If you’re like most homeowners in Dallas, GA, you likely rely on your home’s AC to get through hot and humid summers. You may not have given much thought to how humidity affects your AC’s performance. However, it’s something you should be aware of, as it can affect everything from cooling costs to AC longevity. Our team at Precision Heating & Air is here to help you understand how humidity affects AC performance in Dallas.
Humidity and Perceived Temperature
Humidity can add as much as 15 degrees to the temperature you perceive, versus the actual air temperature. The reason for this has to do with human biology. When your body’s temperature rises beyond optimal levels, you begin sweating. The purpose of the sweat is to absorb heat energy from your skin’s surface. Eventually, your sweat absorbs enough heat to evaporate. This is essentially your body’s own built-in cooling system. However, humid air can impede that process.
When you overheat on a humid day, you’ll still sweat. However, the more humid the air, the less of your sweat will evaporate. It has nowhere to go because the air’s already saturated with moisture. As a result, your body temperature continues to climb, and you keep sweating. Excess humidity traps more heat at your skin’s surface, creating an uncomfortable cycle. This is why humid air can feel so much hotter than dry air.
The Effects of High Humidity on Your AC
High humidity also impacts the performance of your home’s air conditioner. You’ll likely turn your thermostat down lower than usual to compensate for the perceived extra heat. This alone can raise your cooling costs for each billing cycle. However, your AC will also work harder to cool humid air versus dry air.
An air conditioning system uses refrigerant to collect heat from your home’s air and carries it outside to expel it. This is possible because your AC has a compressor and an expansion valve. These components allow the air conditioner to control the pressure, temperature, and state of the refrigerant. Lowering the pressure of a liquid refrigerant by passing it through the expansion valve reduces its temperature. Upon reaching your AC’s evaporator coil, the refrigerant should be somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
As the chilled refrigerant passes through the evaporator coil, your AC activates its blower. This blower pushes warm air over the coil, allowing the refrigerant to extract heat from it. As this happens, moisture in the warm air condenses on the cold coil. As the humidity in the air rises, the AC must deal with more moisture. This leads to longer cycle times to achieve the same cooling effects. Additionally, the extra workload imposed by humid air will cause more wear and tear on your AC. This will shorten the lifespan of major components and may force a premature AC replacement.
Your AC Isn’t Your Primary Dehumidifier
While your AC unit removes moisture from the air as it runs, its dehumidification capacity has limits. That’s why it can seem like your AC runs frequently on a hot and humid day but never sufficiently cools your home. Many homeowners misunderstand the dehumidification capabilities of an AC. They believe that an AC that doesn’t remove sufficient humidity must be undersized. However, proper AC sizing depends on a home’s overall heat load, not its indoor humidity. While a larger AC would, in fact, remove more moisture, it would operate inefficiently. This would lead to higher energy costs and a shorter AC lifespan.
Consider a Whole-Home Dehumidifier
Installing a whole-home dehumidifier to work alongside your HVAC system can help control relative humidity. Most models let you set a preferred relative humidity level and work along with your cooling (or heating) equipment to maintain it. Some models allow for remote control using a thermostat.
A whole-home dehumidifier is advantageous here in Dallas for multiple reasons. It’s more effective than your AC at removing moisture and more energy efficient. Plus, whole-home dehumidifiers can connect to a condensate drain line. Portable dehumidifiers often require you to empty a tank or worry about overflows. A whole-home dehumidifier can work with your AC or independently of it. On a warm, humid day, it may drop the humidity enough to eliminate the need to turn on your AC.
Keeping your home’s indoor humidity at ideal levels with a whole-home dehumidifier can prevent damage to wood floors and furniture. These materials can warp in humid conditions. It helps avoid damage to painted walls and wallpaper. It can also improve your indoor air quality. High humidity can trigger breathing difficulties in people with asthma. Humid air can also increase the suspension of certain particulate matter, leading to adverse health effects. Humid air can also increase dust mite populations, which are a common allergen. It can even encourage mold growth around your home, which is both unpleasant and unhealthy.
Whole-Home Dehumidifier Installation Options
Depending on your need to control humidity, you can choose from multiple whole-home dehumidifier installation options. The simplest installation method is with a bypass duct. It uses a duct to siphon air from your HVAC supply duct, dehumidifies it, and mixes it back into the HVAC supply. In that configuration, the dehumidifier would remove excess moisture in the air after the AC removes some. That ensures the dehumidifier only operates when the AC’s dehumidification isn’t sufficient. If your home’s layout permits, it’s a good idea to provide your dehumidifier with its own air intake. That allows for even more efficient operation.
It’s also possible to install a whole-home dehumidifier with its own ductwork, separate from your HVAC. That gives you the advantage of true independent operation. That way, you can run your whole-home dehumidifier whenever necessary, even when you don’t need cooling. Here in Dallas, that can be useful during shoulder seasons. Those are the periods at the very beginning and end of the cooling season. At those times, it may be cool enough to forgo AC. However, persistent humidity may force you to run your AC anyway. With an independently ducted whole-home dehumidifier, you can leave your AC off, saving energy.
Your Local Cooling and Dehumidification Experts
Since 1985, Precision Heating & Air has offered Dallas residents comprehensive comfort services. That includes installing, maintaining, and repairing HVAC systems of all kinds. It also includes installing and servicing whole-home dehumidifiers. Our NATE-certified HVAC experts can help you decide whether a dehumidifier will benefit your home. If so, we’ll recommend and install the right model for your needs. We sell and install whole-home dehumidifiers from multiple trusted manufacturers. To offset the initial investment cost, we even offer finance options on approved credit. If you want to get a sense of what it’s like to work with us, check out some of our five-star customer reviews. When you’re ready to get your Dallas home’s indoor humidity under control, contact Precision Heating & Air.
