There are few things worse than high humidity levels in the middle of a hot day. Why? Because excess humidity makes you feel even warmer than the temperature in the room.
So, can air conditioners help remove this humidity?
The answer: yes, air conditioners can remove excess humidity in your home, but it strongly depends on a number of different factors.
So if you want to make sure your air conditioner is removing as much humidity as it should, keep on reading to find out what you can do.
Before we get into discussing removing excess humidity, we first need to make clear what humidity actually is.
There are two major measures of humidity, absolute humidity and relative humidity, which assess two different things:
Absolute Humidity
The most commonly used measure of humidity is absolute humidity.
Absolute humidity expresses the amount of water vapor in the air, measured in pounds of moisture/water vapor per square foot of air.
This kind of humidity is typically used as a yardstick for measuring humidity levels because it's not affected by any external factors. Unlike its sister term...
Relative Humidity
Relative humidity is unique to absolute humidity because the measure is affected by air temperature.
Air temperature is important because it affects how much humidity the air can hold. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air because moisture is much more likely to heat up and turn into water vapor in warmer weather.
As a result, relative humidity measures how many pounds of moisture the air could hold compared to how much humidity it is holding, expressed as a percentage. So 0.05 pounds of moisture in warm air wouldn't give the same relative humidity as 0.05 pounds of moisture in cool air.
Though a lesser-used term, it's important to know this difference to measure the right amount of humidity for your climate accurately.
How Do Air Conditioners Remove Humidity?
So now that we know exactly what the two major kinds of humidity are, we can finally address the question:
This is because air conditioners don't produce cool air. Instead, your air conditioning system takes in warm indoor air, removes heat and humidity from it using the cold evaporator coil, and releases it back out as cooled and dry air.
However, the amount of indoor humidity your air conditioning unit removes depends on a number of different factors:
Factors That Can Influence How Much Humidity Your Air Conditioner Removes
Size of your air conditioning unit - for an air conditioner to effectively remove humidity, it needs to be appropriately sized for your home.
If your air conditioning unit is too small, it won't take in enough indoor humidity; if it's too big, it will finish cooling too early.
Indoor humidity levels - greater humidity levels will make it harder for your AC unit to absorb moisture and cool your indoor air.
Individual parts of your air conditioner - when parts of your system are dirty or broken, your AC removes humidity less effectively.
This is particularly important for parts involved in collecting moisture, such as the evaporator coil and the condensate pan.
Ways to Minimize Humidity In Your Home
Consider these strategies if you're worried about your indoor air and wondering what you can do to get lower humidity levels.
Regular System Maintenance
Regular maintenance of your air conditioning system will keep your system running at its most efficient.
Regularly reviewing your air conditioner's cool evaporator coil, ventilation, and cooling processes can prevent excess humidity from sneaking into your system and degrading your indoor air quality.
So if you're looking to keep heat and humidity out of your home (as well as save some money on energy bills), consider investing in system maintenance.
Install a Whole-House Dehumidifier
Another great, less direct way to reduce your humidity levels is installing a whole-house dehumidifier.
A dehumidifier is designed specifically to absorb excess condensation from the air without doing any of the cooling associated with an air conditioner.
If you're finding there's too much humidity and your air conditioner just can't keep up on its own, a dehumidifier will make for a great asset.
Final Thoughts
Air conditioners can remove humidity from your indoor air. However, the extent to which they do this depends on their size, the climate, and if you have any other parts working in conjunction with it.
If you're struggling with excess humidity in the summer heat and live in Pensacola, FL., get in touch with us at Air and Energy of NWFL.
We offer high-tech solutions to excess humidity installed by our experienced and qualified HVAC technicians.
