“I have the Auto version and if wired per Aprilaire instructions, you have constant and controlled humidity. It will turn on the furnace fan and add humidity even if you don't need heat. It will continue until the selected humidity level that you have selected has reached and then it stops. IOW, heat or no heat, the Aprilaire will keep the level of humidity.Fantastic product.”
“Don't let the HVAC companies convince you it takes a certified installer. All you need is the confidence to cut some sheet metal, add some wiring to the furnace controls, and install a self-tapping water line. On YouTube there are several very detailed videos showing the step by step instructions. Save yourself at last $500.00 and do-it yourself”
“The instructions are not bad, ease of use is great and installation isn’t horrible but keep in mind it’s a lot of wiring and you have to drill through your exterior wall to put a thermostat wire outside. It’s not super hard but it’s a lot of work. Also KEEP IN MIND you need to have a drain or pump for this unit it drains about a gallon and half an hr during the dry seasons and in winter if you re below grade the water pumping out will freeze and clog the line so keep it heated or going into a drain below grade. Otherwise there are a few units that don’t require drainage.”
“Installation was more of a chore than expected, but watching a few YouTube videos helped me sort out the wiring. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It raises the humidity in my house effectively. However, it did leak water out of the internal basin at first, presumably because I had the tap for the hot water inlet pipe opened up fully. I suspect the pressure was too much and the excess water overflowed from the humidifier catch basin. Turning the inlet pressure down seems to have fixed the problem. Aside from that, though, it's worked well so far and seems like it will continue to do so.”
“I had to replace a 20 year old Aprilaire that was dying, Installer - same company that installed that one - installed the new one. But due to less output and different design, hooking the 700 up to cold water barely raised humidity when outdoor humidity dropped below 35%. I informed installer, who returned and hooked new unit into hot water supply(which Aprilaire in fact recommends in its literature). That helped - but was still inadequate when outdoor humidity dropped.Old unit would work when furnace fan on, even when too warm for heat to come on -and so in dry, moderate temperature outdoor weather, I would run just the fanand that would bring up humidity to desired level(in the low to mid 40% level). I had asked that the 700 be installed to operate this way - i.e. just on the fan - if too warm outside, heat does not come on and so does not rigger humidifier - and installer said could not be wired that way withou the automatic humidistat. I called Aprilaire - their phone rep told me the same thing. I called back to installation company to complain to management - and was told both their earlier installer and aprilaire were wrong - that humidifier could be wired to the furance fan, so it operates even when the heat itself is not on. They returned & wired it that way.It is now a totally different product. All the humidity I could ever need. And turned humidstat - manual control - down from maximum where I set it before to get into low 40s - because as rewired, I seem to get more humidity than before when heat did cycle off and on.Bottom line - get hooked to hot water & to come on with fan, rather than heat - and it is a great product. Short of that, it may underperform”
