01-02-2018, 04:42 PM
We never got a all house humidifier installed for various reasons and use portable ones instead. The downstairs portable humidifier had a dead fan (and no way to replace) so we got one of those ultrasonic kind that creates a cloud of moisture from it's vent. The previous one used a wick and blew air over that to evaporate the water. We have really hard water here. Even with the softener, the wicks got hard in no time, I thought this no-wick type of humidifier would save us time and money.
About a week after using it, we noticed that the gas burners on the stove had orange flames. Checked everything I could, and finally called the gas company as we saw the odd flames on the furnace burners also and thought we had a system-wide issue. The gas company's first question was if I was using a humidifier. Odd.... "Yes". They said that's the issue, it's burning off minerals. Sure enough, turn the thing off and a day later, no more orange. But the house is dry so we use it anyway.
Fast forward to yesterday.
The furnace won't heat the house adequately. It's a year old Lennox 85% efficient gas furnace. Worked great all last year and this winter until yesterday. Air flow is anemic, the flue is super hot, the main duct is lukewarm, the burners are cycling on and off in short order. Call the furnace guy (it's on warranty!). He says the two week old filter is clogged with what looks like drywall dust. Also some sensors are dirtied up. Yep.... The same calcium/mineral dust that was causing the orange flame is airborne and messed up the furnace. Change the filter, cleaned it up and we are back in business.
Has anyone seen such a crazy thing before? I suspected those type of humidifiers could cause a "white dust" situation, but not to this degree.
At any rate, call it a cautionary tale. The goofy humidifier is going back and I'll come up with plan "B" to add moisture to the house.
About a week after using it, we noticed that the gas burners on the stove had orange flames. Checked everything I could, and finally called the gas company as we saw the odd flames on the furnace burners also and thought we had a system-wide issue. The gas company's first question was if I was using a humidifier. Odd.... "Yes". They said that's the issue, it's burning off minerals. Sure enough, turn the thing off and a day later, no more orange. But the house is dry so we use it anyway.
Fast forward to yesterday.
The furnace won't heat the house adequately. It's a year old Lennox 85% efficient gas furnace. Worked great all last year and this winter until yesterday. Air flow is anemic, the flue is super hot, the main duct is lukewarm, the burners are cycling on and off in short order. Call the furnace guy (it's on warranty!). He says the two week old filter is clogged with what looks like drywall dust. Also some sensors are dirtied up. Yep.... The same calcium/mineral dust that was causing the orange flame is airborne and messed up the furnace. Change the filter, cleaned it up and we are back in business.
Has anyone seen such a crazy thing before? I suspected those type of humidifiers could cause a "white dust" situation, but not to this degree.
At any rate, call it a cautionary tale. The goofy humidifier is going back and I'll come up with plan "B" to add moisture to the house.
“Poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten”
