Furnace humidifier questions:

[Jess from VA]

There's so much experience and good advice from members here, I thought I'd ask for advice:

I got an all new HVAC about 2 years ago; the middle priced Carrier/Bryant which has been flawless.

It wasn't cheap, and because I'd had on and off problems (leaks /mildew) with the old attached furnace humidifier over the years (and it added a chunk more money), I didn't get one with the new furnace.  My installer/foreman is a friend and neighbor and he didn't push one.

This morning I had a mild spotty nosebleed (both nostrils, and already cleared up) and this scared me because I can't quit tobacco.  No blood in cough or sputum, just nose.

I go online and do some reading, and instantly hit on nosebleed being very common in winter related to HVAC heat and dry air.  My memory kicked in and I realized this has happened to me before, in my home growing up and here too (few times, not often).  Minor nosebleed from dry nose capillary blood vessels.

My 3-level split home is small (1100 sq ft), with cold and warm spots and I put a bunch of little digital thermometers/humidity sensors around all three floors to help me adjust heat vents to optimum.  They are reading humidity from 28-30%, and my on-line reading tells me optimum humidity is 30-50%.

The furnace heat has been on all winter of course, but with the recent snow and colder than usual temps here, it's been cranking hard for the last 10 days or so.

My wood furniture isn't falling apart like it did in the home I grew up in.

Should I get a furnace humidifier?  And what type?  (steam, most expensive; fan, middle cost; bypass, cheapest)

I'm going to ask my neighbor about it too when I see him.

Thanks in advance for any advice and opinions guys. 

[da prez]

  Jess , a stand alone humidifier works very well. Get a couple. One in the boudoir (sleeping chamber) and one in front room/kitchen area. More humidity and the HVAC system will help circulate the moisture.
  Immediate relief is hot showers and using a Netti  pot type of care. I sniff water in the shower and blow out the  that forms.

                                                da prez 

[Jersey mike]

Do not get a furnace humidifier, I have never heard a good thing about them. I never liked the idea of sparaing water into the furnace and let it go through the vents.

Open a window or two for some cross/up/down ventilation, boil some water and leave it on stove or just as da prez said use a basic old fashioned humidifier. If you have hard water try splitting the water 50/50 with distilled water.

A few small 10” or so table fans will circulate the air a bit better, even on low.

If you get the kind with push button speed control, plug it into a timer and have it/them go on/off at different times, they use barely any electricity.

If you’re using any type of wood burning stove just place an old kettle or small pot on top and keep 3/4 full.

My house right now is at 27% humidity, 3 people living here and it’s comfortable for us.

IMO 50% is rather high but for one person it may be good. Think of what’s it’s like outdoors when considering indoor temps and humidity.

How warm do you keep the house? 68degrees with 50% humidity isn’t so comfortable IMO.

We currently have the house at 72 and have 27% humidity. That would be a beautiful day outside.

[Jess from VA]

Thanks guys.

I'm getting a bit scary in my old age, and it's pissing me off.

I got lucky and talked with my journeyman HVAC friend on my morning walk.  

It's all about your personal comfort level Jess, and they only come on in winter, and your 30% isn't bad.  I have one, and it runs at 40%, but I have a great big house and family to keep happy.  And it's way colder than than normal now, so the furnace running all the time dried you out is all.  I can set you up for about a $K, but they take annual maintenance.  I can teach a monkey how to do it, so you'd have no problem.  If you have a stand alone humidifier, just run it in your bedroom at night and close the door (I do, a good one).

Bingo!!

It's nice to have a professional give advice that goes contrary to him making money from you.

I have no trouble at all in house comfort level in winters.  I'll put the humidifier in my bedroom.  Unless I have some kind of continuing problem, I probably don't need a furnace humidifier.  My city water is soft.

In the past, I had run my double water tank humidifier right in front of my principle cold air return direct to the furnace.  I stopped doing it when I noticed no difference in the house at all.  I told him about that and he said it won't work, and is no substitute for a furnace humidifier. 

My ears have taken to getting dry, crusty and itchy, but this is a year round old man thing, not a dry humidity thing.    

[Challenger]

When my house gets below 30%, the static electric shock every time I touch something is like a AED .
I have a little stand alone humidifier for the living room and works well.  Probably only use it couple weeks each winter.

