AprilAire 720AKZ Whole-House Fan-Powered Evaporative Humidifier 21 GPD Water Saving Automatic Digital Control Installation Kit for up to

The product itself: 9/10. Humidifies like the beast that it is. No leaks, no issues with it out of the box. One note is the controller unit could be better with showing target humidity, and show relative outside temp. The installation instructions assume their target audience knows what they are doing and knows how to read technical diagrams, which by that standard they are pretty fine. For other audiences, they might struggle with the assumptions the install instructions make. The install: For context, I’m an average DIYer. This was one of the harder DIY projects I have done on my house. It’s plumbing, electrical, and HVAC all in one project. You will be cutting metal, running wires, and running water lines. You will likely be spending at least half of the units cost on materials to install it, especially if you prefer copper water lines. The adjacent install kit is a waste of money if you want good materials for this unit. I come with a couple of recommendations: * if you have an older house, get your attic insulation sorted to retain heat well before this humidifier project. If your furnace has to run A LOT to keep up with the warmth of your older house, even this humidifier may not be able to keep up to the humidity level you need. * Wire the controller to the return first. This can be done independent of installing the unit and doing the water line. * do not use the solenoid that comes with the unit. They are notorious for leaking and not lasting the lifetime of the unit. Spend the money to get a better setup that will last you longer. * I also highly recommend using the same waterline material as coming from your water heater (likely copper or pex). * set up your water line second. This can also be done independent of the unit being mounted to the air supply. * wear long sleeves while cutting the metal for mounting the unit. It’s very easy to cut yourself. If you’re looking for a DIY adventure and a way to improve your own skills, this product is quite the challenge. Read more

Works well, easy set up, noiseless. Read more

Outstanding, product, fast, efficient and well designed, very pleased with its’ performance! Read more

I ordered the Humidifier with install kit, thinking the extra $75 for a ready to install kit would be a good value for the money. Well - it isn't. Here's a couple reasons why: -They tell you the preferred location for the humidistat is on the return duct, but only give you about 10 ft of 5-wire thermostat wire. There's NO way to run that neatly into the furnace cabinet/control board. -They give you a 25 ft roll of 1/4 OD PEX, but the ferrules in the saddle valve and humidifier solenoid port are brass (no-no for plastic tubing). Had to buy my own ferrules. -The humidifier comes with a saddle valve, but there's no way I'd risk breaking into my water heater's hot water output pipe with that thing....I ran PEX from my ManaBloc all the way to the humidifier, with a Sharkbite quarter-turn shutoff adapter. The only thing that ended up being useful from the install kit was the drain line, which I could have gotten for far less than $75....Save yourself the money and get a nice PEX crimper/cutter kit for that, instead.. All told, the install wasn't too hard, and I ended up $600 into it after all was said and done - almost half of what the local HVAC companies were quoting for the job, and I've got a new set of tools/experience under my belt for the next job... As far as operation - this is a great unit, and it had an immediate effect on the dry air in our home this week! Read more

** 2 year update: I still love this humidifier it has never caused me issues that required replacement parts. The only maintenance i've done is changing pads every 6 months to a year and wipe down the inside with vinegar water to clean it up. Also twice the small orfice clogged causing water to slow or stop and humidity to drop. Easy fix with a small wrench and needle. ** Original review: First of all, this humidifier is a lifesaver. It works amazingly well. But I'm reviewing because I want to help buyers who have a Carrier thermostat and furnace. My Carrier Infinity Touch thermostat did not use all the standard wires that most thermostats use. The wiring instructions for this unit did not apply to my system at all unfortunately because my Carrier thermostat was wired up with just 4 wires: +power, -power, data+, and data-. At first I thought the install wouldn't be possible because of the wiring but then I realized that my furnace computer board had a "hum" pin on it. In my case, the output was 24v AC, which is exactly what the Aprilaire unit was expecting in order to trigger the relay to activate humidification. So What I did was plug the two loose wires from the humidifier directly to "Hum" and the "C" terminal on the furnace. WARNING: Not all furnace "hum" terminals are 24v AC, so you need to make sure your unit has the correct voltage on that pin before doing that. Because the wiring was this way, my thermostat had to directly control the humidifier, so i did not use the aprilaire humidistat that comes with it. The most trouble in the whole install that I faced was that initially, my Carrier Infinity Touch thermostat would not allow me to control the humidity. At first, all the humidity settings were greyed out so I couldn't click them. If this happens to you, you need to enable the humidifier "accessory" on the thermostat. This is how: Go to the main menu on your thermostat (dont try this on the phone app), then click and hold the "service" button until it turns green (about 10-15sec). Then you should see a hidden menu that the technicians are supposed to use. From there, go to "setup" then scroll and click "accessories". Then click "humidifier". Now you can tell the system that you have a humidifier plugged in. You can also set a reminder for 6 months or a year or whatever to change your humidifier filter. The other option "humidifier with fan" is a little bit vague but i have it enabled and it works how i want it to. If the humidity drops down, the furnace fan and the humidifier both turn on, even if the heater itself is not heating. This was my desired feature. Now you will be able to control all those settings for humidity that were greyed out before. I highly recommend enabling "window protection" if you live in a cold climate. Because this humidifier works really well and it will cause some condensation on your windows (especially upstairs) if you are not careful. Humid air rises! Check your windows and keep an eye on them because if they get moisture on them that means your attic can also get moisture and you really don't want that. I Hope this helps at least one person! Thank you Aprilaire! P.S. I had no water flowing on my humidifier after the first install, but i realized there is a tiny yellow restrictor hole that got plugged with something so i stuck a fine needle in it and water works fine now. I Haven't had an issue with that since. The restrictor is just after the solenoid on my 700 model. Read more