In addition to cooling your home, your air conditioner offers limited air filtration and humidity control. During each cooling cycle, it filters out airborne particulates and extracts excess moisture. It routes this moisture outdoors via its condensate drain. This keeps your living space from feeling clammy or muggy and makes your indoor air feel cooler than it is. It also protects your indoor air quality (IAQ). But when outdoor humidity spikes, even the best ACs have a hard time keeping up. Fortunately, there are several creative ways to keep dampness at bay.

Consider Zoning to Isolate High-Humidity Areas

Zoning your HVAC system is an effective way to keep humidity in check if you have one or more rooms that are especially damp. Zoning divides central HVAC systems into two to four service areas. HVAC technicians install duct dampers to block or permit the flow of conditioned air into each of these spaces. Each service area has its own thermostat, and each thermostat communicates with a central zone controller. This way, residents can customize cooling in their immediate areas without changing conditions in other spaces.

With a zoned HVAC system, you can target high-humidity areas by lowering their thermostat settings. With more and longer cooling cycles in damp zones, your AC can extract more humidity. This is perfect for spaces that get lots of moisture from busy bathrooms, utility rooms or cooking activities.

Drop Your Thermostat by Two Degrees

Even without zoning, you can still target humidity by simply dropping your thermostat’s setting by two to three degrees. At a higher setting, your air conditioner will run shorter cooling cycles and have longer rest times in between them. At a lower setting, your AC will run more cooling cycles each hour and have longer to extract excess moisture from the air.

Use Smart Thermostats to Extend Cooling Cycles

Consider upgrading to smart thermostats. Many of the top models have built-in humidity sensors. These devices can detect rising moisture and adjust AC cycle times automatically. You can set them to prioritize moisture control over cooling, efficiency or any other home comfort goal.

Have Your HVAC Technician Adjust Blower Speeds

Humidity extraction happens at your air conditioner’s evaporator coil. Cold refrigerant inside this coil extracts heat and humidity before rushing to the outside condenser as a hot, high-pressure gas. Having your HVAC technician reduce the speed of your air conditioner’s blower fan will allow the evaporator coil to get colder. With every degree that the evaporator coil drops, its ability to condense moisture will increase.

Use Oscillating Fans

For an inexpensive and hassle-free solution, set up oscillating fans in humid rooms. While fans won’t decrease the moisture in your air, they’ll dry the moisture on your skin. You feel less sticky, sweaty and uncomfortable when using fans and standard AC settings together.

Consider an Integrated HVAC Accessory

If the humidity in your home remains high despite thermostat adjustments, fan use or other moisture-control strategies, consider installing a whole-house dehumidifier. HVAC technicians install these integrated accessories directly on or in HVAC air ducts. Whole-house dehumidifiers seamlessly support air conditioners by extracting excess moisture from conditioned air just before distribution.

Humid air feels hotter and heavier than dry air. In a humid home, even a reasonable temperature can feel uncomfortable. With these strategies, you can keep indoor moisture in check all summer long. If you live in Central GA or the FL Panhandle and need AC replacement services, make your first call to We Care Heating & Air Conditioning.