[old2soon]

      In my sleeping area bedroom I have a floor register from my forced air furnace. I cut the side out of a plastic gallon milk jug-rinsed thoroughly-laid it on the closed side filled almost to the top and put in an old but clean wool sock for an elcheapo humidifier with part of the sock exposed to the air over the neck. And It WORKS. Plus my Cpap and my O2 concentrtor have built in humidifiers. It's NOT an all house humidifier but for my needs works rather well. After awhile you get to know how often it needs refilling. I believe the term is evaporative. I put that jug as near to the register as I can Without putting On the register. RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Why a clean sock?  You're missing out on aroma therapy.   

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

We heat with a 2 year old heatpump and a freestanding, vented gas log fireplace running on propane. We run the gas log fireplace when the outside temp gets down to 28 degrees or so, and it does most of our heating, with the heatpump still running enough to distribute the gaslog's heat throughout the house. In this way, our heatpump's "expensive to operate" electric elements virtually never come on.

As soon as our air gets dry enough for the nosebleeds to start, we put a ceramic bowl on top the the gas log heater, and keep it full of water. It evaporates roughly 1/2 gallon of water a day into the air and stops the nosebleeds. It's not much help as far as my "old guy, scaly wintertime skin", but it does eliminate the nosebleeds.

[Jess from VA]

It's not much help as far as my "old guy, scaly wintertime skin",

I've just dried out in my old age, regardless of seasons.  My dear old mother told me to grease up with moisturizers.  This sounded entirely too feminine for my tastes, but I started doing it several years ago (after every shower, not HOT but good and warm), and with excellent results.  And that stuff soaks right in and doesn't end up all over your clothing or bedding like I thought it would.  Just Vaseline intensive care, not the spendy Avon Lady stuff.

When you are scratching and itching all the time people start wondering if you have nits (body lice) and move away from you.      

(Sorry for drifting the thread from a furnace humidifier, to Hints From Heloise. )   

[cookiedough]

yah, basic stand alone humidifiers is fine IMO.  I do not have one, but dry skin as I age is becoming an issue.  I recently had a pretty severe itching and rash going on past 6 months or more BAD on my legs/calf region and back and neck and forearms a tad, forcing me to go see a dermatologist 2x's.  NO idea what caused it all but some meds and creams helped and finally am somewhat back to normal.  final results of my skin they analyzed by cutting a piece out of my forearm says I have a form of esctzema (dry skin) but seems to mostly have gone away.  Weird how it started late summer when usually dry skin is not an issue.  My legs were scabbing blistering up pretty bad itching uncontrollably for 1st time in my life lower calves so bad I had to do something, lotions were not cutting it.

I also have a water softener in my house which helps with dry skin as I shower as well.  Got one about 10 years ago but prior to that never had a water softener, does help for sure.

If 50's are this bad, hate to see into my 60's and beyond...

[da prez]

  I drink about a gallon of water a day.  It helps keep the toilet flowing. Vaseline is the best , and for the dry ears , a cotton swab slightly moistened with Vaseline works wonders. Just do not put your hearing aids in to soon.  Vaseline is better than most store bought creams. I also grow aloe vera. It is even better than Vaseline.

                               Your beauty consultant and Valk brother

                                                          da prez

[scooperhsd]

KC water is so hard that I joked that it made everybody closer to Jesus - being able to "walk on water". It still has nothing on my hometown (Hutchinson Ks). Yes I have a water softener. Yes it's a pain in the back (literally) for me to take the salt down to it - 2 wheeler helps (also useful for propane tanks).

[h13man]

It was suggested to me by HVAC folk twice in the past that on board humidifiers installed in older ventilation system can cause damage to the ducting over time and would think even newer systems would be suspect also.
 
We use a stand alone unit but haven't needed it as winters haven't been as cold out here on the prairie. We've sportin' 10 degree temps the past two days but not extreme amount of wind as of yet but... Our old 28' built home "breathes" pretty well but not to the point of being drafty or energy deficient. Very well built by the family that built it by hand. I'm the true 2nd. owner of the home as of 89'. Ever try to cut or nail a true 2"x4"' yellow pine timber? Hilarious! Takes a whole different approach to remodeling.

[Jess from VA]

I've been running my stand alone humidifier upstairs (where all the heat goes naturally) for 24 hours, and my humidity sensors have come up a few degrees.

