Water supply to furnace humidifier.

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David Yates

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Am working with a friend and we have installed pex water supplies in his house. The new furnace came with a humidifier that has a small diameter plastic supply hose attached to the solenoid valve.

Rather than think about a saddle valve (All pex plumbing) is there any reason I should not just use a refrigerator supply braided hose (assuming 1/4” fitting) to supply the humidifier?
 

WorthFlorida

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I'll work. Those old style plastic lines can easily crack and burst over time. It happened to my son where someone ran one through a wall cavity into the attic and down to the refrigerator. About 2K in water damages.

I like to ask a question, On the rework using PEX, did you install it like copper with a loop around the home and tee off for the fixture or use a manifold and each fixture is on its own branch. I'm curious of the pressure at each fixture.
 

David Yates

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We just ran 3/4” to each area with water demand - bathrooms, kitchen, and then used small manifolds for each room. Self made manifold for distribution in basement. House unoccupied currently so no info on pressure but I would be amazed if it was unsatisfactory
 

Jadnashua

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I used soft copper to mine. Insert a T then run what you need to the humidifier. Note, depending on where the thing is, just a reminder, pex needs to be protected from UV exposure, so keep that in mind.
 

Dana

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Am working with a friend and we have installed pex water supplies in his house. The new furnace came with a humidifier that has a small diameter plastic supply hose attached to the solenoid valve.

Rather than think about a saddle valve (All pex plumbing) is there any reason I should not just use a refrigerator supply braided hose (assuming 1/4” fitting) to supply the humidifier?


Is there any reason to hook up the humidifier AT ALL?

Even in cool high-dry Calgary if the house is reasonably tight and occupied by breathing/bathing/cooking humans the wintertime indoor humidity shouldn't stray out of the human-healthy & comfortable range in winter unless the house is over ventilated.

A high indoor humidity in winter (=>40% @ 20C) puts the structural sheathing of a wood framed house at risk. Any air leaks or large gaps in the vapor barrier ends up accumulating moisture in the sheathing, leading to potential mold/rot issues. During the coldest weather it's best to keep the indoor RH at 25-35% @ 20C, when the sheathing is well below the +3C to +5C indoor air's dew point.
 

David Yates

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If it were my house I wouldn’t install one. In fact I had disconnected mine years ago. The owner of this house wants one though.
 
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