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Quoted: Now the house is dry and cold at 60°. If only there was a way to heat that air back up... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Then let them complain about high humidity when there is a very very simple way to take care of it. Run the AC for a few hours. Humidity gone. Now the house is dry and cold at 60°. If only there was a way to heat that air back up... OPs temp set point is 70. That’s why it’s so humid inside. It’s neither heating nor cooling. If he set point at 68 the humidity would be gone in 2 hours. In fact based on his op, make set point 67 and let it pull all that moisture out over night. |
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Quoted: Now the house is dry and cold at 60°. If only there was a way to heat that air back up... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Then let them complain about high humidity when there is a very very simple way to take care of it. Run the AC for a few hours. Humidity gone. Now the house is dry and cold at 60°. If only there was a way to heat that air back up... And a humidifier installed on the system to add moisture. |
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Quoted: OPs temp set point is 70. That’s why it’s so humid inside. It’s neither heating nor cooling. If he set point at 68 the humidity would be gone in 2 hours. In fact based on his op, make set point 67 and let it pull all that moisture out over night. View Quote Depends on a lot of things. I've definitely lived in houses where the AC wouldn't run enough to dry out the house no matter how low you set it. |
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Quoted: Depends on a lot of things. I've definitely lived in houses where the AC wouldn't run enough to dry out the house no matter how low you set it. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: OPs temp set point is 70. That’s why it’s so humid inside. It’s neither heating nor cooling. If he set point at 68 the humidity would be gone in 2 hours. In fact based on his op, make set point 67 and let it pull all that moisture out over night. Depends on a lot of things. I've definitely lived in houses where the AC wouldn't run enough to dry out the house no matter how low you set it. True. But how about OP try it? I’m not a Hvac guy, just amateur weather guy so Kaye and understanding of temp and dewpoint. My greatest invention will be a thermostat that lets you set dewpoint. But I think that needs a true wet bulb thermometer. @amediocreshooter Turn to cool mode, set point 67, fan auto. Record RH this evening, Report RH in the morning. |
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Quoted: True. But how about OP try it? I’m not a Hvac guy, just amateur weather guy so Kaye and understanding of temp and dewpoint. My greatest invention will be a thermostat that lets you set dewpoint. But I think that needs a true wet bulb thermometer. @amediocreshooter Turn to cool mode, set point 67, fan auto. Record RH this evening, Report RH in the morning. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: OPs temp set point is 70. That’s why it’s so humid inside. It’s neither heating nor cooling. If he set point at 68 the humidity would be gone in 2 hours. In fact based on his op, make set point 67 and let it pull all that moisture out over night. Depends on a lot of things. I've definitely lived in houses where the AC wouldn't run enough to dry out the house no matter how low you set it. True. But how about OP try it? I’m not a Hvac guy, just amateur weather guy so Kaye and understanding of temp and dewpoint. My greatest invention will be a thermostat that lets you set dewpoint. But I think that needs a true wet bulb thermometer. @amediocreshooter Turn to cool mode, set point 67, fan auto. Record RH this evening, Report RH in the morning. Outside air temp is about 58 tonight. Will running the AC at these temps damage the unit? |
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If it's 58 outside and thermostat is set to 67 I don't see your AC running much.
Get a dehumidifier and stop overthinking it. We have a whole home unit (Aprilaire 1850) and it works well. |
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A question from someone that has dry skin and as lived with the burden of <15% humidity for over 50yrs.... how in the hell does a dehumidifier work?
