Your Air Conditioner and Dehumidifier: Serving Similar but Separate Functions

At the height of summer, when you can see the heat radiating from the sidewalks, you want to return to a comfortable home at the end of the day. Returning to a house that’s sticky, musty and way too humid is not at all what you want to do, especially because excessive moisture in the air can make you not just uncomfortable, but sick, as well. A warm, moist environment promotes mold and mildew that can worsen allergies and affect your health. Moisture also promotes dust mite and bacteria growth. To reduce the proliferation of these troublesome issues, you may want to consider purchasing a whole-house dehumidifier as an addition to your air conditioning system.

Although your air conditioner and dehumidifier perform similar functions, they are not exactly the same. Removing humidity from the air in your home is not your air conditioner’s primary goal. While both your air conditioner and a dehumidifier remove humidity, your A/C removes humidity only as a result of the cooling process.

To keep the air in your home comfortable, a whole-house dehumidifier removes excess moisture from the air. Although a dehumidifier is often used in conjunction with an air conditioner, it can be used independently when the temperature is comfortable, but humidity levels are high. Benefits of a whole-house dehumidifier include:

• A more comfortable environment.
• Improved air quality through allergen reduction.
• In many cases, the whole-house dehumidifier can be energy neutral because the energy it consumes can be offset by the air conditioner being set at a warmer temperature which saves energy.
• Prevention of condensation and the resultant moisture damage to your home.

To learn more about how your air conditioner and dehumidifier can team up to make your home more comfortable, contact the experts at Mathews CCAC. We provide homeowners in the Corpus Christi area with top-notch products and services. Give us a call. We’re happy to help you with any of your home comfort needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Corpus Christi, Texas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about improving home comfort and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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