New Bryant unit, thermidistat, shouldn't it be raising the humidity?

[sb023]

So I just got a brand new Bryant 16 seer straight cool, variable air handler and thermidistat. I assumed that the thermidistat was going to adjust my humidity in the house to comfortable levels. However, maybe it only does this in the summer???

Although it has settings for when to humidify (raise the humidity) and dehumidify (lower it) the humidify portion does not seem to work!

Here's what I mean, the humidity a week ago was about 26% and it was very dry in the house and we got shocked a few times. So, I went over and bumped up the humidify setting to 32% (thinking to myself, wow this is really cool, i never had this feature before). Sure enough when the heat came on again the humidify light now came on and I thought the humidity would start to go higher. Well, I was totally wrong, the weather got even colder out and now the humidity is around 23%.

So then I started thinking to myself, how is my air conditioner going to raise the humidity without adding water/moisture to the air, and where will it get that water/moisture from? I guess the answer is it doesn't !!

So, what good is the humidify function? I assume you would only need this in the winter and IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING IN THE WINTER.

I hope it works better at dehumidifying in the summer, because this is useless so far !

[vstech]

correct, unless you have a humidifier added to your straight cool system, you will not have any way to raise humidity.

[saylor240]

if it does not have a humidifier you cannot add humidity, it just has that as feature on stat in case you do have humidifier, ....in the summer it should make the a/c run longer at lower fan speed and this will cause de-humidification.

[z-bail]

How big is a humidifier and how much do they cost to add? Might not be worth it with the mild winters here though.

[saylor240]

dont know what cost is and size could be from a large toaster to a microwave from the ones i have seen. may be worth looking into....i hate static discharge....

[Shophound]

When a house runs humidity levels low enough in winter where you're seeing relative humidity levels in the low 20's at normal room temperatures, you're seeing a house that is receiving too much ventilation from outdoor air. This ventilation occurs naturally in almost all buildings; houses as conventionally built here in the USA can be especially prone to too much natural ventilation.

Specifically, this form of ventilation is known as infiltration and exfiltration. Air is entering your house from outdoors from low sections of the structure, and exiting the structure from high regions, such as upper walls, and ceilings that adjoin a ventilated attic.

An occupied house requires air ventilation for those living within to be healthy. The problem with most conventional construction is that there is no real way to effectively control this ventilation, so homes become too dry in winter and too humid in summer (in humid climates), requiring a large input of energy to offset this problem.

Bottom line: consider investigating weatherization of your house as the primary method to gain better humidity control of your indoor environment. "Tight" homes that are ventilated properly with controlled ventilation seldom need supplemental humidification in winter. While it is not as easy to achieve this with existing construction as with a new dwelling, significant strides can be made to turn a leaky house into a comfortable one.