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Quoted: Outside air temp is about 58 tonight. Will running the AC at these temps damage the unit? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: OPs temp set point is 70. That’s why it’s so humid inside. It’s neither heating nor cooling. If he set point at 68 the humidity would be gone in 2 hours. In fact based on his op, make set point 67 and let it pull all that moisture out over night. Depends on a lot of things. I've definitely lived in houses where the AC wouldn't run enough to dry out the house no matter how low you set it. True. But how about OP try it? I’m not a Hvac guy, just amateur weather guy so Kaye and understanding of temp and dewpoint. My greatest invention will be a thermostat that lets you set dewpoint. But I think that needs a true wet bulb thermometer. @amediocreshooter Turn to cool mode, set point 67, fan auto. Record RH this evening, Report RH in the morning. Outside air temp is about 58 tonight. Will running the AC at these temps damage the unit? I’ve never heard of any such nonsense. But I’m not an Hvac pro. If it makes you feel better do it in the morning. Record outside temp and dewpoint when you start. I struggled with exactly what you’re dealing with and why I bought such a fancy top of the line train multistage system. To control humidity. Otherwise I was managing humidity myself instead of the thermostat/system. |
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Quoted: Meh. That's what my system does to manage humidity. It's called an air conditioner. It conditions the air. My thermostat controls temp set point AND humidity set point. View Quote Another trick is to run the AC and heat to maintain humidity and temperature. Some systems have a dehumidifier installed in the central system that runs to dehumidify both the evaporator and condenser are in the air flow so it warms the air back up after cooling. The ac will come on if temperatures are too high. In the typical home, contractors oversize the AC, so they don't run long enough to dehumidify the air in shoulder seasons where the AC doesn't run as much as in summer. Those systems don't dehumidify the air and you can get quite high humidity levels in the shoulder seasons. |
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Quoted: Look at Sante Fe Dehumidifiers for whole home use. It's what we install in most whole home applications. Size it to the home and find an hvac buddy to help install it. View Quote |
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Quoted: Then let them complain about high humidity when there is a very very simple way to take care of it. Run the AC for a few hours. Humidity gone. You're not running it to cool the air, you're running it to pull moisture out. View Quote I had to do this in the shoulder seasons. Sort of a pain in the ass and it's and inconsistent way to control humidity since you have to manually do it. Better to retrofit a whole house dehumidifier like Santa Fe. |
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Quoted: They don't complain. They simply turn on a dehumidifier in their basement. Like a sane person. Most everyone's shit up here is either winterized by now, or they have at least cut the breaker to it for the winter, so it doesn't accidentally get turned on. Some choose to tarp them for the winter and some go with the "let it breath" method but....A/C is hibernating until next summer. View Quote |
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Quoted: A question from someone that has dry skin and as lived with the burden of <15% humidity for over 50yrs.... how in the hell does a dehumidifier work? View Quote |
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Where's the humidity coming from?
I do HVAC controls and deal with this constantly. You never want to oversize your HVAC system in cooling. Cooling is what dehumidifies the air. It drops the coil temperature below dewpoint to get the moisture out of the air. It needs run time to cycle the air through the unit. In commercial settings you have a reheat coil that reheats the air leaving the coil to prevent you from overcooling the space. Humidity is a very poor control variable. It fluctuates too much with room temperature changes. I care more about the dewpoint. Some houses now are so tight the AC doesn't run much anyway. So, they install ERV units to get ventilation but also keep humidity in check. |
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I just turn the A/C on and run it. I may not want the house at 68 degrees but in less than an hour, maybe 20 minutes the humidity will drop significantly. Then I turn the heat pump to heat and back to 72 degrees, now it's good for a day or so.
