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Posted by Bobb on January 28, 2008, 4:06 pm
You can never make the system absolutely dry down to 0% humidity. There will
always be some moisture up there. Even if you could get it to 0% and
completely sealed the vents, some moisture would get into the system from
the attic.
>> Maybe I wasn't clear enough. You have a SERIOUS PROBLEM. You are risking
>> the
>> health of your entire family. If you think respiratory problems from dry
>> air
>> are bad, wait until someone develops an allergic reaction to mold. You
>> can't
>> afford NOT to leave that fan on 24/7, at least until all the attic ducts
>> are
>> COMPLETELY dry, and monitored for at least a week.
>>
>> You need to get a contractor to properly install a good quality whole
>> house
>> humidifier in your first floor system.
>>
>> Do NOT seal off the vents, and DO leave the fan ON. You need to do some
>> serious reading about mold. It is absolutely DANGEROUS. Don't be stubborn
>> or
>> stupid or cheap. Don't play games with your family's health. If you
>> already
>> read everything on that other link, and STILL are not convinced, read
>> this:
>>
>> http://www.epa.gov/mold/
>>
>> Did I mention this is SERIOUS.
>>
>>
>>
>> >> You have some serious problems that need immediate attention. You've
>> >> already
>> >> started a "mold experiment". Don't cover any supply or return vents.
>> >> That
>> >> will just compound the problem by keeping moisture in the ducts. The
>> >> mold
>> >> is
>> >> already starting to grow. If you wait until summer, the mold will grow
>> >> faster.
>>
>> >> You don't say what kind of system it is. Your humidifier should only
>> >> run
>> >> when the blower is on. If it doesn't, get the idiot back who installed
>> >> it.
>>
>> >> You need to dry things out quickly and completely. Turn off the
>> >> humidifier
>> >> for the rest of the winter. Turn the thermostat fan switch to on and
>> >> leave
>> >> it there 24/7 for the rest of the winter. Monitor the moisture coming
>> >> out
>> >> the supply registers. Do this before your family develops serious
>> >> health
>> >> problems.
>>
>> >> Read this:
>>
>> >>http://www.energystarhomesamerica.com/mold.html
>>
>> >>
>>
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> > This year I'm using a whole-house humidifier on the 2nd floor of
>> >> > our 2-story home. Yesterday I found that there was quite a bit of
>> >> > condensation forming both inside the attic (insulated) ductwork, and
>> >> > on the surface of the ductwork between the duct itself and the
>> >> > insulating layer. I could squeeze the insulation and feel that it
>> >> > was
>> >> > full of water in a couple of spots. I cut out that insulation, and
>> >> > installed fresh insulation and re-taped everything.
>>
>> >> > I've got separate ceiling mounted sends/returns in each room. I
>> >> > plan on covering each with a vapor barrier (7-mil plastic and either
>> >> > tape or magnet strips). Questions:
>>
>> >> > 1. Will the vapor barrier on each send/return do the trick? That
>> >> > is, is this solution good enough to fix the problem?
>>
>> >> > 2. How worried should I be about the remaining damp insulation or
>> >> > the inside of the ducts still being wet? We have another 2 months
>> >> > of
>> >> > winter here, so the system will not be drying out on it's own
>> >> > anytime
>> >> > soon. Do you think it's okay to just wait until summer when the
>> >> > attic
>> >> > will get up to over 110 (F), and it will dry out on its own? Or
>> >> > should I do something sooner? I don't want to start a mold
>> >> > experiment
>> >> > up there.
>>
>> >> > 3. If I need to proactively dry the system out now, what is the
>> >> > best
>> >> > way to do that? I am thinking that I could turn off the whole-house
>> >> > humidifier for a couple of days to get the air inside the house to
>> >> > equalize in humidity to the outside (dry) air -- then just run the
>> >> > HVAC air handler fan for 24 hours to pull inside air through the
>> >> > duct
>> >> > system, hopefully drying it out (?)
>>
>> >> > Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated....thanks....
>>
>> >> > -Randy
>>
>> > OK, thanks for the response. The humidifier is a portable unit that
>> > sits on the floor upstairs -- it's not integrated into the system
>> > (actually, I should not have said "HVAC" -- it is really just an "AC"
>> > system).
>>
>> > No way I can leave the air handler fan on for the entire rest of the
>> > winter. Also, the humidity level in the house during winter drops as
>> > low as 20%, at which point we run into respiratory issues with a
>> > couple of family members.
>>
>> > So, I have to figure out how to dry this system out and have humidity
>> > control. You don't think sealing off the vents, assuming I can get
>> > the system dried out, will be enough?
>>
>> > -Randy
>
> Gotcha, thanks. I will make sure the system is absolutely dried out.
>
> Now, let's dial the clock back to before I turned on the freestanding
> whole-house humidifier. Assuming my ductwork was bone dry at that
> point in time, if I put a good vapor barrier over each of the send/
> return ducts in each of the rooms -- would that have been good enough
> to keep moisture out of the system?
>
> -Randy
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