We live out in west Texas where the avg humidity is dang near single digits. My son suffers from asthma and allergies and his Dr. recommended an entire home humidifier.

We need a unit that can maintain constant humidity range that ideally is attached to existing duct work. We are looking at an Aprilaire Model 800 Humidifier but are open to any ideas.

Our problem is we can can almost no one directly who has tried to ADD humidity to a house. So any and all recommendations are appreciated. Thanks all.

Does the Dr. Know of anyone that can add one?

I can't help for west TX but when we lived in Denver it was easy to get a whole home humidifier added to our HVAC. The HVAC manufacturer made one that bolted on the side. We already had plumbing in the area so it was nothing for the installer to run a drip line over to the humidifer.

Start with your HVAC manufacturer, see if they have a unit, then contact them for local installers?

Edit: We also upgraded the thermostat so that it would keep the humity within a certain range.

Dr doesn't have any brands he recommends. As far as a local HVAC company - some have never heard of installing one and the others just said "pick one" and they'll install it. SMH.

If you have someone you trust to install, I'd take a look at April Aire offerings and go from there. You can reach out to them directly to discuss options/needs and likely buy direct to, then just pay labor on the install unless your HVAC wants the markup from the equipment to warrant everything.

https://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/humidifier

APRILAIRE is a leader in their field and engineered to avoid the pitfalls and installer fears of adding humidity, which could into lawsuit mold if things go wrong.

If no authorized dealers/installers nearby, then you are looking at room dedicated ones, top-o-line with monitors.

Coming from heredity of asthma,
other suspects that trigger this that could be presented your doc
> filthy HVAC drain pan that needs periodic Slime Tabs placed in it after a thorough scrubbing - many have been sent to ER via 911 for this
> cat pee, be it in litter box or in undiscovered places
> foods not suspect but doc should have ordered an allergy test, perhaps shots (sugar, peanuts, dust, sulphites)
> suggest swimming be a new sport ... many asthmatics here, all with an advantage since their lungs have always had to work harder out of the water, but not in the water
> this should begin a search that might lead to IT, which isn't always the last suspect but an underlying cause that "fills the glass" until the last allergy in get the rap for the whole glass of suspects
> compost and similar environments (horse barns), hay, etc. to be avoided

We had an Aprilaire 600 installed about 10 years ago. Works fine. We only use it during extended periods of freezing (we're up in the godforsaken northeast). It does what it is supposed to do.

AggieTaco - thanks. Checking them out. Appreciate the link.

We had an allergy test done for my 3 year old son. No foods thankfully. I don't have the report in front of me but it was a lot of grasses and mesquite trees (a lot out where we live).

Being that he is 3 swimming isn't possible yet but almost. We are going to change out all the old wall to wall carpeting and replace with flooring. We have a cat but it's liter box is far away from him in the garage. Doubt it's peed in the house - I've checked with black lights but I'll check again.

Had not thought about the HVAC drain pan. I'll check it out this weekend.

Thanks for all the input.