10 feet tall designer or technician

“Honey, you need to take a chair and adjust the humidifier setting, there is condensation forming on the windows”.

That was from my vertically challenged wife, she needs a chair to reach anything that’s more than 5 feet off the ground. Why would I, standing 6’ 2" need a chair?

I go to the garage and look at the humidifier for the first time since we moved to this house, and then I understand why I would need a chair: The control box is 8’ 9" off the ground! Yes, I actually measured it as I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Well, she was right: I needed a chair, both to stand on and set the humidifier and to sit at the table and eat the crow she had just served me.

Had it been a new construction I would have called the contractor, given him/her a piece of my mind and had it fixed. As it is, this is not a new construction and I have to figure out a fix myself.

Back when I was young and had the patience for this kind of thing I would have purchased the necessary parts and would have moved that control box myself. But the truth is, I’m a cranky old man now and am happy to settle for something quick and simple that works.

As luck would have it, I still had some chain left over from my motorized shade project - discussed in my previous blogs “to servo or not to servo, that is the question” - which should just do the trick.

Off I go to the trusty old CAD and a new doohickey is created: A 3 piece knob assembly, held together with 2 stainless steel screws, to accommodate a chain. Just pull off the original knob and stick in the new, no tools or fasteners required.

I call it the Darth Vader knob.


I like the Darth Vader reference.

Just remember that chain is a definite choking hazard for little kids.

You could put the whole thing in a plastic case, or eventually convert to a twist rod. :sunglasses:

Thanks for the feedback!

Not having any kids around I failed to take that into consideration when putting that thing together. By sheer dumb luck the chain I had left was only enough to make the bottom of the loop be about 5 feet off the ground. I guess my lucky star was shining on me that day!

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Mine is only a 2 wire humidistat so easy to place anywhere. However, my thermostat/HVAC has humidity sense built in soo I use that.

Be a bitch to service that thing.

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Or you could do this and never adjust it again.

Smart Furnace Humidifier Control

Pair of wooden steps would have been my solution !

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A great solution and very ingenious. But assuming it’s an electronic device with no mechanical connections, surely it would have been easier to mount a junction box in that location and with an extension lower the controls. Guess when you get old you have too much time on your hands and like inventing new things :laughing::rofl::joy: