Aprilaire - 800 Whole-House Steam Humidifier
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Last updated: Dec 15, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
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"They are a safe bet and fo have great performance and reliability for the price. Plus 5 year parts warranty on all aprilaire products. Ontop of that parts for out of warranty repairs are widely available."
"Mines worked flawless with basic maintenance for 5 years strong so🤷♂️"
"They are a safe bet and fo have great performance and reliability for the price."
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"steam humidification will absolutely blow anything out of the water. It's just much, much better and completely water efficent."
"steam humidification will absolutely blow anything out of the water. It's just much, much better and completely water efficent."
"if you really want humidity control, you want the 800 series. ... evaporative humidifiers are basically limited to when your heat is running. otherwise, it's just a huge waste of water. ... 70 F degree ambient temperature air will pick up very little water from the pad. so you're spending electricity to run the fan and pouring water down the drain. heated air holds significant amounts of moisture."
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"After losing around 1% per hour down to 10-15% with gas furnaces running, I can now have the whole house around 35-40% with the Aprilaire 800 on a 5 ton unit for the largest area of the house."
"We had to take out our old whole house humidifier and put in an 800 to be able to get our house well above 30% through the winter."
"With the size of SQF to cover and plenty of moisture sucking wood, I'd advise to go with Steam Humidifier. ... Your late night bloody nose and Piano will thank you."
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"Maintenance consists of a replacement canister once a year, like $100. However, it's pretty much maintenance-free otherwise."
"Maintenance consists of a replacement canister once a year, like $100. However, it's pretty much maintenance-free otherwise."
"Mines worked flawless with basic maintenance for 5 years strong so🤷♂️"
2
0
"if you really want humidity control, you want the 800 series. ... evaporative humidifiers are basically limited to when your heat is running. otherwise, it's just a huge waste of water. ... 70 F degree ambient temperature air will pick up very little water from the pad. so you're spending electricity to run the fan and pouring water down the drain. heated air holds significant amounts of moisture."
"If you want ultimate humidity control, look into the Aprilaire 800 or the Aprilaire 800 with fan pack."
"If you want ultimate humidity control, look into the Aprilaire 800 or the Aprilaire 800 with fan pack."
Disliked most:
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"they designed it so if you have it installed they will cut out your wires and you will not be able to replace it with a normal thermostat without getting expensive wires repulled through your walls. ... The system uses a proprietary control panel with a touch screen that is not connect with the standard set of wires. They most definitely did cut the wires to interface the control panel at your furnace/air handler. There is no other way to wire it."
"Drawbacks of the 800 is its expensive to install"
0
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"expensive to run (electric bill)"
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"they designed it so if you have it installed they will cut out your wires and you will not be able to replace it with a normal thermostat without getting expensive wires repulled through your walls. ... The system uses a proprietary control panel with a touch screen that is not connect with the standard set of wires. They most definitely did cut the wires to interface the control panel at your furnace/air handler. There is no other way to wire it."
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"60 percent humidity in the dead of winter is insanely high. You would need a large whole-home steam unit to get to that point and you would have condensation dripping down your windows and, eventually, mold growth issues. ... If you want higher than that, you would need something like an Aprilaire 800, but I do not recommend this."
0
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"expensive to run (electric bill)"
"expensive to maintain"
I have a 5500 sq ft home and have been struggling with plug-in, fan based humidifiers that just don’t keep he humidity high enough. Hardwood floors are all cracking and filling up 20+ gallons across 3 humidifiers is a major hassle. The wife has cracking skin, the paint is coming apart. I just self-installed an Aprilaire 800 steam unit. It takes a little effort to arrange the power, water & drainage, but definitely worth it. After losing around 1% per hour down to 10-15% with gas furnaces running, I can now have the whole house around 35-40% with the Aprilaire 800 on a 5 ton unit for the largest area of the house. Floor boards closed up on first day. Power use is TBD. The install guide from Aprilaire is not great, but you can figure out with enough reading. I ordered a lot of extra parts for my horizontally mounted plenum and I wired it to a Nest 3rd Gen learning thermostat rather than the included humidistat with the Aprilaire. Extras 1. 240V isolation switch 2. Drain pan (used one for instant hot water) 3. 90-290Q fan relay for Google Nest as humidistat 4. Aprilaire drain trap assembly for plenum lower than steam unit (# 4028) 5. 1/4” anti-hammer valve for water line 6. 1/4” isolation valve to cut off water 7. 1/2” knockout clamps for electrical 8. LOTS of PVC for dedicated drains to outside 9. 20A main panel breaker 10. 18/8 copper cable to add humidifier (*) wire to Nest 11. 18 gauge wire to hook up relay 12. AWG 16 push-on crimp connectors for relay hookups 13. 4x2x8ft, 1/2x12x36 plywood, screws, 4x2 hangers for standalone solid mount separate to plenum Total cost of accessories was around $300. Plumber to install drainage was $663, 120ft electrical circuit professionally installed $450, Aprilaire 800 unit new $969 from Amazon. All in cost just over $2k and a few hours of effort. Well worth it! Good luck on your install.
