A Pittsburgh winter dries out an indoor home faster than most people realize. Between November and March, outdoor air holds very little moisture, and once that cold air gets heated up inside, the indoor relative humidity often crashes to 15 or 20 percent. That is drier than the Sahara. Skin cracks, sinuses dry out, lips chap, throats get scratchy at night, wood floors gap, furniture creaks, and the static electricity in your carpet zaps you every time you reach for a doorknob.

A whole-home humidifier mounts in your furnace or air handler and holds your house at 35 to 45 percent through the entire heating season. We install Aprilaire, the industry standard, in three designs depending on your home and your budget.

What dry winter air actually does

It is not just discomfort. There are real consequences to a 15 to 20 percent indoor home.

• Sinus and respiratory irritation. The mucous membranes that line your nose and throat dry out and stop working as a barrier against viruses and bacteria.
• Skin and lip damage. Persistent dryness, eczema flare-ups, cracked hands.
• Sleep disruption. Dry throat and stuffy nose at 3am. Many customers tell us they sleep better within a week of humidifier install.
• Static electricity. That zap from the doorknob is dry air.
• Wood damage. Hardwood floors, furniture, cabinet doors, and trim all shrink in dry air. You get gaps in your floors, sticking doors that no longer fit, and cracked panels.
• Higher heating bills. Humid air feels warmer than dry air at the same temperature. With a humidifier, most customers can set their thermostat 2 to 3 degrees lower and feel just as comfortable.

The three Aprilaire humidifier types

Bypass humidifiers (Aprilaire 600, 700)

The most common residential install. A bypass humidifier diverts a small amount of warm air from your supply duct through a wet evaporator pad and back into the return.

• Best for: most Pittsburgh single-family homes with a forced-air gas furnace.
• Capacity: handles up to about 4,200 square feet.
• Needs: a forced-air furnace, a water line nearby, a drain.
• Maintenance: annual pad change.
• Cost: lowest of the three.

Fan-powered humidifiers (Aprilaire 500, 700M)

Same wet pad design as a bypass, but with a dedicated fan that pushes air through the pad. Higher output than a bypass in the same size unit.

• Best for: larger homes, homes with poor blower airflow, or homes where a bypass loop is hard to install.
• Capacity: up to about 4,000 square feet.
• Needs: a forced-air system, water line, drain, and 120V power.
• Maintenance: annual pad change.
• Cost: middle of the three.

Steam humidifiers (Aprilaire 800, 865)

The premium option. A steam humidifier generates its own steam electrically and injects it directly into your ductwork. Highest output, most precise control, works with any HVAC system including heat pumps and air handlers without a furnace.

• Best for: large homes, multi-story homes, heat pump systems where supply air is not warm enough for a wet pad to evaporate properly, and anyone who wants maximum humidity capacity.
• Capacity: 6,000 square feet plus, depending on model.
• Needs: a 240V circuit, water line, drain.
• Maintenance: annual cylinder change (steam canister) for some models.
• Cost: highest of the three, and the only humidifier that works well with a heat pump.

Why steam humidifiers matter for Pittsburgh heat pump homes

If you have a heat pump (or a Bosch cold-climate heat pump, which we install often) and not a gas furnace, you have a specific humidity challenge. Heat pumps move air at lower supply temperatures than gas furnaces. A wet-pad bypass or fan-powered humidifier needs warm supply air to evaporate water, and a heat pump often does not produce hot enough supply to make those work well.

A steam humidifier does not care about supply temperature. It generates its own steam. For heat pump owners who want winter humidity control, an Aprilaire 800 or 865 steam unit is the right answer.

How an Aprilaire humidifier installs

Half day to full day depending on the model.

1. Pick the location. Bypass and fan-powered humidifiers mount on the supply or return plenum of your furnace. Steam units mount on the supply duct.
2. Cut and seal. Clean cuts, mount the humidifier housing, seal all openings.
3. Run a water line. Most installs need a quarter-inch copper or PEX line to a nearby water source. We tap the cold water with a saddle valve or a proper tee.
4. Run a drain line. Water that does not evaporate, plus blowdown water in steam units, drains away. We route it to your floor drain, condensate pump, or laundry sink.
5. Electrical. 24V for bypass and fan-powered. 240V dedicated circuit for steam.
6. Install a humidistat or integrate with your smart thermostat. Aprilaire humidifiers can be controlled by their own humidistat, the thermostat, or in some cases an outdoor temperature sensor that adjusts the target humidity based on how cold it is outside.
7. Commissioning. Run the system, verify water flow, confirm the humidifier kicks on with the furnace, take a humidity reading after a day of operation.

Setting the target humidity

For Pittsburgh, we typically aim for:

• 40 to 45 percent in mild winter weather (30 to 50 degrees outdoor).
• 35 to 40 percent in cold weather (10 to 30 degrees outdoor).
• 25 to 30 percent in deep cold (below 10 degrees outdoor).

Going higher in deep cold causes condensation on your windows and inside your walls, which leads to other problems. A good humidifier control automatically adjusts target humidity based on outdoor temperature. We set this up at install.

Maintenance

• Annual pad change for bypass and fan-powered. Quick, low-cost, takes 15 minutes.
• Annual cylinder change for steam units that use replaceable cylinders.
• End-of-season service. Turn the water off and run the unit dry, or have us do it as part of your fall HVAC tune-up.
• Beginning-of-season check. Turn the water back on, inspect for leaks, verify operation.

Wahl Club members get humidifier service folded into the annual HVAC tune-up.

Pricing

Flat-rate install pricing. Member and standard rates side by side. Financing through GoodLeap, Synchrony, Wells Fargo, and EasyPay.