What Should the Humidity Be in a House with Air Conditioning?
October 20th, 2019You think your air conditioner is working because the air feels cool, but it also feels clammy or maybe a little sticky. Some might even call it muggy.
If our homes feel like that, it can be a real concern as the indoor humidity has become excessive. The question is, what do we do next?
Identify the Cause
When our home feels sticky and muggy, we need to figure out what is happening. It could be something as simple as the AC isn’t equipped to handle the amount of indoor humidity.
Even though the AC is cooling, if it’s not removing the moisture from the air, then there’s a problem.
Possible Causes with Easy Fixes
Ideally, our air conditioners are designed to cool the air and dehumidify it in the process. A simple reason behind the excess moisture in a home could be due to the number of people inside. More people equal more sweat and moisture released into the air.
If we cook a lot, it’s also possible that cooking can add to the humidity as water evaporates into the air. Ovens have exhaust fans to redirect moisture, but if it goes unused, then the humidity is going to stick around.
When it’s also humid outside, there’s a good chance that it’s going to be humid on the inside as well. Every time we open our doors here in Hawaii, moisture makes its way inside, so sometimes there’s no avoiding the excess moisture.
Possible Causes with Not So Easy Fixes
These are the issues that tend to cause more worry, but they happen. We need to be aware when they do because managing challenges right away might make life easier a little bit faster.
As an example, air conditioners age just like everything else. When an AC unit gets too old, it can struggle to remove the moisture, which can make you start to think about repairing or replacing the unit.
Something else to consider is a lack of regular maintenance. Having the unit maintained regularly could have prevented the entire issue by catching the line with a leak or the coils that weren’t working correctly.
How to Combat Extra Moisture in Your Home
When excess moisture hits, we’ve got some suggestions to help you fight it and make the home comfortable again.
Run the Air Conditioner
As your AC runs, it dehumidifies the home. If it’s not running, it’s not going to remove the moisture out of the air. While this idea isn’t exactly energy efficient, it does help to relieve the muggy feeling.
Consider the Size of the AC Unit
The size of an AC unit is going to impact how effective it is, and if it’s too small, expect to suffer. Having one that is too big isn’t the way to go either because then it won’t stay on long enough to be effective.