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Is a wicking style (evaporative) humidifier less effective when filled full of water?  

 filling float valve 

Background: It's winter in Chicago and I have radiator heat, so it's really dry. The last 5 years I ran a direct water line to a greenhouse humidifier in my living room, ending in a small disaster, but that's another 'truly tangent'.

 

So this winter I purchased a standard $100 house humidifier from Menards and installed a float fill valve to save daily filling. There was already a hole in the back that just begged to drill for the valve. But was that the correct level?

The float can adjust the water level 5" to 7.5" (which is the max-fill line). At the max fill line, about 4.5" of the 12" tall wick is exposed.

Hypothesis: as the water level decreases, the exposed wick area increases resulting in more water vapor will be released into the exiting air.

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