Humidity control plays an important role in bringing about home comfort. It affects almost every aspect of your home. Be it the health of your family or the maintenance of the wooden flooring and furniture, humidity control plays a key role. The role of humidity gets significant especially during summers when the optimal humidity levels should be around 40-50% and any higher moisture levels can make way for bacteria, viruses and molds to evade your space and turn it unhealthy, hampering the indoor air quality.
Air Conditioner is something on which you depend mainly in the summers for home temperature control. Now what is worth mentioning here is that you could achieve good humidity control with a good working AC and a few basic know how. Isn’t it fortunate that you can manage temperature as well as humidity with your air conditioning system! Let us get into the details so that you can find a better way of utilizing your Ac system also as a means of humidity control.
How Air Conditioner Controls Humidity?
We know that the primary function of an air conditioner is to introduce cool air into the space so as to make you feel comfortable. However, it also removes moisture as an implication in the process of introducing cold air.
In order to achieve the process of moisture removal, there is no need to bring about any changes in the settings. It is actually a part of the basic working of the AC. There are evaporator coils on the air conditioning system that condenses moisture from the indoor air. Actually the hot and moist air present indoors is passed on to the cold evaporator coils. And this will result in the condensation of the air and the resulting liquid is taken out from the drain pan through the drain pipe. Now this entire process will result in dehumidification of the space.
How To Achieve Better Humidity Control Using AC?
Several factors come into play when you are opting for humidity control with your Air Conditioner. The geographic location, the material used, and many more can decide how humid your home should be. There can be times when even though the AC is working, the humidity levels seem high. This can be due to many reasons. Understanding them can help achieve better humidity control with your air conditioning system.
Lack of proper maintenance of the HVAC Unit
There will be changes in the efficiency of the HVAC unit as it ages. If not properly maintained, they won’t be able to maintain the ideal humidity levels. This is due to the fact that over time, the HVAC unit’s capacity of cooling and dehumidification can decrease. With proper maintenance, the unit can work for up to 15 years and after that you may need to replace the unit.
With proper maintenance you can also have a check on the evaporator coils which may get dirty over time. As we have already seen, they are the main component in the air conditioner which brings about dehumidification process. Dirt particles settling on the evaporator coils can inhibit its functionality. They can act as insulator inhibiting the dehumidification process.
Size concerns of the HVAC Unit
Now size really matters in order to regulating the temperature as well as humidity control. It is not like the bigger unit can bring about the best results for you. Oversized units with powerful compressor can frequently turn on and off. As a result, the air conditioner won’t be running for durations so as to achieve enough dehumidification.
Lack of sufficient speed control options
Proper humidity control cannot be achieved with air conditioners having limited speed controls. In such conditions, the unit will work in the full swing to achieve the desired temperature. And when the desired temperature is reached, the unit will turn off. This cycle goes on repeating. And hence there won’t be sufficient time for the HVAC unit to dehumidify the space. So it is better to go for systems with multiple speed controls.
Incorrect Thermostat Setting
Now, proper thermostat setting is equally important. You should set the temperature keeping in mind the humidity levels. Wrong settings can cause the moisture levels to further increase. So it is better to have a check on the humidity levels and then make the proper thermostat setting.
Improper ventilation system
If you do not have proper home ventilation system, that too can act as a barrier in achieving good humidity control with the AC. The negative indoor air pressure created as a result can draw in more air from the outside. In high humidity conditions, this air will be warm further troubling the humidity control.
Moist Air from leaky ducts
Moist air entering the home atmosphere can be another reason for rise in the levels of humidity. Leaky ductwork can be the main cause for this. The situation can be aggravated in the return side of the ductwork, where the hot and moist around the ducts can be sucked. When the moisture levels shoot up to extremely high levels, the Air Conditioner struggles in removing the same. This can have unfavorable effects in the humidity control. So it better to get the duct systems checked for such leak issues.
What To Do When Your AC Doesn’t Serve The Purpose Of Humidity Control?
Now we have seen how air conditioners bring about dehumidification. It is actually an implication of the actual cooling process for which the system is designed. You should keep in mind that the primary function of the air conditioning unit is not dehumidification but to introduce cool air into our indoor space. On the other hand, humidifiers and dehumidifiers are the devices meant for exclusively combating humidity problems. In case you still can’t get the job done with air conditioning system, then it is better to look humidifier and dehumidifier options which are primarily meant to serve the purpose of humidity control.
If your home humidity levels are high, then what you need is a dehumidifier. On the contrary, if the humidity levels are low and the air around your home is dry, then what you would need is a humidifier. Hence if you are somebody struggling with HVAC humidity control, it is best to consider these exclusive options of humidity control to have the work done.
In case if your home has central air conditioning system, you can integrate any of these devices to bring about the level of humidity control you intend to have.