Not Changing Your Humidifier Pad Can Be More Harmful to Your Furnace Than Not Changing Out Your Air Filter

There may be some things you didn’t know about your whole house humidifier. We often find ourselves discussing the importance of regularly changing your furnace air filter with our clients.  But were you aware that it is just as important, if not more important, to regularly replace the pad in your whole house humidifier? Yep! You read that correctly!

If your furnace has a humidifier attached to the main housing – then you have a whole house humidifier. Approximately 90 ~ 95% of homes do in fact have a whole house humidifier attached to their system. The pad inside of that humidifier panel is regularly holding water for the purpose of humidification. Unfortunately, the hard water which is deposited for the humidification takes quite the toll on the filter pad. However, if the pad is not changed on a regular basis, it is inevitably it is going to first cause your humidifier to not work effectively, then it can cause even more damage to the electrical components of your furnace and A/C system.

To help ease your concerns – here are 3 simple things you should know about your humidifier to assure your furnace runs perfectly and efficiently in your home throughout the upcoming winter months.

1. What is a Whole House Humidifier Pad

The humidifier pad—also known as a water panel, water pad, evaporator pad, or filter—holds and distributes moisture to the air passing through your furnace. When the HVAC system demands heating or cooling air is pulled through your humidifier water panel and helps introduce much-needed humidity. When your whole house humidifier senses low humidity levels, more water gets added to the humidifier pad and passed to the air circulating throughout your house.

2. Why The Humidifier Pad Must Be Regularly Replaced

No matter how soft your home water, some levels of scale, rust, and minerals build up on the metal honeycomb mesh of your humidifier pad. These deposits decrease the amount of moisture your whole house humidifier system can add to your Chicagoland home. Furthermore, over time dust which swirls through the HVAC system, will settle on the panel. This creates the perfect petri dish for mildew and microbial growth to occur. As it develops on your humidifier pad and the system demands more moisture – it thusly intakes these microbial particulates, sends them through your whole system, and inevitably throughout your entire home. Food for thought here.

Our suggestion is to change your filter every 3 – 4 months to prevent buildup from contaminating your entire HVAC system or causing damage which is preventable.

3. How to Change Your Whole House Humidifier Pad

Unlike the wide variety of furnace filter types and sizes, nearly all whole-house humidifier pads come in the same size and type. They can easily be found at your general home repair and maintenance stores in the local area (Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards carry all the necessary components). To change out your old water panel, follow these steps:

• Turn off the power to your heating system via the fuse box.
• Take off the door cover from your whole house humidifier.
• Remove the entire humidifier filter, including the plastic frame, from the humidifier.
• Unclip one side of the plastic frame.
• Remove and discard the old humidifier filter.
• Clean your filter plastic frame which may have sediment, scaling, and rust debris build-up.
• Slide in the new filter and reattached the plastic frame.
• Replace the frame assembly into the humidifier.
• Reattach the cover to your humidifier and turn the power back on.

Home air care is extremely important. Most of us spend 70-80% indoors, therefore a great consideration should be given to the air duct system as a whole, but also some of those not so readily thought of maintenance responsibilities. With a great home, comes great responsibility! Do not be neglectful and put yourself and your family at risk!

Need help still? Give us a call at 847-526-6060, and we’ll be happy to walk you through the process!