Aprilaire 500 Humidifier, 24V Whole House Humidifier w/ Auto Digital Control Bypass Damper .5 Gallons/ hour

Nice Unit
Was trying to decide between the 500 and 600 models. They are basically the same, besides how much humidity they can add to the air. My home is about 3300 sq feet, and the 500 is rated for 3000 sq. feet. Another review stated the manufacture said that with a tight home you can bump up the rating by about 30%. Went with the 500 and I have no regrets. Install wasn't hard and wasn't easy either. I did use the hot water supply to the unit because I wanted to reach the max ratings. Also hooked it up so the blower could be activated by the humidistat. At first I was confused by the "improved" wiring diagram. I thought that you wouldn't be able to start the blower from the Thermostat. I was wrong because the thermostat just makes the call through the humidistat. Overall I am very satisfied with the product.

Pros:
- Notice a huge difference in the comfort of my home in less than 24 hours.
- No Bloody nose in the morning.
- Was able to turn the Thermostat...

Nice humidifier but I'm a little worried about controller problems
I had an older Aprilaire humidifier at my old house, and loved it, so I purchased this for my new house. It works well, and I like the automatic control feature for the rh. The installation took me a while, but it wasn't too difficult.

The reason for only 3 stars: About 2 days after I installed it, the controller(Model 60) quit working. I do not work for a heating/cooling company, and the warranty expresses that it will be void if the unit isn't installed by a qualified tech. So, I took a look at the controller. -Found Vcc was only ~.2V. Rectifier and 24VDC okay. Found that D1(I believe 5.6V zener diode) had broken down. Even with a loupe, I had a hard time reading the number on the side of the diode, but by doing the math and figuring that Vcc would be typically 5v, I purchased a 5.6V zener NTE replacement diode(5.6v because the voltage will be dropped ~.6V from B-E of transistor in the regulation circuit). I replaced the zener diode, and the unit seems to be working fine...

Solid product
Solid product. Note that there's a bit of work to installing this yourself, but a reasonable handyman DIY type should be able to handle it. I live in Minneapolis and even in Oct, the air starts to get pretty dry, after less than a day I could notice a significant difference.

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