Growing up in a house with old steam radiators, our house was rarely dry, buying my first home and the home I have now they both had/have forced hot air and while the floor registers don’t infringe on floor space the dry air is something less desired. Water filled dishes on the heat registers, lobster pot of water simmering on the stove, not exactly the way I like to try to put moisture back in the air. Room humidifiers are an option but I would prefer something easier (who wants to have to clean multiple humidifiers weekly?)
I started researching furnace humidifiers, not the ones with the tray you put water in but rather a bypass system that attaches to your cold air return and then filters the moist air into your heat ducts. From what I’ve seen these aren’t super expensive either less then 150.00 to cover 3,000 sq ft, the most expensive part will be hiring an hvac tech to install it for you if you aren’t handy enough to install it yourself.
With spring here it’s still too cold to turn the heat off and my sinuses and skin have had it with the dry air, my dogs nose has had it too. I pulled out an old humidifier last night that I soaked in vinegar over night, put some bowls of water on the heat registers and tossed and turned all night having to constantly drink some water, this morning I have a big pot of water simmering on the stove. The spring air can’t get here soon enough, with rain coming in two days I hope it’s warm enough to open all the windows and get that moisture in the house. I know I’m a tad late at this time of year to be thinking of doing this – I guess you can say I’m super early for the 2013 winter!
Ed from my energy pal has a great video showing one of these furnace by pass humidifiers here