What is the difference between a Drum and Flow Through furnace humidifier?
While both are mounted to your furnace, they use slightly different methods to humidify the air:
Drum style furnace mounted humidifiers: have a round filter that uses a motor to rotate the filter within the unit. The filter "dips" into a water tray picking up the water and the air from the furnace blows through the filter to pick up the humidity. The water entering the humidifier is controlled by a float valve that only allows the amount of water the unit needs to be present.
Flow Through furnace mounted humidifier: they do not have motors. The water enters the unit through a drip pan where the filter sits under. The water flows through the drip pan into the filter, saturating the entire filter. The air from the furnace blows through the filter to pick up the humidity. Excess water is drained out through the bottom of the unit.
A Flow Through humidifier utilizes the filter to it's maximum potential and there are less components that will need to be replaced or cleaned (motors, float valves, etc.), but it will use more water than a Drum style humidifier. With a Flow Through humidifier, you will need a drain of some type for the excess water from the unit, typically if there is a floor drain close to the furnace or a sump pump, these will work well. Both are very good optiions for humidification.
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