I had it in my bedroom (door closed) but it began feeling a bit damp in there, so I moved it out to a common area.

I'm not getting a furnace humidifier.  

I'm also the 2d owner of my third acre '62-3 built home.  New cost was $17.5K, paid $152K in 1992, taxed at $485K today.  I don't care how much the county wants to say it's worth, it's still a cheaply built slapped together $17.5K home (with a lot of improvements).

It's been hard to understand why the ground level floor in my 3-level spit is the coldest of the 3.  But discovered it's becasue the HVAC ducting for that floor is UNDER the concrete slab.  It's cold under there in winter, and no other ducting is underground.

[carolinarider09]

It's been hard to understand why the ground level floor in my 3-level spit is the coldest of the 3.  But discovered it's becasue the HVAC ducting for that floor is UNDER the concrete slab.  It's cold under there in winter, and no other ducting is underground.

I have never, ever heard of that being done.  That is just outrageous.  But, it's an old home, so, maybe back in the day, it was not uncommon but......   Just stupid.  

Just for the record I have not personally installed a HVAC system, but I did take the courses that made me qualified to purchase and use the freon used in these system.  Also, I took and passed the required courses to get a "contractors" license (I think that is the correct term).  All I had to do to get the license/certification was to work two years building homes.  Don't know if the three years I worked in personally building my own home would count. 

I have seen some strange and stupid things done by these contractors, but that was before the above happened. 

[Fazer]

I have one installed in the plenum of my heating unit that I close off in summer.  The brand is April Aire, I believe, and I set it on high and run right around 40%.  No static shocks.  I change the filter every other year.  been happy with it. 2600 sf house, not big, not small.

[Jess from VA]

I have never, ever heard of that being done.

Jim, the drain tile under the basement, below the slab some 4-5 feet was crummy terra cotta.

It was already failing (all crushed in and turning to dust) when I bought the house (and the seller/owners took active measures to cover it up), and was not discovered on the cursory home inspection.  One night a year or so after I bought it, after days of rain, I took 90 gallons off water off my finished basement floor with a wet dry vac.  The drain tile was now gone, the ground water level was inches from surface, and it all just ran up inside the cinder block then into the house under the baseboard.  What a nightmare to repair, with electric jackhammers in my house cutting the floor 18" from all outside walls, and carrying 5gal bucks of mud and crud out the back basement walkout, down 5 feet below the house, laying in proper PVC drain pipe with large gravel, then dirt, then new concrete floor (and later a complete new basement floor).

This failing (French) drain system also resulted in the one story slab cracking down the center (because soil underneath leached out over time).  The crooked kitchen floor was/is not discernible to the eye, but a dropped round pencil will roll under the kitchen fridge.  The kitchen plumbing and drain are inside that cracked slab, and I can never know how much they are affected (without jackhammering that floor up too).  The new french drain system under the two story side of the house, halted any further leaching or movement of the one story slab.  

What I wanted to do to my sellers cannot be put in print.

They moved to FL after I bought their house, and I searched for them for a long time, with no success.

[scooperhsd]

I have one installed in the plenum of my heating unit that I close off in summer.  The brand is April Aire, I believe, and I set it on high and run right around 40%.  No static shocks.  I change the filter every other year.  been happy with it. 2600 sf house, not big, not small.

When we replaced the HVAC system, we got an AprilAire filter put in (4 inches deep). It's done wonders for reducing the dust in the house - I replace it twice a year.

[Oss]

We have a in line humidifier also aprilaire  works just fine

Have to change the "sponge" and clean every year  the whole unit.

 I cut off the water source when switching the heat setting to the cool setting.  In fact thanks for this post I should clean that unit in June when I switch to the cool setting and not in September before heating season

Have what looks like a water pick set up to catch the draining water and it feeds into the french drain that leads to the sump pit.  I created a secondary drain in case that motor ever fails

Also have a secondary drain on my hydroponic set up which is directly over the sump pit

[t-man403]

Man I cant believe what I'm reading and it took a lawyer (Oss) to tell you what to do!
A simple flo-thru/drip humidifier is all anyone needs. Attached to your furnace, change the evaporative pad once a year and your done. They are healthy, easy to service and inexpensive. I install the General 3200 for most homes up to about 2300 sq. ft.

