With the temperatures heating up, you may encounter a problem within your home that requires your immediate attention. Hot temperatures often bring about an increase in humidity. As you start feeling the effects of the heat, you’ll transition from using your furnace to your AC just so you can stay comfortable. Even though it may not feel like it, humidity levels play an important role in how cool and comfortable you can keep your home in the summer and how warm and comfy your home will be during the winter. To better understand the effects of humidity on your comfort, you should check out this brief overview of how humidity can affect your home’s HVAC system.
High Humidity Levels and Your Home’s HVAC System
When there are high levels of humidity in your home, your HVAC system has to work harder to produce the same output. Older air conditioning units that are less efficient and may not be the right size for your place are not always capable of handling the extra demands that the increase in humidity is placing on them. You may not notice this until you spend a fair amount of your time adjusting your thermostat in hopes of finding that sweet temperature, only to not find one.
As long as the humidity levels remain above normal, your home will feel warmer than usual. If you notice a persistent musty odor in different areas of your home, the air feels damp, and your windows are foggy, the air is holding on to excess moisture. This can cause your home’s HVAC system to prematurely fail because of the extra work it’s doing. You’ll also have higher utility bills.
Reducing the Humidity in Your Home
Once you’ve determined that the cause of your home’s temperature control issues is high humidity, there are ways you can counteract it. Ideally, you shouldn’t wait until the summer heat and humidity are here. It’s best for you to start tackling the humidity levels a few months in advance. But there’s nothing wrong with you doing so now.
Your goal is to get your home’s humidity levels to 60 percent or less for optimal summertime comfort.
An ideal fix would be for you to have a dehumidifier installed directly into your home’s HVAC system. That way, it will work in conjunction with the unit to remove any excess moisture from the air before your HVAC system can send it through your home. If you are also in the process of upgrading your HVAC system, you should ask your installer to add the dehumidifier at the same time. If not, you should ask your installer for recommendations and about professional installation services.
If installing a dehumidifier is not an option, the next best thing is for you to purchase a portable dehumidifier. The only thing you need to remember about using a portable dehumidifier is that you’ll need to keep track of your home’s humidity levels yourself. You should check them several times a day with a manual humidity monitor and turn your dehumidifier on when necessary to keep the levels from getting out of control.
Outdoor Humidity and AC Care
Keep in mind that the outside humidity can still affect your home’s HVAC system even after you’ve taken measures to improve your indoor environment. Inspect your unit periodically, keep the surrounding area near it clean and keep the condenser coils clean as well. Do not be afraid to use a garden hose to spray your coils down if necessary.
For more advice on how to your improve your home’s HVAC system’s efficiency, performance or other HVAC-related concerns, contact the experts at M & A HVAC Services.
