How Much Does It Cost to Install a Humidistat?

By Hannah Stephens

December 16, 2024

If you keep seeing mold growing around your windows or notice an increase in your allergy symptoms, your indoor humidity levels could be the culprit. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air, and too much or too little can wreak havoc with the air quality inside your home. While humidifiers and dehumidifiers let you adjust your indoor humidity, knowing when to turn them on and off can be challenging without the right know-how.

This May Also Interest You: Whole-House Humidifier Setting in Winter

Fortunately, a clever yet inexpensive gadget called a humidistat can help keep excessive humidity at bay for a healthier home.

What Is a Humidistat?

A humidistat is a sensor that monitors the humidity inside your house. When the humidity level exceeds or drops below your preferred setting, the humidistat activates your humidifier or dehumidifier to return the indoor humidity to your desired level. In other words, it operates like the thermostat in your HVAC system, except it controls a humidifier and dehumidifier instead of a furnace and an air conditioner.

Installing a humidistat allows you to control your home's humidity more precisely, reducing the risk of mold and improving your indoor air quality. It can also reduce your energy bills because these devices automatically turn off your humidifier and dehumidifier units when you don't need them running.

How Much Does a Humidistat Cost?

According to HomeGuide, a manual humidistat costs between $30 and $50 (CAD 42 and CAD 70). Outdoor temperatures affect the ideal humidity levels inside your home, and you'll need to enter the outdoor temperature into a manual humidistat to enable it to calculate the correct indoor humidity setting.

Automatic humidistats are more expensive at $90 to $200 (CAD 125 to CAD 279) per unit. These units use integrated Wi-Fi to download external air temperatures, so you won't need to enter the temperature manually. They're a good option for mold-prone homes and people with allergies and other health problems related to indoor air quality. That's because automatic humidistats consistently achieve optimal humidity settings, while manual models require user inputs to function correctly.

More Related Articles:

Is a Humidistat Worth It?

Installing a humidistat is likely worth it if you live in an area with high humidity. If you don't control the humidity inside your home, mold can flourish and the indoor air quality can deteriorate. Suboptimal humidity can also lead to increased allergen levels, which may worsen allergy symptoms. Many people find living in a humid house uncomfortable, so a humidistat can make your home a more pleasant place to be.

Humidistats also take the guesswork out of controlling your home's humidity. Without a humidistat, you may end up running your humidifier and dehumidifier units unnecessarily, leading to higher energy bills and incorrect humidity levels.

While humidistats are relatively inexpensive, they're not essential for every home. You may not need a humidistat if you live in a low-humidity area, don't struggle with mold control and have no one in your household with allergies.

What Is the Lifespan of a Humidistat?

Humidistat lifespans vary between brands and models. As a rule of thumb, you can expect your humidistat to last for around 10 years before you need to replace it. An old or worn-out humidistat may provide less accurate readings or stop working completely.

Your indoor environment and how well you maintain your humidistat can significantly impact its lifespan. Contaminants, extreme temperatures and other environmental conditions can damage a humidistat and cause it to fail more quickly. In contrast, a unit in a clean environment with relatively consistent temperatures may last much longer than average. Recalibrating your humidistat regularly according to the manufacturer's instructions helps it function accurately for as long as possible.

Follow us