[Jess from VA]

I've been running my big 2-tank stand-alone humidifier for several days now (highest setting).

I run it in common areas, and move it around between my three floors every 4-5 hours.

It helps to actually read on-line advice.  Which is to never set one on the floor (esp carpet which can get damp and mildew), but up at least 2 feet or so for better dispersion, so I use a small wood table tray.

Placing my little digital temp/humidity sensors 7-8 feet away from the unit, humidity readings generally slowly rise from 27-28% to 30-31% in those 4-5 hour periods.  When I move it to a different floor, the readings slowly drop back down again (esp the top floor where all the heat goes). 

Subjectively, it's hard to really notice or feel a difference in house comfort level, but I think it's doing some collective good (and no more blood in my nose).  And it gives me something to do housebound in icy cold weather.

The recent constant teens and twenties temps with furnace cranking hard is the trouble with drying out my skin and nose, but when we get back to normal thirties to forties with less heat cranking, the trouble gets much better in the house.

Like everything else I own, that 2-tank humidifier is old and draws most water from one tank and not the other despite my high tech smacking and shaking it around from time to time.  Going up and down the stairs with it full of water also requires care not to tumble down them.

Sorry for the mundane post, but I'm bored and thought to report back on my thread.   

[Hook#3287]

Jess, thanks for the update.

You may think the post is mundane, but I've been watching it to see what solution you come up with, if any.

My 35 year old propane fired hot air system came with a humidifier installed.

Took about 3 months for my hard water to clog it up and I 86'd it.

I also suffer from lack of moisture in my home and sometimes my nasal spot blood when clearing, but not enough for me to do anything, apparently.

Just be careful on the freaking stairs.

Who do we notify if you don't post for a couple days?

[Jess from VA]

Thanks Bill.  

If I don't post for a couple days, I'm probably dead.    

I've actually thought about this and though in excellent shape, if I die here it could be a long time before anyone found me.  Mom in MI (95) would worry with no callback for days and probably call the cops down here at some point, but that's about it.  My separated wife (14 years) is local, and has just recently taken to calling and being nice once in a while (an actual miracle) (as opposed to never, which was fine with me when she was her usual fire breathing dragon lady, who "lives by the feud").  

My split level stairs are only 6 each (X 2) and covered with padding and crummy old pile carpet, and I've only ever slid down on my ass a couple times.  No shoes in the house and sock feet helps with the sliding.  I have good traction slippers, but my peripheral neuropathy feet don't like them.

I did put a little battery led motion sensor light overhead on them since they are in the middle of the house and always dark (black at night).  Turning on the house lights is too much work.

If I was you (and what I'd do if I didn't already have my huge one), I'd think about a couple smaller humidifiers placed at optimal locations so there's not so much lugging them around (but more filling).  My big tanks have to go to the kitchen sink with tall faucet, bathroom sink faucets are too short.  I may still get another smaller one to keep in the master bath (6 steps from my bed, since that seems to be where my dry/blood nose came from).  Course I'll probably trip over it with my old man prostate 3-4 sleep-walking tinkle trips every night.  

I also just dumped some white vinegar in my tanks since this thing hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in a long time (or ever).    

[Jess from VA]

Update:

It's sunny and 43 outside, and just like that, I had to turn the house heat down, and the humidifier is raising humidity all over the house in record times (hour, not 4-5 hours).

And that quarter cup of white vinegar in the 2 big humidifier water tanks smells much worse than I thought it might.  Yuk. 

Calling Dr Moe, Dr Larry, Dr Curly.

[Kep]

40+ years in HVACR  and seen a lot over the years...In the old standard (low efficiency ) furnaces they pulled combustion air/oxygen from inside the house to mix with the gas in the burners , thus "cooking " all the moisture from the air...the new High efficiency furnaces pull combustion air through a separate pvc pipe from outdoors to mix with the gas in the burners , thus not drying out the indoor air, also the colder the combustion air , the more efficient the gas atomizes thus giving you more saving on your  gas bill. Hopefully Jess  your installer installed both pipes as some do get lazy and only install the discharge vent pipe and not the intake (manufacturers do allow this but not reccommended) One thing you might look into is an air purifier, as  you get older and are more vulnerable to germs , these help immensely. I have a NuCalgon iWave-R in my furnace that not only removes virus and germs from the HVAC system , it generates a Plasma field that is projected into the entire living space that  removes/reduces viruses such as polio , mersa, covid etc.It also removes smoke , odors and static ....my wife and I are Rarely sick...I have installed dozens of these for some of my customers and they all swear by them...There are other similiar air purifiers out there but these particular ones seem to do the best job.You can easily install one yourself, as they go in the return air and have magnets that attach it to the metal blower or duct in your furnace , and 2 wires that attach to the thermostat terminals on the control board(plus a ground wire).

