Winter has finally set in here in Texas and last night was the first time our heater had to really work all night to keep the house warm. We do not have a built in humidifier and I woke this morning at 1:00am with my mouth as dry as the desert. Shortly after waking, my 14 year old son walks in with a nose bleed. Long story short, the humidity in our house had dropped to around 10-12%. For some perspective, the humidity in the Sahara Desert is 25%. Within an hour this morning I found a shared smart app that would turn a switch on or off based on a humidity sensor and had a functional system to regulate the humidity in our bedrooms using z-wave switches and humidifiers. Little solutions like these make the SmartThings platform invaluable. Just a positive story. @Ben you probably don’t hear enough of these, so here ya go.
Thanks goes to Juhani Naskali who wrote the smart app as well.
I had a similar experience and now use a ST temp/humidity and outlet switch sensor to control a basic humidifier. However the apps available today don’t offer mode awareness. I’d only like to have the humidifiers running overnight, or at a reduced level during the day.
I don’t really use modes, but the smart app has a mode section. It’s kind of clunky at this point because you have to install two smart apps for every humidifier; one for turning it on and one for turning it off. I have 3 humidifiers, and six apps dealing with humidity. If I added modes I might pull my hair out.
No link. If you create a blank smartapp then browse shared smarts you will find the humidity app I use. I think it’s called humidity on. If you cannot find it, I will post a gist on github.
@april it was really a save the day moment. I had no idea that the low humidity could cause a nosebleed and it was quite terrifying when it happened. I have been controlling the humidity since November now, and the difference compared to last year is just night and day. A side effect that I did not mention in my original post is that you can keep the temperature lower at a higher humidity and it feels warmer. Without moisture in the air a room will feel cooler even at a higher temp. Our house is a lot more comfortable at 72 degrees and 40% humidity than it was at 75 degrees and 20%.
What brand humidifier are you using that it turns on automatically with power? I have a humidifier but it doesn’t stay on once it’s unplugged, just returns to a standby mode. I’ve got twins on the way and my house has been very dry this winter (20-25%), so I want to regulate the humidity next winter.