r/hvacadvice • Installing a whole home humidifier.. few people told me steam is not possible with our layout while others say it is and recommend it ->Probably steam but I wouldn’t do steam unless it was a general or aprilaire steam humidifier that’s the canister style otherwise I’d do a standard aprilaire 400 humidifier that doesn’t require a drain, I would still hook a drain onto it regardless, and cost significantly less. They are still rated for 4000 square foot homes btw and do not require the same amount of maintenance as steam or the humidifiers that require a constant flow of water going thru them. Hope this is helpful and keep going.
r/hvacadvice • What are whole home humidifiers going for these days? Need one for our 4000sqft home with all hardwood floors, 2 hvac companies recommended steam ->Aprilair 800 is the best on the market
r/hvacadvice • Do I have enough clearance for the AprilAire 720a humidifier ->The 800 is the way to go if you have the money. Just make sure it's wired for 240v operation. It will work on 120v but you get similar output as the 600-700's
r/hvacadvice • Aprilaire 700 vs 700m vs 720 vs 800 ->My home has 2 natural gas forced air systems – a small system in the attic and the main one in the basement. Total area including basement is 2700 sq ft and I am near the r/nova area. I want to add a humidifier to the basement unit as the dry air is rough when the temperature is below 30f outside. There is not a lot of space on the return or supply. I have gotten 3 quotes so far. All 3 installers said they would need to build a box to make the 700 series fit. For the 800, the breaker box is just a few feet away (new 200 amp service and panel installed about 20 years ago). What’s the difference between 700, 700M, and 720? Should I go for the 800? Company 1: Aprilaire 700 for $1284, Aprilaire 800 for $3120 Company 2: Aprilaire 700m for $950, Aprilaire 800 for $2098 Company 3: Aprilaire 720 for $987, Aprilaire 800 for $2975 https://preview.redd.it/fatvyayena7e1.jpg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8dcfc4b630739ad7bf88e08848a5228416a4143 https://preview.redd.it/f8ygvayena7e1.jpg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c98770b69f6fb65ff9b4e57af1e6c4a1d6e600ee Bonus: The previous owners left some paperwork behind and had 2 different brands of humidifiers installed sometime in the 50s or 60s https://preview.redd.it/8cwiwcvgna7e1.jpg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66d62b5e46a16dc1c45ed73d311daf51a4953f11
r/hvacadvice • Aprilaire 700 vs 700m vs 720 vs 800 ->800. It really works well but uses a ton of power. Sometimes sounds like a clothes steamer.
r/hvacadvice • Aprilaire 700 vs 700m vs 720 vs 800 ->I went with the 800 steam. Highly recommend it. My house is drafty as it was built in 1956. The upper floor has a separate hvac system in the attic which does not have a humidifier. The basement steam humidifier easily keeps the entire house at 40% when it’s 35F outside. The outdoor temperature sensor enabled it to automatically drop to 30% when it was about 10 degrees out.
r/hvacadvice • Aprilaire 700 vs 700m vs 720 vs 800 ->And it actually works.
r/hvacadvice • Smaller dimension whole house humidifier recommendations? Bought aprilaire 700 and then measured and won’t fit (reposting from r/HVAC) ->We've had the aprilaire 800 steam humidifier for 12+ years now and really like it. It is expensive to run, but it keeps the house at our desired humidity.
r/hvacadvice • Fan powered Humidifier (720M) on return air or upgrade to steam humidifier (800)? ->The Aprilaire 800 is an option, however, it’s gonna be more expensive. The unit itself is more expensive and it requires a lot more maintenance than a 700. And it uses quite a bit of electricity when running. Great performance though.
r/hvacadvice • Smaller dimension whole house humidifier recommendations? Bought aprilaire 700 and then measured and won’t fit (reposting from r/HVAC) ->I installed my own Aprilaire 800 No gurgle, works great. Depending on water quality- tank electrodes may need to be replaced more frequent
r/hvacadvice • Best humidifier for dual fuel variable speed heat pump ->It’s definitely possible. I’d recommend a aprilare 800. It’d have to be mounted on the supply side of the furnace with the hydrometer on the return.
r/hvacadvice • Need suggestions for placement of a Whole home humidifier in a tight fit ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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