Nobody likes it when the humidity rises on a hot summer day, because we know what that feels like—a much hotter day. The truth is that high humidity doesn’t raise the temperature of the air. What it does is make it harder for our bodies to release heat through our skin. More heat is trapped in our bodies, and so we feel even hotter. Think of humidity as like throwing a blanket around your body on a hot day. Not something you would want to do.
“Yeah, humidity is rough in summer,” you say, “but I’ve got my air conditioner to handle it.”
Except that’s not quite how it works…
Your air conditioner cools, but it doesn’t dehumidify
The job of an air conditioner is to remove heat from the air circulating around a house, which cools the temperature of the air. It’s a 90°F day outside, but your AC removes enough heat from the indoor air to lower it down to a comfortable 78°F.
However, this doesn’t account for humidity. Yes, you’ll feel cooler with heat removed from the air, but the humidity will still make you feel warmer. Let’s say the high humidity makes the air feel 6°F warmer. The AC cools the house to 78°F, but to you it will feel like 86°F. You’ll have to keep the AC running for longer and longer to overcome the effect of the high humidity.
An air conditioner does remove some humidity from the air as it runs; this is a natural part of how it absorbs heat. As refrigerant in the evaporator coil evaporates, water moisture in the air condenses on the coil. But this is only a small amount of the humidity in the air—it’s not enough to make a comfort difference for the house.
You can deal with humidity with a whole-house dehumidifier
You don’t have to give up when it comes to high humidity indoors. Instead, you can have HVAC technicians install a whole-house dehumidifier into the ventilation system. These devices work similarly to air conditioners, except they evaporate refrigerant with the specific goal of removing large amounts of humidity from the air. The air is also re-heated so it won’t interfere with the air conditioner and make the indoor air too cold.
You can control a whole-house dehumidifier from a special panel called a humidistat, or you can have humidity controls built into a new thermostat. We recommend setting the relative humidity level to 45%, which is the perfect balance point between too humid and too dry.
Controlling humidity in your home has more benefits than making you feel more comfortable and lowering how much you need to run the AC. Reducing humidity prevents the growth of harmful molds in the house, prevents unpleasant odors from the vents, and stops potential water damage to furnishings.
You can trust to our team if you want to learn more about installing a dehumidifier in Katy, TX. Talk to us today to learn more about having a whole-house dehumidifier installed.
At AC Comfort, your comfort is our business! Request service today for cooler comfort in your home.