What Does a Dehumidifier Do & Do I Need One?

  A dehumidifier removes excess humidity from the air in your home. It can boost the effectiveness of an older air conditioner, and reduce humidity levels year-round, even when you don’t need the cooling from your AC.  

 A dehumidifier’s job is to remove excess moisture in the air. The dehumidifier draws warm, moist air into the unit. The air passes over a refrigerant coil, which condenses the air, removing moisture drop by drop. The unit then sends the drier air back into circulation.

In a portable unit, the water collects in a bucket or reservoir which you have to empty periodically. With a whole-house dehumidifier, the water pulled from the air goes into a drain line and exits your home.

A whole-house dehumidifier is generally less expensive to run, more efficient, and easier to maintain - no dumping buckets of water!

 The humidity level in your home is key to your comfort. Too high, and things feel sticky and damp. Too low, and the air dries out and you get zapped with static electricity every time you touch a light switch.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has numerous recommendations to improve indoor air quality. Controlling humidity is one of them. The EPA says a healthy and comfortable indoor humidity percentage is between 30-50%.

 High indoor humidity is more than 60% relative humidity. With anything over 60%, your chances of mold and mildew growth skyrocket. That means a decrease in air quality and potential damage to your home. Not sure what the humidity level in your home is? If you have a programmable thermostat or smart thermostat, check there first. Most newer thermostats will display the relative humidity. You can also purchase a humidity monitor (hygrometer) online or at your local hardware store.

Test the humidity in different areas of your home. If the humidity is high throughout the house, you want to start exploring solutions.

Your home could likely benefit from the installation of a whole-home dehumidifier if any of the following are true.

• Your house feels damp and clammy.
• Your home smells musty.
• You have problems with mold and mildew growth.
• Wood warps and metal rusts easily.
• You have a lot of spiders and creepy crawlies.
• Allergies and asthma are exacerbated.
• Your single-stage air conditioner runs constantly but the humidity is still high.
• You have condensation on the inside of your windows. 
• You live in an area where there is high humidity for most of the year.
• If you have high humidity in multiple rooms or on multiple floors.
• You have a high-performance home with tight or foam insulation
• You’re seeing signs of damage from high humidity.

You need to find the root cause of the high humidity in your home and then apply the appropriate solutions. This could range from sealing and insulating exhaust fans in the bathrooms to whole-house dehumidifier installation. If you simply live in a humid climate, you may need a dehumidifier to run during the cooler months when you don’t need the AC but it’s not time to turn on the heat yet, either. When it’s humid outside you can’t just open the windows to improve ventilation and reduce humidity.

 Whole-house dehumidifiers have numerous benefits. All of those problems listed above? They are reduced or may go away completely when you have the proper indoor humidity. A properly installed whole-home unit will:

• Improve Overall Comfort
• Help Prevent Mold and Mildew Growth
• Reduce Musty Odors
• Prevent Warping and Rusting
• Improve Indoor Air Quality
  • Reduce dust mites
  • Reduce the moist habitat insects and pests love
• No buckets to empty

By ensuring proper indoor humidity, you protect your home from damage and protect your family’s health and comfort. 

 Whole-house dehumidifier installation is a relatively simple procedure for a trained HVAC professional. You can use it as a stand-alone unit, or for optimal effect, connect it to your existing HVAC system ductwork to use with your system’s fan. If you’re going to invest in a whole-home dehumidifier, it makes sense for your health, comfort, and wallet to get the optimal performance out of the unit. By connecting the dehumidifier to your HVAC system, you can increase ventilation and reduce pollutants. In addition, you can control the humidity from your programmable thermostat. This allows you to optimize humidity control for overall comfort