Why invest in an air conditioner when you could just use some fans? The answer lies in how your air conditioner helps control humidity. When the weather is warm, the air holds more water, and this creates an uncomfortable, muggy feeling. Your air conditioner can remove and add moisture to help improve your comfort.
Taking Moisture Out
How does an air conditioner do this? The blower in your HVAC system pushes warm air over the evaporator coil, which is part of the air conditioner. The evaporator coil is actually made up of many small coils, and these are full of refrigerant. As the air is blown over the coils, it cools and the moisture within in it is taken out and later drains outside the home. This is why you see wall-unit air conditioners dripping with moisture outdoors when they are working very hard on hot days.
Now that the air is cool and the moisture has been removed, it moves along through the ducts and into the home through the vents. The air pumping into the rooms not only has a lower temperature than when it reached the evaporator coil, it has less moisture in it as well.
Next, air that has been warming in the room is pulled into the HVAC system by the fan, and it heads for the evaporator coil so that the process can repeat itself. It’s important to note that an HVAC system has vents for both pulling in warm air and pushing out cool air.
Other Options for Removing Moisture
A variable-speed compressor can run an air conditioner at different speeds in order to remove moisture more efficiently. Furthermore, a thermostat that registers humidity as well as temperature can help your air conditioner make the right choices and keep humidity within a target range.
Finally, some air conditioners have a special mode for dehumidifying. Essentially, these cool the room more. This takes out more moisture, but some systems are smart enough to actually warm the dehumidified air a little bit before returning it to the room!
On a related topic, your furnace works in the opposite way as your air conditioner to make you more comfortable in the winter. When the temperature is cold, the air doesn’t hold enough water, and this leads to over-dry air where static electricity gives unpleasant surprise shocks. Your furnace blows in warm, moist air that raises the level of humidity, which is what humans want to feel!
An air conditioner is technologically more sophisticated than a simple fan because it helps control the amount of humidity in the air in your home. Understanding the basics of how this works is the key to comfort. As the saying goes, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity! When you need AC installation services in Newnan, GA, contact E Dennis AC.