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for the information Kep.  

2 years ago, I got a new Carrier/Bryant HVAC.  It was the middle of the road system, not the super efficient top of the line (much more expensive, and I think more temperamental).  I don't know if my system draws outside air for combustion.  But I'm going to find out.

[t-man403]

As the temp goes up outside, the humidity naturally rises inside and your home can handle more humidity when it’s warmer outside. The purpose of the humidifier, is to simulate summertime humidity in your home during winter. You’re having to move your humidifier around probably do to inadequate air circulation. I am big on full-time main blower fan operation year round. I never turn off the circulation fan. That helps to balance your humidity if it gets too high inside by drawing in outdoor dryer air it also helps to balance the temperature from floor to floor. The fresh air being drawn in through your HVAC system is your open window in the winter time and gives you new air to breathe. An air purification has been suggested to you, but none of that works if the blower isn’t running. So again, I would suggest a central humidifier, cheap and easy to service, it does the whole home all by itself and it keeps itself wet if necessary.
Now, to make it even easier to maintain proper humidity, a digital humidistat, complete with an outdoor air temperature sensor will adjust the humidity for you according to outdoor temperatures. The other option is to have a Wi-Fi thermostat that can control humidity as well. The Wi-Fi thermostat knows the local weather and will adjust the humidity accordingly.
If you are handy, you could probably do all of this for about $1500.00 depending on the equipment selected.
If none of this is of any interest, I’d buy a an ultra-sonic portable and leave it in my bedroom as that is where one stays longest at one time. 

[Hook#3287]

Thanks for the information Kep.  

2 years ago, I got a new Carrier/Bryant HVAC.  It was the middle of the road system, not the super efficient top of the line (much more expensive, and I think more temperamental).  I don't know if my system draws outside air for combustion.  But I'm going to find out.

I believe older systems may have two pipes and newer ones will have a pipe in a pipe.

[Jess from VA]

If none of this is of any interest,

No sir, it's all of interest to me and thank you for it T-Man.  

My house does just fine (good enough for me anyway) with it's basic setup and new HVAC, until temps plunge (for my region which is teens and twenties, sometimes lower, but rare).  Then the furnace runs like a beast and drys the place out.  And I need to add humidity at those times only.  

And the three level split with central stairs makes it hard to regulate/equalize both heat and AC in both summer and winter.  Heat rises and cold drops, so in summer the basement vents are entirely closed for no AC (and it's still the coolest temps in the house), and in winter the 2d story vents are just cracked open very little (and it's still the warmest temps in the house).  And the house and ducting are old, though I am airtight with new modern double pane windows and lots of insulation (both roofs, not walls).  

My old basic thermostat (probably original to the 1962 build), sits right at the top of the 2d story stairs high on the wall (probably the worst spot it could be), and I practically disregard it's temp reading as it's always higher than the whole rest of the house year round.  But it still works fine, and I set temps to suit the whole house, and ignore it's temp.  I could have an electronic one, but don't want one (and would not fiddle with automatic variable settings if I did).  I'm retired and home and just bump it up or down when I need to.  When I do leave, and every night sleeping, I turn it down.

The best advice you gave me was to run the fan on constant to regulate/equalize temps and humidity among the three floors.  I did that last summer for the first time (the hottest one we've had in decades) and it really helped out tremendously (I almost had to abandon my upstairs bed to the basement sofa to get any sleep).  But not during this long cold snap, I just forgot about that entirely (old man brain).  So I'm going to give that a shot in cold weather now. I think it is exactly what to do in extreme heat and cold.  Thank you!

I'm not worried about the electric bill, and assume the practically new furnace fan can take it.

As I said, I've got little temp and humidity digitals all over the house now to help me chase problems, adjust vents, equalize temps, and move the big humidifier around.  With fan on constant, I can track hoped for improvement.  

