Carrier humidifier uses too much water

**OldeEightSouth** · 01-12-2011, 08:12 PM

We have a Carrier furnace (installed in ~2000) with a built-in humidifier. Recently, I re-plumbed the water line to run off our RO instead of the regular water line because the "filter" was getting clogged 2 to 3 times per winter. The repair guy said it was because we have terrible well water - which we do.

But now, the humidifier uses up all the water from the RO pretty much all day every day. The RO is rated at 50GPD so the water use seems excessive. This is bad for several reasons but mainly we don't have any RO left to use for drinking, etc. and its a terrible waste of water. We have a very low producing well - about 6 GPH. We never noticed how much the humidifier used before because it was plumbed directly into the water line.

The humidifier is a Carrier HUMCCLBP2018-A which is a flow-thru type system and according to Carrier can use up to 3 GPH.

So how can I tell if this system is working correctly? It does humidify the house but it wastes water.

And, is there another humidifier that would use a lot less water and not be so wasteful?

Thanx all!

**ballvalve** · 01-12-2011, 08:43 PM

Buy a humidistat at Wallymart for 7 bucks, [good unit], and check the humidity.

Or go back to well water

Or disconnect it and get a 1$ plant mister and fog the house a few times a day. Or buy one of those 30$ chinese rock waterfall fountains and set it up in the house.
Puts water in the air and sounds nice too.

**cacher_chick** · 01-12-2011, 08:45 PM

I am not familiar with your model, but check to see that there is no water flowing across the humidifier bed unless the blower motor is running. It is not uncommon for hard water deposits to prevent the humidifier valve from closing properly. This causes water to flow all the time.

**PEW** · 01-13-2011, 11:42 AM

Another thing to check for is that there is an orifice to limit the flow. Be sure it was not removed, or enlarged, by someone due to restricted flow.

**OldeEightSouth** · 01-13-2011, 07:57 PM

So, we do have a weather station and the humidity is between 35 and 40% typically. The humidity level in the house seems fine.

I'm pretty sure the water only runs when the furnace is on but I'll check more closely. I've read that some humidifers pulse the water flow so less is used. I wonder if I can add something like that to my system?

Can you explain about the orifice to limit the water flow? There is a valve at the top of the humidifier that turns the water on and off as the furnace turns on and off - would the restricter be inside the valve or after the valve at the top of the humidifier? Would it be something like a shower head to spray the water around or more like a fine nozzle? I can't tell if the flow of water inside the humidifier is a stream or an aerosol or what. I'll look more closely.

Thanx all!