During winter, houses may experience having dry air inside. Just like too much moisture in the air, a very dry air is also a bothersome thing for homeowners. Having dry air can result in having dry and itchy skin, irritation in your nose, and the most annoying high levels of static electricity. One way to avoid these irritating experiences is to add a little moisture to the air, and the best solution is a House Humidifier.
A house humidifier, also called as whole house humidifier, is a machine that helps remove the symptoms of having dry air by adding moisture in the air throughout your home. These machines also protect wooden items in your house. Usually, dry air is the number one cause of cracking and warping of wooden furniture and walls. If you are currently experiencing symptoms of dry air, the first thing you should know is how much does whole house humidifier cost?
Average Cost of House Humidifier
Often, a whole house humidifier is installed in your house’s heating and air conditioning unit. A professional will then hook the machine to the plumbing system to equally distribute the wet air throughout your home.
Usually, the cost of whole-house humidifier is around $100 up to $250. The price given is for a standard house humidifier. Normally, standard house humidifier is non-steam. The price also depends on the capacity of your chosen humidifier. If you want a high-end model, whole house humidifier installation price is around $400 up to $800. The breakdown of the price is $300 up to $500 for the humidifier and $100 up to $300 for the installation.
In looking for a humidifier, it would be best to find a humidifier that has an adjustable humidistat. Also, if you are attaching the humidifier to a central air conditioning, make sure that it has a bypass gate to block the moisture given by the humidifier during summer.
Some models of a humidifier can be installed easily. That is why some homeowners do not hire professional installation. But some models of humidifier require complex electrical wiring, complex plumbing, and sometimes require metal sheets skill. This will need the help of a professional which normally cost around $100 up to $300. The price might increase if you have a complex heating system. Because of this, the total cost of whole house humidifier increases by $200 up to $550. And for high-end models, humidifier installation with the help of a professional would run around $500 up to $1,050.
If you want to fully control the humidification inside your home, it is recommended that you install a Steam Humidifier. This type of humidifier is connected to your home’s system of ductwork. The steam humidifier also operates on the heating or cooling system of your house independently. Because of its special features, a steam humidifier is more expensive. Whole house humidifier installation price of steam is around $300 up to $1,100. Just like the other humidifier, the price depends on the capacity. There is also a steam humidifier that has an automatic humidistat that automatically adjusts whenever there is a change in temperature outdoor. Unlike the standard humidifier, steam humidifiers require professionals for installation because of its complexity. That is why the total cost of installing this type would run around $600 up to $1,600.
Always remember that most of the steam humidifiers use electricity to heat up, which makes the power bills higher than if you do not have one.
If you are having a problem of finding a good professional near your area, you can fill up the form in Improve Net‘s website, and they will be the one to find a professional HVAC in your area.
Extra Costs
There are also downsides if you want to increase the humidity of the air inside your house. One of it is it can enable dust mites to thrive and increase the growth of mold spores. To avoid this situation, you need to control that humidity of the air. One way is to have a humidity gauge. Humidity gauge will be the one to tell you the percentage of the humidity in the air inside your house. This may cost you an extra, but it can prevent further damages to your house. You can buy a humidity gauge at Amazon for around $15 up to $80.
Another cost that you will have to spend is the maintenance of your machine. Without proper maintenance, the effectiveness of your humidifier will decrease. Having proper maintenance for your humidifier will avoid further cost for the repairs in the future. It will also avoid the situation where you will need to buy and install another humidifier.
Installing a humidifier needs a ductwork. If your house doesn’t have a ductwork system yet, you will have to install one. Installing a ductwork system means a lot of repairs and renovation after. So you have to prepare a lot of money.
Factors
In installing a humidifier for your house, you will have to mind a few factors that might affect the total cost of the installation.
- The type of humidifier is one of the few factors that could affect the price. There are humidifiers that can be put on the tabletop and you can just simply plug it in an electric socket. But this type is only applicable to small rooms. That is why you will need the central humidifier. Compared to a simple tabletop humidifier, this one may cost a lot. But its effectiveness can be felt in your whole house.
- The next factor that you should mind is the model of the humidifier. There are a lot of models that have different features. The most affordable one is the non-steam central humidifier. But if you want more control, there are models with an adjustable humidistat to control the humidity of your house.
Inclusions
Now that you have an idea on how much does whole house humidifier cost, you will also need to know what should be included when you want to install one for your house.
Sometimes, if the heating system of your house uses hot water or electricity, professionals won’t install central humidifiers. They won’t also install it if your house has no ductwork system yet. The reason is that central humidifiers are attached to the ductwork of your house, specifically near the blower of the heating system that you have. Typically, furnace or heat pumps are the ones that are applicable with central humidifiers.
There are many systems which use a standard, non-steam central humidifier.
- The most common one is using the forced-air system. The dry air will pass through the system across a humidifying surface. The humidification of the air only takes place whenever the forced-air system is still operating.
- Another system that is used is the drum system. This type of system uses foam or fabric belts. The purpose of it is to move the moisture into the dry air. There is also called a disc wheel humidifier that is almost the same as drum system, but instead, it uses plastic discs to move the moisture into the air.
- There are also models called flow-through. In this type, it uses rectangular foam or even an expanded aluminum pad to transfer the moisture into the dry air.
- Another type is the spray mist system. This system sprays water vapor into the ductwork of the heated air.