It is running but the house is only at 20% after a full week. Why can I not get it to 35% of so? I see water running when the furnace is running, So, I know it is working. My house is only 1600 sqft and it is an HE220A. the unit is on the cold air intake with the bypass about 2 ft away on the hot air supply.

Hello, is there water going down the drain tube, if so then the humidifier is working. The pad does not really get saturated the water just trickles on the pad and the the fan blows it into the air duct. your outside air temp determines what your humidistat should be set at.

Outside Temperature -10 F 0 F 10 F 20 F 30 F Recommended Indoor
Relative Humidity 20% 25% 30% 35% 35%

Hope this solves your problem, look for the humidistat, it should be located on cold air return duct near furnace, make sure it is not set in the on position, if it is, then this is why it is staying on, please set humidistat any where from 20 to 35%, never over 40%. If the humidistat is set properly and is still running, you may have a electrical problem, humidifier circuit should only receive power(24 volts) when the indoor blower motor of furnace receives power, also if you have galvanized plumbing in your home, you may have a piece of rust or lime deposit in the humidifier solenoid valve preventing it from closing, turn water off to humidifier and disconnect water supply line entering solenoid valve inspect & clean protector screen. Good luck.

Hope this helps, check and see if humidistat is set to 35% humidity and that bypass damper on humidifier is in the open position or winter position.(humidistat is usually located on cold air return duct near furnace). Next, replace humidifier media pad, remember to replace media pad (filter) annually, you also may want to clean any lime deposit out of humidifier housing with a solution of warm water and white vinegar before installing your new media filter.Remember to turn power off at side of furnace when cleaning humidifier and replacing media. Before installing new media turn power back on to furnace, set humidistat to the on position, turn furnace thermostat above room temp., and inspect humidifier to see if water is running from top,(you may want to have a bucket under humidifier when checking for water), if you see water running, turn power back off to furnace, properly install new media filter, reconnect humidifier cover & set humidistat to 35%. If you do not see water present, check water supply valve to humidifier and make sure its turned on. If water supply valve is open, then check water supply tubing for blockage.And the last things to check is to make sure all registers through out your home are open and not blocked by any objects, also make sure furnace filter is cleaned, if none of this works refer to installation manual to see if humidifier was sized and installed properly, Good luck.

unless the humidty in your home is higher then 35%. if it is then the humidifier would not run. try turning it up higher and see if it comes on. Do you hear a click in the humidistat? as you turn up the dail when you hear the click is when the humidifier should come on. Also remember your furnace must be running for the humidifier to come on. if you hear the click and the humidifier fan comes on but no water, you may have a clogged inline filter located in the solinoid valve or a bad soliniod. all parts for your humifier can be purchased from www.aprilaire.com

you need to make sure your humidity level in the house isnt higher then what your humidifier will provide at any givin outdoor temp. this chart is in the owners manual. you cant remove the wires going to the ODS or it will give an error unless you have a resistor to put in its place. Anyway if the humidifier works in test mode according to AA it works so you may have higher humidity than you think, the highest your gonna get is 45% as the temp outside drops it will allow less humidity so it doesnt cause window condinsation (property damage) here is a copy of the chart. the #s on the left are the dial setting
TABLE 2 – % Relative Humidity Guide
Outdoor Temperature (°F)
-10°F 0°F 10°F 20°F 30°F 40°F
1 10% 10% 10% 15% 20% 25%
2 10% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
3 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
4 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
5 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
6 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 45%
7 30% 35% 40% 45% 45% 45%

You may need to replace the valve that is wired to the furnace that controls the water flow

sounds like to me you have a condensation pump attached to your hvac system. this can be used to pump water produced during the cooling of your house when in the a/c mode. if you have a typical bypass humidifier, you will have excess water running past the water panel and it must be sent to a drain of some kind. I would imagine the pump is being used to get your bypass water to the drain. another scenario may be that you have a 90% condensing furnace. if your exhaust pipe for the furnace is made out of pcv pipe, it is a condensing gas furnace. it will produce water when it is running. the water if from the combustion gases being condensed in the secondary heat exchanger. this is normal. some condensing gas furnaces will draw combustion air from inside the house and some will have a second pvc pipe that is used to pulll combustion air from the outside of the house. either way, it is not dehumidifying your house. the humidifier should be able to keep up if it is runnng properly. you should have water running out the bottom drain of the humidifier any time the fan on your furnace is running and the humidistat is calling for humidity. if this is not happening, it is not wired properly.

Thanks for your question,
Well thats the big problem with bypass Humidifiers, they use alot of water, is yours running all the time, even when the furnace is shut down ? if it is, its wired in wrong, if not then there is not much of a solution for ya, is the humidity level in the home comfortable to where you can actually turn the house t-stat down ? if not you may want to incress the amount of humidity to be able to turn your house t-stat down, you should be feeling about 3 to 7 degrees warmer with the right amount of humidity, sorry I couldnt be more help, but thats the nature of that unit, just a little FYI, if you ever decide to try something different, may cost a bit more, try a steam humidifier, alot less water usage, its filtered, and pretty reliable too, thanks again for your question, hope atleast part of this helped !
mr.grzz

Hi, Jennifer:

I'm no expert, but those who are seem to agree that the first thing to check is your evaporator panel. Aprilaire recommends replacing it annually--so if you haven't replaced it recently, that would be the first step to take. Next, check the power supply to your Aprilaire unit. Turn the humidistat to 0%, and then turn it slowly back toward 35% until you hear a click at the unit. If you don't hear a click, you'll want to check that the unit is in fact getting electric power (you may want to get an electrician or furnace tech to do this). If you do hear the click, the next thing to check is whether you have sufficient water flow to your Aprilaire unit. On mine, I had to adjust my water supply saddle valve, as well as the inline valve on the discharge side of the solenoid (see prior post from this morning)--and this seemed to clear the lines and restore water flow. Once you achieve proper water flow, you will probably want to set your humidistat at 35% for winter temps of around 20 degrees F--but be sure to adjust it downward for colder weather. Comments, anyone?

Modle 110 has a relay in it see if it is stuck.Hope this helps