For you to know which kind of system is best for you, you first got to know how the two systems work.
Your air conditioning system first sucks in hot air through the vents and ducts and brings it through the system. It is then cooled down by something called refrigerant.
The refrigerant is a chemical fluid that works in your air conditioner as both as a liquid and a gas. The liquid refrigerant absorbs the heat in the hot air, which causes the air to cool down and the refrigerant to heat up.
Now that you have cold air, the fan in your air conditioner blows it back into your home.
At the same time, the now gaseous refrigerant is compressed back into a liquid by the system's compressor, which allows it to start cooling again.
Air conditioners and dehumidifiers work similarly: both remove moisture from the air using refrigerant, evaporator coils, and condensers. However, a dehumidifier doesn't cool air, while air conditioners do.
This is because a typical dehumidifier isn't designed to take the hot air out of the home. It only does as much cooling as is necessary to remove moisture from the air and blows warm air back into the indoor air.
The real goal of a dehumidifier is to remove as much moisture from the air as possible.
It does this by cooling moist air with its cold coils, which causes the moist air to condensate and turns it from water vapor into water.
The dehumidifier collects this water in a bucket or tray mechanism. This drain pan can be easily removed and manually emptied periodically.
If you're looking for a system that can produce cooled air, you would need to purchase an air conditioner as part of your HVAC system.
The only element whole-house dehumidifiers and portable dehumidifiers affect is the humidity levels, which change how you feel the temperature.
Whether you have a portable dehumidifier or a whole-house dehumidifier, you can expect the same process to occur.
The only difference is if you are looking to target humid air in your entire house or a specific area.
Dehumidifier vs. Air Conditioner: How Do They Compare?
So now that we've gone over how a portable and whole-house dehumidifier works, how does it compare to an air conditioner?
Here's a few key points.
Costs
Installation
In terms of installation costs, a dehumidifier will cost you a lot less than an air conditioner.
To purchase and install an air conditioner, you'd need to pay approximately $4,000 - $8,000, with most prices on the upper end of that range.
And if you're looking for a larger system due to the size of your home, this price will probably run higher.
On the other hand, a whole-house dehumidifier will only cost you between $1,500 - $3,500 to purchase and install.
If your main concern is humidity levels throughout your home and not cooling, a whole-house dehumidifier would be the ideal option for you.
Get a portable dehumidifier, and the prices drop even further. A portable unit requires no installation and will only cost you the price of the dehumidifier itself.
This should only cost you between $250 - 450, making it a great option if you only need for a limited number of spaces.
If you're only looking to dehumidify a section of your home but don't think a portable dehumidifier will be powerful enough to remove excess moisture, you could always install a large-capacity dehumidifier.
These are popular options in basements where there's great potential for moisture build-up and can shave a few hundred dollars off your installation fees.
Running Costs
Just as a dehumidifier will cost you less in installation fees, it'll likely also run you less in utility bills.
Everyone knows that an air conditioner costs a ton to run. After all, there's a reason why your parents always told you, "I'm not paying to cool the entire neighborhood", whenever you left the door open.
But how do these costs compare between a dehumidifier vs. an air conditioner?
However, there's a bit of an issue to deal with before we can compare prices. The problem? The average running estimates of the systems are both very broad.
This is because running costs can be impacted by many things, not limited to the energy efficiency of the system, the climate of where the house is located, how big of a system you have, what temperature you're running the system in, and so forth and so forth.
As a result, your running costs could be significantly different depending on your situation.
Yet just looking at the average estimates, we can see a clear winner: a dehumidifier costs on average $0.03 and $0.16 per hour to run, while an AC unit will run you $0.06 and $0.88 on average per hour.
So while you could find AC units that cost less than a dehumidifier, most AC units will cost much more. Especially compared to a smaller, portable dehumidifier running in just one room.
Indoor Air Quality
You can increase air quality much more effectively with a dehumidifier than with an air conditioner.
Keeping your indoor air quality high is really important for several reasons.
Numerous health risks are associated with high humidity, such as mold and bacteria build-up, while dry air coming from low humidity can cause dry skin and respiratory problems.
Problems with humidity can even cause foggy windows and rotting wood at both extremes.
One key difference between the systems makes dehumidifiers much more effective at removing humidity and improving air quality: Air conditioners are made to monitor the temperature.
If you have a self-starting system, your air conditioner will monitor the indoor temperature and turn it on once the heat exceeds a certain set point.
Even if you have really humid air or dry air, your system won't react until there's too much warm air inside the home.
On the other hand, dehumidifiers' primary function is to monitor humidity levels.
A dehumidifier monitors all the moisture in the air, and when there's excess moisture, aka high humidity, it will turn on.
Though air conditioners also remove excess humidity and moisture from the air, dehumidifiers pull much more moisture and respond to high humidity much more quickly.
A dehumidifier should be your go-to choice if you're mainly worried about poor indoor air quality.
Energy Efficiency
One key factor in the dehumidifier vs. air conditioner debate is energy efficiency.
As we discussed in the running costs section, most dehumidifiers cost less to run than a typical AC unit.
But this doesn't mean dehumidifiers are more energy efficient: they could just cost less because they're typically smaller and less powerful.
So, what is more efficient? Again, this depends on many factors, but a dehumidifier is typically more efficient than an air conditioner.
If you're looking to remove humidity, a dehumidifier would be expected to do the same job with less energy expenditure.
Want to get rid of as much humidity as possible without sacrificing your cooling process? Why not consider running both of them at once?
If you're not worried about cooling costs, this will minimize the humidity in your without adding more heat.
If you're looking to get rid of high humidity from your indoor air and live in very humid conditions, a dehumidifier is, without a doubt, the best option for you.
However, if instead you need some cold air and don't have any problems with humid weather or your indoor air quality, a traditional AC unit will fare you much better.
If you're looking to reduce humidity in the summer months but need some professional help, talk to Air and Energy of NWFL today.
