High humidity makes everyone uncomfortable. Our bodies are designed to cool using evaporation. If the humidity is high, that can’t happen and we feel it. In cold weather humidity increases heat conductivity, making the cold feel even colder.
Humidity can be a health hazard, too. Humidity above 50-60% contributes to the growth of molds and dust mites and neither are good, particularly if you have allergies. Studies indicate that exposure to high humidity levels and molds raise the likelihood of asthma and contributes to other health problems (National Institute of Environmental Health Science). High humidity can also damage woodwork, furniture, musical instruments, books, fabric (such as quilts) and artwork.
Protect yourself and your family by taking steps to reduce humidity. Here’s a common sense tip: close windows and doors during wet weather and ensure that all rooms, particularly high humidity rooms like bathrooms and kitchens, are properly ventilated. Small, portable dehumidifiers are available and helpful if you have high humidity in a basement, garage or other location.
Portables can only do so much, however, and may require daily emptying. To bring down humidity levels in 3 or more rooms, your best choice is to add a central dehumidifier or A/C enhancer.
Modern whole-house dehumidifiers or A/C enhancers are good solutions. Centralized dehumidifiers will remove many gallons of water and require very little maintenance and attention. A ventilated dehumidification unit can bring fresh air into your home and works year-round, whether it’s hot or cold.
Add an air conditioning enhancer to improve the efficiency of your A/C unit and lower humidity. A/C enhancers improve efficiency by prickling the coils and removing residual humidity during A/C system startup. SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) tests do not measure efficiency during start-up so A/C systems do not typically have enhancers.
You can increase your comfort, health and the efficiency of your HVAC system by adding a dehumidifier or A/C enhancer. There are several factors to consider when choosing one. We would be happy to provide more information to help you choose the right one for your home, so contact us for more information.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about saving money with programmable thermostats and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.
