Purchasing a humidifier may be one of the best decisions you ever make. This is especially true if you live in a dry climate where humid air is rare or infrequent.
Here’s the thing, though: sometimes, one humidifier just isn’t enough. Now, this isn’t always the case, but sometimes it is.
If you aren’t sure how many humidifiers you need for your house, then this is the right guide for you. By reading through this guide, you will be able to figure out how many humidifiers you need for your house.
The Two Key Factors To Consider
No matter the house you live in, or the type of humidifier you intend to purchase, there are two key factors you must consider: the size of your house, and the insulation within your house.
The size of your house is extremely important to know and consider. A larger house will require more humidity, on a daily basis, then a smaller house. The opposite is, of course, completely true as well.
A well-insulated house will require less humidity than a poorly-insulated house. Even if a well-insulated house is larger than the poorly-insulated house, there’s a good chance that it will still require less humidity, on a daily basis, than the poorly-insulated house.
Regardless of what you are looking for, or what you think is right, consider the size of your house and the current status of your house’s insulation.
A Poorly-Insulated House
A poorly insulated house is a house with very little insulation. As a result of possessing very little insulation, more humidity needs to be generated on a daily basis than homes with more thorough insulation.
Poorly-insulated houses that are 500 square-feet require 1-gallon of humidity per-day. A 1,000 square-foot house that is poorly insulated requires around 4-gallons of humidity per-day. A 2,000 square-foot house that is poorly insulated will require 10-gallons of humidity per-day.
Given those measurements, for poorly-insulated houses that are around 1,000 square-feet, or larger, two humidifiers are ideal.
A Mostly Well-Insulated House
Most houses are “mostly well-insulated”. A “mostly well-insulated” house is a house with some insulation and a vapor barrier but, along with that, a lack of well-insulated doors and windows.
For a mostly well-insulated house, the exact amount of humidity – and the humidifiers that you need – is dependent on the size of the house.
A 500 square-foot house will require 0.5-gallons of humidity per-day. A 1,000 square-foot house will require around 3-gallons of humidity per-day. A 2,000 square-foot house will require 8-gallons, give or take, of humidity per-day.
For homes that are 1,000 square-feet, or smaller, one humidifier is just fine. But, for homes larger than that, two humidifiers is ideal.
A Very Well-Insulated House
A very well-insulated house is a house that is thoroughly insulated; insulation in every wall, insulation in the doors and windows, a strong vapor barrier, as well as a dampened fireplace.
Since very well-insulated houses are very well-insulated, they require less humidity than houses that are less well-insulated.
A 500 square-foot well-insulated house requires very little humidity – to the point where it isn’t worth measuring – since the humidity is contained in the house with ease. A 1,000 square-foot well-insulated house will require 1.4-gallons of humidity per-day. A 2,000 square-foot well-insulated house should require no more than 4.9-gallons per-day.
With those measurements in mind, many well-insulated houses can make do with just one humidifier. For larger houses, though, two humidifiers is definitely ideal.
