High and low relative humidity are common problems many homes experience indoors at different times of year. Portable dehumidifiers and humidifiers are options for overcoming these issues, but they aren’t nearly as effective as whole-home units. We’ll explore what you need to know about humidity control, why it matters and why installing a whole-home dehumidifier and/or humidifier can be a smart investment.

What Should the Humidity Level in a House Be?

The ideal humidity level for a home depends on the personal preferences of the people who live there. Some people prefer drier air, while others are more comfortable breathing air that is a bit more humid. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends indoor relative humidity of 30% to 50%. Many smart thermostats can tell you how humid the air inside the house is. If you don’t have a smart thermostat, you can purchase a portable hygrometer fairly cheaply that will do the same thing.

Why Humidity Control Is So Important

Ensuring your home isn’t too dry during the winter or too humid during the summer is important for several reasons. One is that overly dry or overly moist air can directly impact your comfort level and possibly your health.

When the air is too dry, you’ll often end up with issues like dry, itchy skin, chapped lips and irritated eyes, nose, throat and sinuses. You’ll also be more likely to catch a cold or other illness when the air is too dry. That’s because your mucous membranes dry out, making them less effective at blocking germs from entering your body.

Living in a home that’s overly humid can be even worse for your comfort. That’s because the more moisture air contains, the hotter it feels. This can be an issue in terms of your energy bills as well since you may be tempted to turn your AC up to help you stay cool. The biggest concern when your home is somewhat warm, and the humidity level is 60% or higher, is that it can cause condensation to form in various places. This may then allow mold spores to start growing and spreading around your house, negatively impacting your indoor air quality.

Another thing to note in terms of high humidity is that it makes your air conditioning work less effectively. That means your AC system won’t cool as quickly, increasing your energy bills and adding wear and tear to your cooling system.

Latent heat changes a system’s phase, while sensible heat changes its temperature. The moisture in the air contains quite a bit of latent heat, which the system must remove by causing the moisture to condense before it can effectively start reducing the sensible heat to cool the air in your house.

How Whole-Home Dehumidification Works

High indoor humidity is a fairly common problem in South Carolina thanks to our subtropical climate. Although air conditioning does help to reduce indoor humidity, an AC system alone often isn’t sufficient to fully control indoor humidity in more humid climates like ours. That’s why installing a whole-home dehumidifier can be extremely beneficial, working to ensure your home is never too humid for comfort.

A whole-home dehumidifier is actually quite similar to the evaporator coil in your AC system. The way the dehumidifier works is by using cold refrigerant to cool down the air flowing through the unit and cause much of the moisture it contains to condense. All the moisture the unit collects then drains away directly into your plumbing system or sometimes straight outside.

This type of dehumidifier is designed to run alongside your AC system. That means it draws in some of the warm air coming into the AC system through the return ductwork and dehumidifies the air before it flows into the system’s air handler. You can also run the dehumidifier independently when your home is too humid but not so warm that you need to have your AC running. All you need to do is switch your thermostat so that the HVAC fan stays on and continuously brings air into the ductwork system.

How Whole-Home Humidification Works

If you’re sick of dealing with your house constantly feeling too dry during the winter, several types of whole-home humidifiers can effectively overcome this issue. As with a whole-home dehumidifier, these appliances are meant to work with your HVAC system and continually put out moist air when your heating system is running. One great thing about this type of humidifier is that it connects directly to your home’s water supply. That means you never need to worry about its water reservoir running dry and needing to be refilled like you do with portable humidifiers. A whole-home humidifier also provides far more effective humidification since your HVAC system circulates all the moist air it produces into every room of the house.

Steam humidifiers are the most effective option in places with much drier winters. In our area, you’re usually better off choosing either a fan-powered humidifier or a bypass humidifier. Although these units don’t produce as much moisture as steam humidifiers, they cost quite a bit less in terms of both installation and energy usage.

The Importance of Controlling a Humidifier or Dehumidifier With a Humidistat

The easiest option when installing a whole-home humidifier or dehumidifier is to wire it directly to your HVAC system and thermostat. That means the unit will automatically turn on and then off each time your heating or AC does. But this involves two interrelated issues. The first is that there will often be times when your home isn’t so dry or humid that you need the unit to run. That means it could end up running more than necessary, making your house much drier or more humid than you want and increasing your energy bills.

These are good reasons to install a humidistat that controls your humidifier or dehumidifier. A humidistat is just like a thermostat except that it measures the moisture content in the air instead of the air temperature. As with your thermostat, you can program the humidistat to your desired humidity level. This way, your humidifier or dehumidifier will only run as much as necessary instead of always coming on each time your HVAC system does and running throughout each heating or cooling cycle. You can also set the humidistat to turn the HVAC fan on to allow the humidifier or dehumidifier to run when needed during the times your heating or AC is off.

If you’re searching for top-notch HVAC, indoor air quality improvement, or plumbing services in the Greenville, SC area, turn to the experts at Tuck & Howell, Inc.. We’ve been in business since 1969 and have a team of highly trained HVAC technicians and plumbers ready to assist with all your indoor air quality, cooling, heating, plumbing, water treatment, and ductwork needs. As one of the leading HVAC companies in the area, we have what it takes to help you effectively manage your home’s humidity and keep you comfortable all year long.

To learn more about the humidity control options we offer at Tuck & Howell, Inc., contact us today.

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