Does an Air Conditioner Dehumidify Your Home Sufficiently?

Temperature is not the only thing that affects how comfortable you feel while in your home. Humidity levels also impact your comfort. Controlling humidity in your home is an issue that your air conditioner should take care of most of the time. However, there are times when using your air conditioner to dehumidify your house may not be enough. If your air conditioner is working well to lower the temperature in your home, but you still feel uncomfortable, you may want to look into installing a dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers work similarly to air conditioners, but are designed to remove moisture instead of heat. In fact, they actually add a small amount of heat to a room during use, but the moisture removal benefits far outweigh any heat gain from the dehumidifying process.

If you’re interested in a dehumidifier, you have two main options, whole house or portable. The type of dehumidifier you choose will depend on the scale of your humidity problem. For instance, if you are mainly concerned with the moisture levels in your basement, and the rest of your home feels fine to you, a larger portable dehumidifier should do the trick. These dehumidifiers collect the moisture out of the air and deposit it into a container that will need to be emptied (though some have drain lines that can be attached and routed outside or into a house drain). Depending on the amount of moisture being pulled out, the bucket may need to be emptied daily or even more frequently.

However, if your moisture issue is more of a house-wide problem, you may want to opt for a whole-house dehumidifier that attaches to your HVAC system. You may use this dehumidifier in tandem with your air conditioner and be able to raise the thermostat, as the dryer air will make the house feel more comfortable at a higher temperature. An added bonus is that you can also use the dehumidifier during the spring and fall (or cool evenings in the summer) when your air conditioner is not necessary, but you would still like to remove moisture from your home.

If you would like to learn more about dealing with moisture in your home, please contact us at Stack Heating & Cooling. We would love to answer any questions you may have.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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