Have a good exhaust fan in any bathroom and run it while in the shower and maybe 1 hour afterwards to remove all the moisture. |
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Quoted: Gulf Coast states don't have basements and they have extreme humidity conditions. The shoulder seasons can last multiple weeks. View Quote |
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Quoted: So stick thing in a spare room or the living room. People with basements usually just put them down there because it's a humid place and they don't have to listen to them, but having a basement is not a requirement for using a dehumidifier. View Quote |
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Quoted: You could. But we have so much humidity and our shoulder seasons can be long that the cheap portable room units are usually not that great of a solution. The central units are better. View Quote Texas today: 37% Indiana today: 87% |
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Quoted: Those are awesome numbers, but why are you using gas at all? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: This. I have spent the last 1.5 years air sealing, insulating and upgrading and updating the mechanical systems in my house. Here are my results: ENERGY USE/electric/natural gas (mo/yr) (kWh) (Ccf) 09/20 1685 31 09/21 879 8 10/20 861 26.4 10/21 625 9.4 Those are awesome numbers, but why are you using gas at all? No PV yet, but I will. Gas stove, dryer, and NG tankless water heater. The air handler is hydronic. I also have a 12,000BTU high wall minisplit and and a HPWH. Since installing the mini-split and HPWH as well as improving the envelope, I have not needed to use the dehumidifier, which was absolutely necessary with the 36,000BTU single stage 1997-timeframe central AC unit. Not only did my energy use (and bill) decrease, the house is more comfortable as well. With the addition of a PV set-up in the future, I'll be able to lean more heavily on electric. @HIMARS13A |
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Quoted: No PV yet, but I will. Gas stove, dryer, and NG tankless water heater. The air handler is hydronic. I also have a 12,000BTU high wall minisplit and and a HPWH. Since installing the mini-split and HPWH as well as improving the envelope, I have not needed to use the dehumidifier, which was absolutely necessary with the 36,000BTU single stage 1997-timeframe central AC unit. Not only did my energy use (and bill) decrease, the house is more comfortable as well. With the addition of a PV set-up in the future, I'll be able to lean more heavily on electric. @HIMARS13A View Quote Crazy that you reduced the size of your cooling system by 70% and it still works. By hydronic you mean you have a tankless water heater/boiler that pumps hot water through a coil for forced air heating? That seems like extra steps. |
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Quoted: They make inexpensive portable dehumidifiers with built in pumps. Place in hallway w/ fan on high for good circulation and run small hose to tub or sink. I have one in basement that pumps water out a 3/8 hole I drilled in the window frame. View Quote Exactly what I did. My basement is now very tolerable. |
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I have a aprilaire unit hooked up to its own duct work.
It maintains whatever humidity you set it on. Tried hooking up to the central duct work and it did not work to well. Has to have its own duct work. First installed it took a week to get the humidity under control. Everything holds moisture and takes time to remove, not running your A/C for two hrs like some nut here said would work. |
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Quoted: IN averages 9% more humid than Texas throughout the year. View Quote Speaking of a humidity if Texas is therefore nonsensical. Especially when it was specifically pointed out that I was talking about the Gulf Coast of Texas and Houston should be known by anyone as being near the Gulf Coast. In any case, Houston at Intercontinental Airport which is at the northern end of Houston and further away from Galveston Bay is more Humid year round than Jeffersonville Indiana as an example. Our winters are mild and the transition from summer to not-really fall winter and spring is gradual. So the shoulder seasons where neither the heater or AC run long periods of time are long and dehumidification is a problem. Our houses are built slab on grade. Moisture in many homes comes up through the slab. Our soil is typically clay and drainage is slow. Our water tables are high. So high we have crawfish, including our own species, the Houston crawfish, that live in the clay soils in our yards. They make roll up the clay with their tails into clay balls and stack the balls at the mouth of their yard tunnels forming little clay ball chimneys that can later harden in the sun and become a nuisance when mowing. We live on a giant clay sponge full of crawfish. Indiana has no idea what real humidity is. |
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You can literally find average RH on the internet. Texas is not nearly as humid as people think.
Even the Gulf Coast is about on par with Indiana. So if you think the gulf coast is a swamp, then all of IN is a swamp. |
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If your dehumidifier doesn’t have a pump you can rig up a fountain pump on a timer & some tubing or use an automatic digital plant waterer to route the water to a drain or sink. Don’t have to empty the tank they way.
