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Desert Spring #DS3200 Disc Furnace Humidifier

3.1 3.1 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
Brand Desert Spring
Color Mixed
Room Type Office, Living Room, Bedroom
Power Source Corded Electric
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Desert Spring #DS3200 Disc Furnace Humidifier

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Customer reviews

3.1 out of 5 stars
3.1 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David J. Garrison
5.0 out of 5 stars LOng lasting device
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2019
Verified Purchase
I just replaced one I had for 20 years. Ir lived a long and honorable life. Easy to care for.
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Dennis L. Allen
1.0 out of 5 stars Did not do the job.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2007
Verified Purchase
This humidifier made no difference in the humidity of a 2700 sq. ft. house w/ good insulation and vapor barriers in 6" walls. E-mailed complaint to the company got no response. I have installed cheaper humidifiers that added much humidity to an older, draftier house. I would not recommend this unit. I will see if I can modify it so it adds some moisture to my dry house. I am afraid that I am just out a lot of money for a unit that does not put moisture into the air. As to quality--the supplied flex duct is too flimsy to be useful-count on supplying your own. The motor quit after a short test run. The company replaced it w/ no hassle. I see no reason why the unit should cost as much as it does. The quality is not better than units costing less than half.
7 people found this helpful
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whereisdad
2.0 out of 5 stars Don’t buy
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2020
Had this for about 4 years. Has to be maintain often, as it builds up a lot of calcium. Had to change the float after 2 years because of this. Would never buy again...
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Tim from Arlington
3.0 out of 5 stars Ingeneous idea, Heavy maintenance when you have "hard" water
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2016
This was my first whole house humidifier, and it's been a pain, but it works. The selling point to this humidifier is that it's water efficient, however, I probably would have been happier with a model that is less water efficient.

The way this humidifier works is it takes a little air from the exhaust of the heater and routes the air through the rotating discs, and back into the intake for the heater. This setup means you don't need any extra fans to pump air, as it uses the natural circulation already present in your system. That requires cutting some holes in your system, which is a fair bit of work. The humidifier intake can be closed to limit the air running through the humidifier.

The bottom of the humidifier has sitting water, and a float valve that adds water when it get low. There is also a drain port at the bottom of the humidifier for maintenance and refreshing the water. The bottom part of the rotary discs remain in the water all the time, when it is working properly.

The humidity control comes from a sensor which then turns the rotating discs if you need more humidity, or leaves them steady if the humidity is already above the threshold set at the sensor. If the rotating discs are slowly spinning, that causes the air to get "wet" thus adding humidity. If the rotating discs are not spinning, they dry out above the water line, which limits the humidity addition to the air.

The whole thing is pretty ingenious, although also challenging, especially for hard water. It's an effective system for getting humidity into my house, as can be attested by the condensation on windows of cold nights when the system is cranking. It's also a maintenance nightmare.

First and foremost, they should include a drain valve that costs like a dollar from Home Depot. It's negligence that they don't. The connector is there for a hose, and that was just sad.

Next, one can spend a good amount of money to get an automatic drain opener, but those things have generally sucked in my honest opinion. Be careful because my first one only worked with systems under pressure, and wouldn't open for the sitting water in the basin. Thy are all of course battery powered, and the batteries die regularly, making them effectively a pain and useless in the long term.

The reason why one needs these is because as the water evaporates (increasing the humidity for my house) it leaves behind all the salt and residue that came with the water. I ended up with mountains of the stuff, often thick enough to clog drains. And this is where the maintenance nightmare goes. It's the constantly cleaning up all the residue left behind, and trying to uncake everything. Of course the actual rotary discs cannot be disassembled (or at least not that I could figure out), meaning it's impossible to really clean.

Overall, great idea, but my next humidifier won't be the same type, but probably prefer one of those filters that drains water (I doubt it wastes much more that this model, with all the flushing and cleaning) and has to replace filters.
2 people found this helpful
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Greg C
4.0 out of 5 stars 11 years, still going strong
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2014
I have had this installed on my ~2500sqft house for the last 11 years. I was drawn in by the promise of not wasting much water. I live in a northern zone5, so we have pretty cold winters and normally the air in the house gets very dry. This unit has no problem humidifying the house to around 40%. We will occasionally have a few windows that build up condensation, but mostly I just leave the unit in the ON position, so whenever the blower/heat is running, it's running air through the unit.

It's been a long time since I did the installation, but a few things about it stand out. First, try to get the hanger for the unit as level as possible -- the unit is a lot wider than the cutout and even a small deviation is noticeable after installation (yes, I installed mine is slightly crooked, but not obvious ill effects). Second, the guillotine damper will catch on the ducting if the cutout isn't perfectly smooth -- only a problem once or twice a year, but still a regular annoyance. Lastly, if you're not at least an amateur home handyman, don't try to install this yourself -- get an hvac person to do it (though, they'll look at you funny and wish you had purchased a traditional unit).

Now, a few practical notes on operation:
1. I spent some time wiring the motor into the furnace so it would only spin the discs when the furnace was in operation. I figured this would save money in electricity. However, I've found that allowing the discs to dry out between operation causes substantially more mineral build up. As the discs get heavier, the motor has to work harder to spin, and the frequent start/stops put a lot of strain on the motor.
2. Make sure to drain the water from the unit at least once a month. -- once a week might be better The water in the basin becomes more and more mineral saturated making the deposits build up at a faster and faster rate in the winter. This is less waste water than a traditional unit will go through in a single day, so no worries.
3. I've replaced the motor twice now. It seems rather fragile. Take care to keep the water out. I think what happens is as the mineral deposits build up, water seeps across the axle and over to the motor. Although the innards of the motor are mostly plastic gears, something builds up in there that causes the motor problems. I recommend NOT spraying anything into it for lubrication (wd40, oil, silcone spray, etc). While annoying, I think the cost of occasionally replacing the motor beats buying filter-media for a traditional unit.
4. It's tempting to spin the drum when the motor isn't making full rotations, but don't force it. The spades on the axle that slots into the motor-coupling are very weak. I actually ended up snapping them off this year... ugh.
5. You should clean the discs and basin at least once per year (at the end of the season) -- and multiple times depending on how the mineral build up goes. At the end-of-season cleaning, if you let the drum dry out, the mineral builds ups become brittle and you can vibrate them lose by tapping with a hammer or against the ground. In addition, you can use a product like CLR to decale in the middle of winter. I recommend closing the damper so the fumes don't get circulated in our house, and just let the drum rotate through the basin for a few hours. For even better results, try some muriatic acid -- it's a concentrated acid that vigorously reacts with the scale, but doesn't seem to harm the plastic parts. Make sure to rinse thoroughly. If strong acids scare you, consider emptying the basin and filling completely with 5%-vinegar. This will eventually work without the such harmful fumes -- may take days, though.
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Humidifier, Not Hard to Install, Easy to Clean
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2008
Verified Purchase
Living in Colorado Rockies (9,200 ft.), humidity in home in winter can be lower than we'd like. This product is well-designed. Humidification level easily adjusted for outside temperature. Installation requires some tools, measurement, attention to detail, etc. I'm not really handy but actually enjoyed this project (great instructions). Worked very well last winter.
2 people found this helpful
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