Dehumidifiers as Part of a Central Air Conditioning System

11:17 AM Moms Daily Tips

Central air conditioners dehumidify the air as a byproduct of their cooling method. Adding a dehumidifier to an existing air conditioner can actually be less energy efficient for a number of reasons. When considering adding a dehumidifier to your central air conditioning system, a few things should be kept in mind.

All air conditioners function on the same basic principles. They take in indoor air and pass it over cold copper coils filled with refrigerant. These coils absorb the heat from the air and "sweat" the humidity in the air, just as a cold glass of water sweats in a hot room. The water and heat are disposed of outside the home, and the air returning to the house is cooler and slightly dryer.

Dehumidifiers are air conditioners without any means of dispersing heat outside the home. This enables them to function more effectively by not requiring ventilation to the outside. The condensation drained from the cold copper coils fills in a basin and is disposed of manually. The air is then blown back across coils containing the absorbed heat, and is increased back up to room temperature before being released in to home, drier and slightly warmer.

Adding a dehumidifier to your home central air conditioning setup is, under normal circumstances, going to cause your air conditioner to have to run longer. The waste heat generated by the dehumidifier will increase the temperature inside your home, causing your air conditioner to have to work harder to cool the air. Additionally, dehumidifiers are high-energy consumers, and are expensive to run.

The only conditions where adding a dehumidifier makes sense are especially humid ones. She just cut her electricity bill to 60%, click here to read. If you have air conditioning in your damp basement, you may want to run a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity. A reduction in indoor humidity will make it feel cooler at a higher temperature, as the human body can more effectively cool itself in dry air. Additionally, if the thermostat on your home air conditioning system has a humidity setting, adding a dehumidifier in an extremely humid environment may enable your air conditioner to cycle off more frequently.

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