Try a Whole-House Dehumidifier When the A/C Can’t Keep Up
Keeping your home comfortable during our notorious Florida summers can be a real struggle. As well as the heat, you’ve also got high humidity to contend with. Many homeowners choose to install a whole-house dehumidifier to deal with the problem. Some of the negative effects of high humidity include:
- Reduced comfort. A humid environment can be very uncomfortable, especially during the hottest part of the year.
- Poor indoor air quality. As well as causing musty odors around the home, humidity encourages mold, bacteria and pests such as dust mites – bad news for asthma and allergy sufferers.
- Condensation. It’s common for moisture to condense out of hot, humid air onto cooler surfaces such as widows. Condensation isn’t just unsightly – if it’s not addressed, mold infestations and water damage can occur.
- Damage to your home. High humidity can cause both cosmetic damage and serious structural problems.
There are various measures you can take to curb excessive humidity. These include:
- Improved ventilation
- Exhaust fans in the bathroom, kitchen etc.
- Fixing leaky air ducts
- Portable dehumidifiers
When the problem is severe, with high humidity in several rooms, these measures may not be sufficient. A more effective solution is installing a whole-house dehumidifier. A still more effective option is a whole-house system that runs in tandem with a variable speed A/C. As humidity levels increase, the A/C’s blower fan slows down but runs continuously. Air stays in contact with the system’s cooling coils for longer, allowing more moisture to condense out.
Whole-house dehumidifiers are relatively low maintenance, attach directly to your forced-air cooling system, and run automatically. A humidistat measures the amount of moisture in the air and turns on the dehumidifier when levels get too high. The moisture removed by the humidifier is automatically drained away, so there are no buckets to empty.
While whole-house dehumidifier systems aren’t cheap, they can be much less expensive than a major mold-removal operation or replacing moisture-damaged woodwork. A whole-house dehumidifier may also save energy: drier air feels cooler, meaning your A/C doesn’t need to work as hard.
NisAir Air Conditioning and Heating is proud to offer air conditioning and HVAC services along the Treasure Coast and in St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties. For more expert advice on dealing with humidity or other HVAC issues, please contact us at NisAir Air Conditioning and Heating.