The other hi tech stuff is out, I have no cell phone (ever) or wifi.  I've heard about them.    

 

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for the information Kep.  

2 years ago, I got a new Carrier/Bryant HVAC.  It was the middle of the road system, not the super efficient top of the line (much more expensive, and I think more temperamental).  I don't know if my system draws outside air for combustion.  But I'm going to find out.

I believe older systems may have two pipes and newer ones will have a pipe in a pipe.

I'm going to talk to my HVAC installer foreman neighbor up the street (once again) about that.  Though if he sees me coming, he may run inside before I can.  (I never knock on people's doors unless absolutely necessary.  I wait until they are outside and then run over and accost them.   )

[carolinarider09]

While it is not the same, sometime last year, I had my crawl space encapsulated.  Since I built the house and understood the need for drainage around the foundation, I did install the needed drain pipe.  And I placed plastic over the entire crawlspace "floor" but I covered it with sand (just a little) so that you would now we walking on the plastic directly. 

I thought I did it right and maybe I did bu..... I suspect some "operations" later in the build interfered with that.

So, I was concerned about the crawlspace humidity and its potential effect on the foundation and materials that support the house.  I contacted someone who did "crawlspace remediation". 

Before they did the work, I installed a Temperature/Humidity monitor.  You know the kind that has batteries and transmits data to a location somewhere else.

Humidity was around 90% and temperatures around the upper 70's (summer)

The remediation consisted of a new plastic layer over the sand that is on top of the plastic I put down.

All the crawlspace vents are now sealed.

And I installed a sump pump. 

I determined, in my inspection prior to the encapsulation, that there was water coming in the crawlspace.  I located the likely location of the inflow and installed a sump pump down stream (well in the direction the water would flow due to the slope of the land under the house).

The sump pump usually only operates after some rain so... it does what was needed.

A dehumidifier was also installed (a SantaFe unit). It is under our bedroom. And yes it does make some noise at night. But....

Now the interesting part having to do with Humidity.  For several months after the install, the humidity dropped from 90% to around 65%.  Over the next few months, it sort of stayed there.

Then, during raining periods, it would go up to 75% or so. 

However, this being the first real winter after the installation, I have noted that the humidity in the crawlspace is holding right around 40% and it sort of stays there.

We got some rain today and the humidity reading is now about 50%.  Still very, very dry.

Now the reason for the story and its relationship to humidity and its effect on things. 

After the encapsulation and the sump install and placing the dehumidifier in operator, the dry wall almost directly above the location of the crawlspace dehumidifier cracked.  I believe the change in humidity in the crawlspace was enough to shrink the wood frame.   

Now, since we built the house, there were periods of rain that occurred after we had put up the walls and laid down the plywood for the flooring and it all got wet.  So, it could have been damp 10 plus years later.

Just what happened here on a major change of humidity it the crawlspace. 

Pictures of the cracks, on same door opening (no door)

[Jess from VA]

Jim I have a couple cracks up from the door corners exactly like yours in my house.

But mine were made when I installed new framed prehung doors in the shoddy original construction with door cutouts that were not exactly plumb and level.  So being the excellent carpenter I am, I used a great big hammer to force those prehumg door frames into the cutouts, cracking my drywall in the process.

I squeezed a bit of joint compound in the cracks, sanded a bit and touched up the paint.  And now you can hardly see the cracks with the lights low.  


Seriously though, I would hold off on any cosmetic repairs until you are pretty sure those cracks are finished growing/moving.  No sense in having to do it more than once.  

And you might make some small pencil marks at the end of each crack, so you can see if they are getting longer over time (benchmarks).  

[carolinarider09]

And you might make some small pencil marks at the end of each crack, so you can see if they are getting longer over time (benchmarks).  

Excellent idea.  I shall do that. 

[Hook#3287]

Jim, those cracks look to be structural, as opposed to caused by contraction and expansion.

Generally, contraction/ expansion cracks go along the edge of the drywall, where it meets another sheet, or in a corner.

Structural cracks can be caused by contraction of framing members as they dry out, or if they move for any reason.

Usually, they are only just ugly and not a concern the house is failing.

Wait them out, repair them and watch if they show back up, would be my suggestion.

[carolinarider09]

Jim, those cracks look to be structural, as opposed to caused by contraction and expansion.

