Give me humidifier advice

In My Humble Opinion
1

I need a new whole home humidifier but I don’t want to pay the (discounted) $950 the HVAC people want. They recommend an Aprilaire 700, which according to my research is a fairly good model and the last Aprilaire model lasted 20 years. So-I’m all set to buy one but I’m stuck between the 700 (automatic) and 700M (manual). I’m not installing it myself, but as far as I can tell the installation fee will be about $450 for either and the difference in price is only about $30.

My main question is whether the automatic is worth it. I believe my old unit was manual in that when the windows fogged up I turned it down and when the cat started to spark when petted I turned it back up again. I have a 3 story townhouse, with only one furnace, gas-powered, if that matters.

I’m inclined to go for the manual based on the theory that more complicated electronics means more to break and it’s not something where I’m really looking for a precise humidity level-I just want to be comfortable. Am I missing a real benefit to the automatic? FWIW, I don’t even have an automatic thermostat on my heat/air. It doesn’t make sense to me since if I want to change from heating to cooling or vice-versa I have to manually open/close the dampers anyway.

Advice?

2

IMHO, the automatic is probably a good investment. The electronics in these things are not super complicated and don’t tend to break easily, in my experience. And it will come with a manufacturer’s warranty. Having a workable humidistat will save a lot of energy and water, as well. No point in running the thing until the windows fog up - just set it to a reasonable level and forget it.

3

I installed my own, which is a drip down Honeywell instead of the drum style that was there. I would favour the automatic if you’re getting it installed, simply because it is possible to get thermostats that will allow you to control the temp and humidity and minimize the whole fogged window/zap cat thing. In my case, I had to run up/downstairs to the furnace to change the humidity and that gets tiresome pretty quickly.

4

I would get automatic if I had the choice. Mine is manual and it came with the house.