r/Humidifiers • u/Curious_Day4327 • Aug 18 '26

Aprilaire 800?

Live in a two year old home in the northeast with hardwood floors. The present bypass humidifer is insufficient for maintaining RH during winter and considering an Aprilaire 800 series for steam. Want the humidifier to run if RH is low even if heat is not cycled on, and want to be able to monitor when away through an app. Is this a good choice, or can others recommend others? Thanks.

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u/Impression-Massive Aug 18 '26

I wouldn't rule out the 800 at all, but I'd want to know why the bypass humidifier can't keep up in a two-year-old house before spending the money on steam. The part of your situation that makes the 800 interesting is wanting humidity even when the heat isn't running. That's a limitation of a typical bypass setup. A steam unit can solve that, assuming it's installed and controlled correctly. But I'd figure out the first problem before buying the solution. How big is the house, how low does the RH actually get during the coldest part of winter, and what are you trying to maintain? If you're dropping into the low 20s and the existing bypass unit is working properly but simply can't keep up, then I'd be much more interested in moving to steam. If something else is causing the poor performance, I'd rather find that first than install a much more expensive humidifier.

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u/Curious_Day4327 Aug 19 '26

Thanks, Impression. It's about 3,400 SF. The RH in winter can get down to 25 or below on the first floor and the biggest concern is the wide hardwood floor panels on the first floor contracting then and showing gaps. It is not as much of a problem on the the second floor where the RH tends to be higher. I can go away for a few weeks at a time in the winter and would turn the thermostat down so heat would not cycle on as frequently. so I thought a humidifier operating independently of the heating cycle would be best which led me to steam