On hot, humid days, it’s not unusual for an air conditioner or heat pump to get overwhelmed and unable to cope with the amount of moisture in the air. This happens because cooling equipment isn’t really designed for dehumidification, even though it condenses moisture from the air as part of the cooling process. Having a whole-home dehumidifier installed is a solution worth considering if any of the following symptoms of a humidity problem are occurring in your home.
- Your indoor air often feels sticky and stuffy.
- You notice an unpleasant musty odour in your finished basement.
- Water pipes and toilet tanks drip condensation.
- Mold patches develop on your shower stalls and/or bathroom ceilings.
- Someone in the family experiences worsening asthma or allergy symptoms.
- You sometimes find condensation on the windows, and water stains on the sills.
Benefits of a Whole-Home Dehumidifier
If you already have forced-air HVAC, it’s easy for a professional to add a whole-home dehumidifier unit to the system. The equipment is usually installed near the air handler on the main return duct. This way, incoming air flows through the unit and excess moisture is removed before it goes across the evaporator coil. Having a dehumidifier installed offers benefits such as:
- Enhanced comfort — When your air contains too much moisture, perspiration can’t evaporate easily, so you feel sticky and uncomfortable. The control on a whole-home dehumidifier unit allows you to choose a setting to keep humidity within 30 to 50 percent, the ideal range for comfort.
- Better air quality — When your indoor humidity is kept within that range, your family can breathe healthier air with fewer contaminants, irritants and allergens like dust mites, mildew, mold, bacteria, viruses and other types of micro-organisms.
- Lower cooling costs — Drawing out excess moisture before the indoor air gets cooled means the A/C or heat pump requires less energy to satisfy the thermostat setting. It can even allow you to bump up the temperature setting by a few degrees without sacrificing comfort.
To learn whether you can benefit from having a whole-home dehumidifier installed in your Calgary home, contact us at Arpi’s Industries.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about cleaning your indoor air with houseplants and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide.
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