healthy despite your health problems.