The plant waterer is pretty much a pump and a timer. |
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Quoted: Crazy that you reduced the size of your cooling system by 70% and it still works. By hydronic you mean you have a tankless water heater/boiler that pumps hot water through a coil for forced air heating? That seems like extra steps. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: No PV yet, but I will. Gas stove, dryer, and NG tankless water heater. The air handler is hydronic. I also have a 12,000BTU high wall minisplit and and a HPWH. Since installing the mini-split and HPWH as well as improving the envelope, I have not needed to use the dehumidifier, which was absolutely necessary with the 36,000BTU single stage 1997-timeframe central AC unit. Not only did my energy use (and bill) decrease, the house is more comfortable as well. With the addition of a PV set-up in the future, I'll be able to lean more heavily on electric. @HIMARS13A Crazy that you reduced the size of your cooling system by 70% and it still works. By hydronic you mean you have a tankless water heater/boiler that pumps hot water through a coil for forced air heating? That seems like extra steps. I understand what you're saying. I'm doing a retrofit as opposed to new construction and I didn't understand much of what I do now. It has definitely been a learning process and I would do it differently if I was doing a new build. For now, my heat loss is still too great to depend on electric (even with the increased efficiency of a heat pump) for heat. I replaced an older 80% efficient furnace, the natural draft gas water heater, and the AC system at the same time. I would like to add more exterior insulation, and new windows/siding, as well as a PV set-up over the next two years. With what I've learned, I'm trying to figure out the right balance of added exterior insulation vs. increased number of PV panels. To do so, I'm thinking I may install a PV set-up approximately 1/4 the size I think I will need to see the real world results and scale it up as I need. I will say that one of the things I learned was how much an even marginally better envelope could actually save money when it came to the mechanical system sizing and equipment choices. Like you pointed out, I may not need the central hydronic heat/tankless system, and could have gotten away with a ducted inverter-driven heat pump with a med/high static air-handler if I had added more insulation and the PV panels earlier. When I was originally planning it, I was concerned with redundancy, but I could have had redundancy with electric supplied by the grid and a PV set-up as well. The hydronic heat system is an engineered Bosch system. It looks sort of like this: Attached File |
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Quoted: I understand what you're saying. I'm doing a retrofit as opposed to new construction and I didn't understand much of what I do now. It has definitely been a learning process and I would do it differently if I was doing a new build. For now, my heat loss is still too great to depend on electric (even with the increased efficiency of a heat pump) for heat. I replaced an older 80% efficient furnace, the natural draft gas water heater, and the AC system at the same time. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: I understand what you're saying. I'm doing a retrofit as opposed to new construction and I didn't understand much of what I do now. It has definitely been a learning process and I would do it differently if I was doing a new build. For now, my heat loss is still too great to depend on electric (even with the increased efficiency of a heat pump) for heat. I replaced an older 80% efficient furnace, the natural draft gas water heater, and the AC system at the same time. I get it. Without the right envelope electric heating doesn't work so good. Quoted: I will say that one of the things I learned was how much an even marginally better envelope could actually save money when it came to the mechanical system sizing and equipment choices. Like you pointed out, I may not need the central hydronic heat/tankless system, and could have gotten away with a ducted inverter-driven heat pump with a med/high static air-handler if I had added more insulation and the PV panels earlier. When I was originally planning it, I was concerned with redundancy, but I could have had redundancy with electric supplied by the grid and a PV set-up as well. The guys I know doing cold weather retrofits are doing air sealing and insulation the installing 2-3 ton variable heat pumps with heat strips for dehumidification and extreme colt. It's $20,000 to $40,000 per house. But very comfortable. |
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Quoted: I recently bought a 50pt Midea Cube. It replaced two frigidaires and works great!. It was a toss up between this an a commercial dehumidifier. I could not bring myself to spend the extra $$ for one. Midea Cube https://www.midea.com/.imaging/mte/midea-theme/image-1920w/dam/us/product/AC_Product-Pages/Dehumidifiers/MAD50PS1QGR-50pt_Cube_Grey_Dehumidifier/MAD50PS1QGR/Product-Photos-50pt_Cube_Gray_Detach_Handle_Up.png/jcr:content/50pt_Cube_Gray_Detach_Handle_Up.png View Quote Just wanted to update this thread. I bought the above. It was about $300 with tax and shipping. It’s working fantastic. It’s not terribly loud, and connects via wifi so I can shut it off or turn it on remotely. It also shuts off automatically when the desired humidity is reached. I havent seen numbers below 65% inside since spring when it’s extremely dry and doesn’t rain for weeks. It is currently <43% everywhere I measure in the house. There is a noticeable improvement in feel and smell in many areas of the house (like closets). When putting on dress shirts they always felt somewhat clammy but now everything is very dry. |
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I have the same problem in my main bathroom closet. We heat exclusively with a wood stove, so our main bathroom loads up with humidity from taking showers etc and no central heat on. I solved the problem with a 70 pint dehumidifier from HD. Had it 7 years now; dry as a bone back in the closet.
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