Controlling Indoor Humidity and the Hair-Raising Truth
Don’t you wish you could control the hair-raising, high humidity that often comes with the summer season? While Mother Nature is still in charge of the outdoors, home cooling technology and innovative products give us the power to control indoor humidity! And you know what that means….a few more good hair days.
Cool it with the Humidity!
Depending on where you live, your indoor spaces may be prone to high humidity levels. While your central air conditioner or heat pump cools the air to a set temperature, the cooling process may help to lower the indoor humidity level.1 This is often why your indoor air feels refreshing when your cooling system is running. But like some hair care products, your air conditioner or heat pump may not be capable of controlling a continuous humidity problem. Here are a few common reasons why your air conditioner or heat pump may not reduce indoor humidity levels.
Tons of Tonnage: A unit that is too large for your home may cool your indoor space quickly, but cycle off before providing incidental dehumidification. These shorter blasts of cool air may lead to roller coaster levels of home comfort – cold, warm, cold, warm, and so on…
Short Run Times: The longer a central air conditioner or heat pump runs, the more time it has to reduce humidity levels. A single-stage air conditioner or heat pump runs at 100% capacity until it reaches your preset indoor temperature, and then turns off. However, a two-stage or variable speed system runs longer at a lower speed which can allow more moisture to be removed from the interior air.
When it’s time for a new AC system, consider investing in the upgraded technology of a two-stage or variable speed system. With these type systems, you may also notice lower energy bills compared to a single-stage system.
Open Ventilation: You wouldn’t want to open all your windows on a hot and humid day. You also don’t want to be in an airtight room. When your home’s ventilation system is not designed or installed properly, it may dramatically degrade the quality of the air in a home.
Over-ventilated homes may pull muggy air into your home, while airtight homes may trap humidity in your living spaces. If you are experiencing excessive humidity in your home, be sure to have a licensed, professional HVAC dealer inspect your home’s ventilation system.
Thermostat Fan Setting: Fans may make you feel cooler, because the moving air wicks away some moisture from your skin. Unfortunately, fans do not offer the same dehumidification properties associated with the refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner or heat pump, or dehumidifier. This Old HVAC System: Even with proper maintenance and the dedicated efforts of a highly-skilled HVAC contractor, an aging air conditioner or heat pump may not be running as efficiently as it did the day it was installed, years ago.
This Old HVAC System: Even with proper maintenance and the dedicated efforts of a highly-skilled HVAC contractor, an aging air conditioner or heat pump may not be running as efficiently as it used to.
Most people appreciate when the temperature, especially the indoor temperature, is “just right.” Humidity control of your home’s indoor air is essential to ensuring that the temperature you set on the thermostat or control system is ‘just right’ for you and your family. And… this will go a long way in keeping frizzy hair in check before you walk out your door!
This article was included in the 2018 summer edition of Just Comfort™ Magazine
1 American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Top Ten Things About Air Conditioning. n.d. https://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/free-resources/top-ten-things-about-air-conditioning#10. 4 May 2017.