Troubleshooting

My VecoCuby TWIN-HT3G evaporates about 12 L per day, but the RH does not change much.

  • Furniture, wall, ceiling, etc. serve as reservoirs for the water vapor, please allow a few days to see the change.
  • Air exchange rate between indoors and outdoors has a large impact on the RH, especially in a windy day. Check if there is any large air leak inside your home, such as near a fireplace, and improve sealing if necessary.
  • A VecoCuby TWIN-HT3G covers up to 1500 square-feet area in a residential home. If you have a larger home, consider to get more unit(s) to meet your need.  
  • Hygrometer (RH meter) tends to degrade overtime due to aging (mainly from contamination). Make sure your hygrometer does not malfunction to reduce risk of over-humidifying. The picture below shows examples of hygrometer aging and error margin, wherein the top is a ten-year old HVAC control unit showing RH<15%, the lower left is a one-year old mechanical hydrometer showing 37.5% RH, the lower right is a new consumer digital hydrometer (claimed 5% RH accuracy) showing 24% RH, compared to a new high end hydrometer (lower middle, claimed 1.8% RH accuracy) showing 31.8% RH.

 

My VecoCuby TWIN-HT3G evaporates much less than 12 L per day. 

  • Make sure you follow the installation instructions for the cloth wicks to maximize the evaporation area of the wicks. After tying a wick on a thin wire, run the wick directly to the thin wires on the opposite side, and don't wrap it around the wire next to the anchoring wire (left red "X" below). Wrap the wick across two thin wires, not a single thin wire (middle red "X"). Separate the stuck sections of wet wick (right red "X") and, if it happens repeatedly, retie the wick to stretch it more (don't over-stretch to break the wicks or the thin wires). The two side pairs of the 4 pairs of strips at each end of the wick should be tied to both the thin and the thick wires (the joint structure at the green circles).

  • Wet the entire cloth wicks at the beginning. If a lot of mineral deposits appear on the wicks or large area of the wicks becomes hardened, which may reduce evaporation notably, see VecoCuby maintenance.
  • Evaporation rate for an evaporative humidifier depends on temperature, RH and air flow speed. Click here for how to set up your humidifier to optimize its performance. The rate decreases by nature noticeably when the RH > 40% which reduces the risk of over-humidifying (e.g., no evaporation at 100% RH). The rate of 12 L/day is for room temperature at 22°C (72°F) and RH at 25% for the setting using a floor vent.
  • Set the fan to "ON" (not "AUTO") on your HVAC control unit, especially if you live in a townhouse or an apartment which has significantly lower heating duty cycle than a house, to increase airflow even when the heating is not on.
  • If you use VecoCuby in place where AC is running (e.g., in summer), keep it away from HVAC outlet vents as the cooling air will reduce the evaporation rate. 

Your VecoCuby may perform differently due to, in addition to the temperature, the RH and the airflow speed, other factors such as the duty cycle of the HVAC heating, condition of the wicks, etc. You may also use a small fan to increase the rate (airflow speed at ~2m/s, lower than the lowest speed of most portable fans, may deliver a rate of more than 12 L/day at 22°C (72°F) and 30%RH, note the rate is not proportional to the speed).