In our area, humidity is sometimes worse than high temperatures. Temperatures outside might seem somewhat reasonable, but the presence of water vapor in the air adds to it. This isn’t to say that the temperature actually increases because of a high percentage of water vapor. It only means you feel like the temperature has increased.
How Humidity Affects You
People feel comfortable at about 30-50% humidity. While some humidity is necessary for our comfort, too much means that the air has almost reached its capacity of how much moisture it can hold. At this point, your body has difficulty evaporating water from it.
In other words, when you sweat, it cannot evaporate into the air as easily. This is your body’s natural way of cooling off, and it’s why you feel warmer when it’s both hot and humid.
How Your Air Conditioner Helps
An air conditioning system has dehumidifying capability. Part of the cooling process allows a coil in the indoor portion of your system to become very cold. When air from your home moves past this coil, moisture in the air condenses on the coil. In other words, condensation forms outside of the coil, and then it drips away into a drain system. This takes humidity out of the air as it cools it.
Why the Air Conditioner Might Not Be Enough
While your AC system does help to lower humidity levels, it can use a lot of energy to do so. When humidity levels are high enough, it’s probably not the heat you’re feeling, but the humidity. Yet, you pay a lot of money to run a system that provides both humidity control and temperature control, often setting the temperature lower than you need.
With a separate dehumidifier system in your ducts, you can run your air conditioner at the same temperature you always do, while using the dehumidifier along with it to lower humidity levels faster without using so much energy. This can also help to prevent mold growth and other problems related to excess moisture in the home. Call a local technician for more details.
Boehmer Heating & Cooling offers air conditioning service and indoor air quality systems in Pittsburgh, PA. Call our friendly staff for exceptional customer service.