Generally, contraction/ expansion cracks go along the edge of the drywall, where it meets another sheet, or in a corner.

Structural cracks can be caused by contraction of framing members as they dry out, or if they move for any reason.

Usually, they are only just ugly and not a concern the house is failing.

Wait them out, repair them and watch if they show back up, would be my suggestion.

 

Yes, that was what I thought as well. And I will keep an eye on them.

[da prez]

  The term we used in remodeling is racking.  A movement in the structure.  I have a job I an starting on soon.  $1.6  million dollar home that has several issues like that.
                                                       

                                         da prez

[Kep]

Thanks for the information Kep.  

2 years ago, I got a new Carrier/Bryant HVAC.  It was the middle of the road system, not the super efficient top of the line (much more expensive, and I think more temperamental).  I don't know if my system draws outside air for combustion.  But I'm going to find out.

I believe older systems may have two pipes and newer ones will have a pipe in a pipe.

It's not that "newer "systems have a "pipe in a pipe"    ... thats called a Concentric Vent and used basiclally  so you only have to have one penetration thru the wall or roof.Both types are used on "newer " systems.And YES to a previous comment on running you fan constant (ON) ...doing that, constantly stirs the air your house for more even temps and for the older PSC style motors it is easier on them because the worst load on  them is when they start up , it takes a 300% increase in power to get them rolling/running and puts quite the heat load on the motor internals...running one constant allows the internal fan to cool the motor...the newer ECM motors are even better when running them constant because the have very little load/draw on them.So "LET THEM RUN " !!!!haha

[Jess from VA]

Thanks Kep, I appreciate the good advice and information (esp about the motors).

I've had my fan on constant for several days during the extreme cold (and did it last summer during extreme heat).  It doesn't make any huge difference in the house, but it does help in my 3-level split (which I love the design of living space, but trying to equalize heat and cool in them is nearly impossible).  Once temps are in "normal" ranges of cool or warm, I don't need to do it at all. 

[Jess from VA]

Well, I had some furnace excitement yesterday late afternoon.  I suddenly notice it's getting cold in the house.  I've had the fan on constant for days, but I'm not getting heat.  I crank up the thermostat, run to the basement, and the burner's not coming on.  I'm wondering if leaving the fan on constant is a problem and knock it to auto, and now the furnace is quiet.  It's going to be single digits tonight and I go in panic mode.

I run over to my furnace installer neighbor's house and bang on the door (I never do this, but), and his wife answers and says he's very sick, but lets me in to talk to him.  I beg forgiveness and apologize (several times), tell him the problem, and he says to cycle the power cutoff to reset the system, but he can't come down, and to call his co for service if I need a guy.

I run back home and cycle the furnace and the burner comes on.... but only 7 minutes and cuts off again, twice in succession.  I call the co and get a guy on the phone and he says it's $200 to show up, and I tell him fine, I'll pay cash and a nice tip too.  I tell him the symptoms, and he asks if my filter is dirty.  I tell him I've looked at the filter several times in just the last few days and it shows a little crud but doesn't look bad at all.  But with him on the phone, I open a new one and drop it in, cycle the furnace, and the burner comes on..... and doesn't cut off in 7 minutes again.  

He's patient with me and explains my brand new furnace is much more sensitive to airflow than older units.  I thank him profusely and say I guess I don't need a service call, but if he wants to swing by I'll give him a hundred cash tip for staying on the phone and walking through my problem, and solving it.  He says thanks, that doesn't happen much, but he's running around town putting out fires and not necessary.

I AM SUCH A BIG FAT DUMMY!!  I have a stack of brand new filters sitting right there on the cold air return to the furnace, but want to get my money's worth from the one in it, and caused my own problem.  It doesn't look bad at all, but I guess looks are deceiving.  This time I dated the the new filter and it won't happen again.  It's 9 degrees outside now and it's nice to have a working furnace.  

I nailed the "looks OK to me" filter to an open stud in my utility room to remind me of my ignorance.  
  

[HayHauler]

Glad you got it going again!  9F is no joke.  We went down to 16F Tuesday night and that is some sort of record for the Houston area.  All schools and both of our airports were closed Tuesday and Wednesday as well.  Southerners CANNOT drive, especially in the snow/ice.

Hay 
Jimmyt