How to add humidity using a hydronic boiler
myuschak
| Posted in General Questions on
My daughter lives in northern New Jersey and has base board hot water heating. With the extreme cold weather and the low humidity, how can you introduce humidity into a house with this type of heating system. Indoor humidity level are suppose to be between 30 and 50% depending on the time of year. Hers is about 15 to 20 %
Thank you
Mark Yuschak
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Replies
The reduced humidity is caused by cold exterior air being drawn into the house and warmed by the radiators. The best way to increase humidity is to reduce drafts. Your best solution will be a blower door test to find the drafts followed by caulking and air sealing especially at the floor and ceiling to cut down on stack effect losses.
A sealed crawl and added attic insulation could play into the solution but a blower door test will help get your priorities sorted out. A humidifier will only make matters worse by encouraging mold growth and bad indoor air.
Mark,
I agree with Michael. It sounds like your house is suffering from air leaks. If you do some air sealing work, your indoor air will not be so dry.