Humidity Problems

Humidity in our homes is a major concern in our climate.  If you have to turn your thermostat below 74 degrees in the cooling mode to feel comfortable, then you have a humidity control problem.  The new High Efficiency air conditioning units may be partly to blame.  The government has mandated that the manufacturers make their equipment more energy efficient, and the consumers have used the SEER rating to compare units.  And for the most part that is the only comparison that most homeowners know how to make when it comes to their cooling equipment.  What most companies wont tell you is the tricks they play to get the SEER number up higher.  

1. Match a 12 SEER condensing unit with a larger inside coil to get it up to 13 or 14 SEER.  This cuts the dehumidifying capacity of the equipment way down.
2. The Manufacturers use a smaller compressor with a larger outside coil and inside coil to get more efficiency out of the units.
3. It takes more energy to pull moisture out of the air then it does to cool the air, so if you pull less moisture out you can cool the air using less energy.  That raises the SEER number to make the unit look more efficient.  The problem is you have to turn your thermostat much cooler to feel comfortable and you end up using more energy.
4. Oversizing the equipment to minimize the run time.  This hurts on the efficiency and the dehumidification of the equipment.
5. Variable Speed blowers set to ramp up to speed slowly.  This increases the dehumidification of the equipment some, but in many cases causes the inside unit, the ductwork, and the supply grilles to sweat.
6. Smart Thermostats that override temperature settings to get more dehumidification.  This can cause overcooling of the space and can actually bring the entire house down below the dew point temperature.  This can cause sweating inside the walls and cause water and mold problems.

Some contractors even install electric reheat connected to a humidistat to control humidity.  This will do the job of controlling humidity, but it is running your air conditioner and heater at the same time.  If you can afford your electric bill this will work in many cases.

 An air conditioning system alone cannot control humidity in your home 365 days a year.  When it is cool outside and raining, neither the air conditioner nor heater is running, so what is going to control the moisture in your home?  The only thing that can do this is a Whole House Dehumidifier.  We recommend the Thermastor units because they do the best job and are the most effective year round.  In most cases we have found that our customers that have installed these Whole House Dehumidifiers tend to turn their thermostats up 6 to 8 degrees warmer and feel much more comfortable.  The energy savings of turning the thermostat up in most cases more than pays for the energy used by the dehumidifiers.

 If you feel that you may be having a problem with humidity control, call us for a no obligation check of your home.  We have the equipment to test and monitor you humidity level and help find the places where the moisture is coming into the home. 

   The AC-Enhancer^TM   Enhances the Efficiency and Dehumidification Capacity of your Existing Air Conditioning Equipment.