Here in Corpus Christi, the benefits of a whole-home dehumidifier are apparent on most any summer day. During the hot months, the average daily relative humidity tops out around 80 percent. Of course, outdoor humidity doesn’t stay outside — it migrates indoors where the Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping humidity below 60 percent. Your air conditioner extracts water vapor as a secondary function of the cooling process, but it’s often not enough to keep indoor humidity levels in the healthy and comfortable range.
What’s a Little Extra Humidity?
- Humid air holds on to heat energy and makes your home more difficult to cool. Lower thermostat settings and longer A/C “on” cycles increase your monthly operating costs, but fail to maintain optimum indoor comfort.
- 50 percent relative humidity is considered the trigger point for the growth of toxic mold. While mold spores remain dormant in drier conditions, once humidity exceeds 50%, active mold growth may begin inside the house. Microscopic reproductive spores flood the indoor environment and cause illness and allergic reactions in many individuals. Dust mites, another airborne allergen, also thrive once humidity in the house climbs above 50%.
Why the Whole-Home Solution is Better
Unlike a portable room dehumidifier that treats the air in a single room only and requires daily maintenance, a whole-home dehumidifier removes humidity from all the air in your house. Permanently installed inside your HVAC ductwork, the unit continuously dehumidifies the entire household air volume as it continuously circulates through the ducts. Relative humidity settings are entered at a programmable humidistat mounted on a wall, just like your HVAC thermostat. From then on, the unit automatically maintains the desired setting day and night with no further input, no matter how much outdoor humidity levels may vary.
Because the whole-home unit is permanently plumbed to your household drain system, daily tank draining and cleaning aren’t required. Maintenance is generally limited to a single annual cleaning that can be performed by a qualified HVAC technician.
In the Coastal Bend, ask the air quality professionals at CCAC for more about the benefits of a whole-home dehumidifier.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about whole-home dehumidifiers and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 361-678-2495.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “gpointstudio/Shutterstock”
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