
Aprilaire - Model 600
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i would never advise anyone to get a steam humidifier who does not have to. buy an aprialaire 600 bypass with the 65 controller that can run your furnace fan until humidity reaches setpoint. too much discharge water is because the orifice isnt right. they sell orifices. also, dont use piercing valves. they sell 1/4 turn valves. use that. you can control water excess with the 1/4 turn valve and the orifice. steam humidifiers are absolutely ridiculous.
I would say in general it is fine everywhere but certain members of the babys caregiving team insisted the baby needed sopping wet air 😓. Our central humidifier caps at 45% in its settings (Aprilaire 600 maybe? via Lennox thermostat) and in practice seems to max out around 40-42 simply bc our upstairs furnace doesnt run as much as it would need to to fully humidify. We do get small amounts of condensation on our (new very high performance) windows so we are practically maxed out on humidity, but some felt the baby needed more…
We charge about $1200 for an Aprilaire Model 600. Includes water line, low voltage wiring, 120 connected to transformer, bypass duct, humidistat controller, everything. I thought everyone does Aprilaire. Is your house, huge? Is there some reason you're asking for these 2 specific models? Edit: oh I see that first one is an Aprilaire. It's just a different type of humidifier. Unfortunately I'm not as familiar with them. But again, I'd question why you want that one instead of an Aprilaire Model 600 (by FAR the most common in my experience).
All you need is an Aprilaire Model 600. Easiest most common. Find someone to do it in the 900-1400 range. Depending on pricing in your area. Easy peasy. If you're in MN we will do it for you haha. Just my 2 cents. Been with my company 7.5 years and in sales just over 2 years.
Some clarification on his comment, I also wouldn't recommend a saddle valve (I call it a piercing valve) but the first quote is saying, I believe, "replace the saddle valve with a turn-ball valve". Regardless, it sounds like do not go with that first quote. WAY too high. The condensate pump, don't you already have condensate, for sure for an A/C cooling coil above the furnace, and maybe also for the furnace if it is high efficiency with PVC vent pipes. Shouldn't need a new condensate pump, but I'm not 100% sure you're setup. More just assuming. Otherwise yeah the 2nd quote might be just a bit high. Either use them or get one more quote. Again, I would just do an Aprilaire Model 600. Or a basic similar bypass humidifier. Should be 900-1400 I don't know if you're rural or city.
I feel your pain. We moved to Colorado a few years ago and finally found a solution that works. At first I had a whole home unit (AprilAire 600) hooked up to my furnace but since I have a tankless water heater so it will only run when the heat is on which is not long enough to increase the humidity to a decent level. So here is the unit I found on Amazon and for the last 3 days it has put 18 gallons of water into the air in my home and increased the humidity from low 20's to 40%. Not just one room either, my whole home. Let me know if you have any questions. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGR1N9T6?ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGR1N9T6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) EDIT: Oh yeah, it is an evaporative unit so no white dusk and it is very easy to clean.
We install the Aprilaire 600M and 800, so I think you're on the right track. FWIW, we haven't had noise complaints with the 800. The location matters, and it also depends on how noisy the heat pump is when it's running. Is the medical condition just cause sensitivity too humidity? Or is there a bigger indoor air quality component that'll require better ventilation and filtration? And depending on the age of the house, air leakage, and location (climate), I'd be concerned about going above 50% relative humidity in winter. It may or may not be an issue where you live.
I had an Aprilare 600 whole house humidifier installed about 8ish years ago. I highly recommend it.
Humidifiers make water. I install them on the return side so that if there is a water issue it's into your duct work, not onto your heat exchanger (furnace). The 600m is fine and less technology means fewer points of failure.
600 is a bypass air humidifier. 720 is fan powered. 800 is steam. 720 is 60% more water efficent over 600 model, has an easy to change hydrocore, and is better performing. While having no performance drop on 2 stage and variable speed furnaces. I'd go 720
Ive never heard of a single stage A/C that can't be paired to a two stage or modulating furnace before. Blower speed for the furnace heating will be variable, however for A/C cooling it will be a single constant airflow speed. To be honest with your current configuration the 600 will do just fine. However if you are considering a two stage model, which I will highly recommend, it should be paired to a 720 series.
As long as your return is 10” wide a 600 or 620 should work, good thing to know about the Automatic stat is it really needs a ODT to function the way it’s designed. Still nice to control the humi with the blower though if you can’t do get an ODT to work anywhere
Bypass humidifiers aren't junk. I'm not sure why anyone would say that other than a lack of understanding on how they work. If your house is relatively new or has tight construction and is around 2500 sqft. Put in a model 600Aor 620A. Use the digital humidistat that comes with it, use the blower activation. It's unfortunate that you have a tankless water heater because plumbing to hot water is better. Steam humidifiers have a lot more fault points and a much higher cost of operation and service. They do provide a lot of humidity quickly. I'm the case of humidifiers, if you install a bypass humidifier, start it running in fall as soon as you turn on your heat it will maintain your humidity properly throughout the winter.
You asked them to quote a humidifier they are trying to sell you a Cadillac. Did someone come out to take a look? The only real reason to put in a fan powered humidifier is because the installer can't get to both the supply and return ducts. You should install an Aprilaire model 600 (or 620) if possible. Also... One quote has a new power circuit and drain pump the other doesn't. Do you need those? Saddle valves are not to code but everyone uses them anyway.
Get a 600A unless your thermostat has humidifier control built in. The model 60 that comes with the 600A has blower activation which will sample your air hourly and run as needed to maintain humidity. Knowing the house size is great but knowing where you are generally located is also helpful. Climate, building style and equipment vary by location in the country.
The 720 is a brand new humidifier with unproven failure points. Same with the 620. Plus the water panel assembly is going to be a more expensive change. And my understanding is the 720 is louder than the old 700. I would stand by the 600. Aprilaie made the 620 and 720 save water but are you going to clean out the little orifice every time it plugs? The only way you know it's plugged is a loss of humidity. Then you have to go in with their little needle to hopefully clean it out?!? The OP lives outside Chicago where the mineral content in the water is definitely going to cause that to happen. Get a 600A if you don't use the Ecobee thermostat, a 600M if you do.
Get a 600A unless your thermostat has humidifier control built in. The model 60 that comes with the 600A has blower activation which will sample your air hourly and run as needed to maintain humidity. Knowing the house size is great but knowing where you are generally located is also helpful. Climate, building style and equipment vary by location in the country.
The 720 is a brand new humidifier with unproven failure points. Same with the 620. Plus the water panel assembly is going to be a more expensive change. And my understanding is the 720 is louder than the old 700. I would stand by the 600. Aprilaie made the 620 and 720 save water but are you going to clean out the little orifice every time it plugs? The only way you know it's plugged is a loss of humidity. Then you have to go in with their little needle to hopefully clean it out?!? The OP lives outside Chicago where the mineral content in the water is definitely going to cause that to happen. Get a 600A if you don't use the Ecobee thermostat, a 600M if you do.
Yes. The difference between the M and A is the humidistat so you're getting started to the cheaper option because you're going to throw out the manual humidistat. The Ecobee is going to be your humidifier control. The humidifier will run without heat at times (I assume the Ecobee can do that). There is a slight drop in output for the model 600 (all evaporative humidifiers) when there isn't hot air so it's recommended to plumb to hot water.
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