Noisy Furnace

great! good things happen here when it's not getting too politico

inumerous thanks for checking back in with and update.

"Why Does My Humidifier Produce White Dust and How to Get Rid of It?

Only two humidifiers produce white dust, ultrasonic and impeller portable humidifiers. The white dust they disperse is nothing more than a natural by-product of the minerals present in the water you fill your humidifier with. Ultrasonic and Impeller humidifiers produce humidity through a steaming process so when the water in the humidifier is heated, the water turns to vapor which is then is sprayed out of the humidifier in a mist form. Within this mist are dissolved minerals from the water itself. The minerals land on furniture, tables, counter-tops etc. creating the white dust you see.

The dust produced is not harmful in anyway and nothing to be concerned about. It can be cleaned off just as any other household dust would be, no special treatment needed. The hardness of your water will decide how heavy or light this layer of white dust will be (hard water is rich in minerals so the harder your water is the more dust you can expect to find).

To help get rid of the white dust you can:

1. Use Distilled Water To Fill Your Humidifier Tank. Using distilled instead of tap water to fill your humidifier will cut down on dust significantly. Distilled water has a very low mineral count and therefore will not produce white dust that hard tap water will.
2. Purchase a Demineralization Cartridge. A demineralization cartridge is specifically designed to trap the minerals before they become airborne into your home. (this will reduce or completely eliminate white dust).
3. Purchase a Warm or Cool Mist Humidifier. If your water is really hard and the dust is too much to handle, it may be a good idea to invest in a portable warm or cool mist humidifier. These humidifiers do not operate in the same fashion that Ultrasonic do and therefore will not disperse a layer of white dust. The only difference to keep a watch out for is the noise level. Ultrasonic humidifiers are known for being very quiet during operation, warm mist is still decently quiet, but cool mist is known for making quiet a bit of noise with its fan."

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for taking the time to check in, I'm reminded of "Stump the Chumps" on Car Talk, except CR4 members aren't chumps, and certainly not Lyn or whoever it was who explained the problem correctly.

Well now, I would not go that far... LOL Have a good weekend, and a good couple of weeks, I am outta here for a while.

Of course Click and Clack were hardly chumps either...

And I want to add my thanks to Oilcan13 for returning to report.

We're really lucky. Our water source is mostly melted snow that never spent any significant time underground. We see zero residue in or around our ultrasonic humidifier, and by chance just a few minutes ago I looked inside a teapot as I was filling it with tap water; it is somewhere between 10 and 20 years old, and has no sign of residue despite daily use.