Why Air Conditioners Help With Home Humidity

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There are two kinds of summertime heat: a dry heat and a sticky heat. Chances are you’ve experienced both in your home. 

If your air conditioner is working correctly, your home is cool enough to leave you comfortable even on the hottest of days. No matter how hot the temperature gauge rises, your home is just the right levels of comfort to enjoy everything you do. 

But as humidity levels rise, it can make a hot day seem even hotter. You would swear the temperature is several degrees above what’s actually recorded. You feel a stickiness even with very low levels of exertion. 

While most people assume an air conditioner’s role is merely to blow cool air, it does a whole lot more. Air conditioning is also designed to help keep humidity levels low. 

An air conditioner uses an evaporator coil to cool your home. This chilled coil collects water vapor from warm air as it passes over it. The water condenses and drips below into a drainage system. This process reduces humidity levels in the air, releasing only the cooled air into your home. 

And while this can work well on average days, when it kicks into high gear, it’s not always the most efficient method to control humidity levels. 

When more humidity exists in the air, the only way to pull it out of the air is to lower the thermostat a few degrees. This causes the air conditioning system to work harder; it also produces more cooled air into your home. Not always the best solution if you’re already cold. Plus it can cause wear and tear on your equipment, and raise your utility bills in the process. 

What can you do instead? 

A whole home humidifier can help. 

If your home always seems a little sticky, or the AC system seems to run and run on hot afternoons, a whole home humidifier may help. Of course, a whole house humidifier uses energy too. But not as much as your air conditioner. You may find that you can slide the thermostat back up a couple of degrees, saving both your equipment and your utility bills over time. 

R.S. Andrews has consistently prioritized the air conditioning service needs of our Atlanta community. Get in touch with us today.