Learn to Use Your HVAC for Home Humidity Control

Taking to the sidewalk on a hot summer day in Houston, has it ever felt like your skin might be steaming? The temperature is certainly high, but the humidity makes it feel even hotter, even once you step indoors. While 30 to 50% humidity is an ideal range for a comfortable space, Houston can commonly have 90% humidity levels on summer afternoons. How do you keep the extra moisture out of your home?

How to Control Humidity in the Home

Humid air can get inside through poorly sealed windows, leaking crawlspaces, or even just opening your house on a muggy day. Leaky pipes, long showers, and steam from cooking appliances just make matters worse, adding to the humidity that wafts in from outside. Keeping excess moisture out keeps your home feeling cool and comfortable. These are the main ways to control your home humidity:

  • Turn on exhaust fans in the bathroom and kitchen to channel the humidity outside. For this to be effective, the fan needs to have a vent to the outside and should never deposit moist air inside your home.
  • Vent large appliances outdoors. Some appliances, like your oven/stovetop or dryer, can produce steam as they run. Vent them outdoors to prevent the house from feeling like a sauna whenever you run your dryer or steam some veggies.
  • Seal crawl spaces to keep ground moisture from seeping into your house, especially during Houston’s rainy season. An unsealed crawl space can allow moisture to collect and seep into the home and provide the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew.
  • Reduce humidity with your AC or dehumidifier. Use your HVAC humidity control to pull moisture from the air to balance the humidity level. You should be able to control the humidity levels in your home from your thermostat. Most modern HVAC systems allow you to control the humidity settings at home. However, if you have an older HVAC system, you may need to install a whole-home dehumidifier to counteract muggy Houston summers.

Diagnosing HVAC Humidity Problems

As your HVAC manages your home’s temperature, it also helps to keep your home humidity balanced. As air runs past your AC’s evaporator coils, it cools down enough to condense some of the moisture in the air, which it collects in a drain pan or drains through a hose in your outdoor unit. But sometimes, running your system isn’t enough to get rid of the damp feeling in the air. Your HVAC may struggle to remove humidity if:

  • An AC is too big for the space. An over-large air conditioner could be a reason the HVAC is not removing humidity. When your AC is too big, it quickly cools to the thermostat temperature and shuts off. Moments later, it turns back on when the temperature warms slightly. The quick switches on and off prevent the system from pulling any moisture out of the air.
  • You have dirty condenser coils. Dirty coils disrupt the system’s heat transfer process, leaving you with inconsistent temperatures and unmanaged home humidity. If your system is struggling to cool your house, it’s also likely struggling to remove moisture from the air.
  • The humidity outdoors is very high. Muggy air from outside can come into the house through doors and windows. If the density is too high for your system to control, not only will the humidity linger in the house, but it can also cause damage to your HVAC system.
  • Your AC has a refrigerant leak. An air conditioner without the proper amount of refrigerant will struggle to cool the air. If your AC runs, but doesn’t cool things down or reduce humidity, you may have a refrigerant leak and need expert AC repair.

Preventing Excess Moisture in Your HVAC

Even though the system helps remove humidity, if too much moisture builds up inside your HVAC, the high humidity can cause problems. Here’s what to do to keep your system from malfunctioning from too much humidity:

  1. Turn the fan off. Does running the HVAC fan reduce humidity? No. Because running the fan pulls fresh air from outside, it can pull the humid air the system just discharged back into the house. In a humid climate, it’s better to turn the fan to auto, allowing condensation to drip out of treated air without pulling excessive amounts of humid outdoor air back into the home.
  2. Set the fan speed to low. A high fan speed can quickly cool your home, but it won’t allow time for the humidity to be absorbed out of the air.
  3. Exchange filters regularly. When your HVAC filter gets clogged with dust, dirt, and other pollutants, the particles can get through to coat the condenser coils. This affects the system’s ability to transfer heat, and with it, humidity. Changing the filters every month prevents damage to your system and keeps your air clean.
  4. Clean the coils. What if you’re already late on changing the filters? If the condenser coils are dirty, clean them according to your AC manual guidelines or schedule professional AC maintenance.
  5. Install a whole home dehumidifier. Add humidity control to your HVAC by installing a dehumidifier to the ductwork of your existing HVAC or choose a modern HVAC system with humidity control.

Whole Home Humidity Control in Houston

Too much moisture in the air makes the temperature feel higher than it is. In normal humidity levels, running your HVAC can offer some relief, but when the humidity is remarkably high—like we experience here in Houston—it could be more than your system can control on its own.

Adding a dehumidifier to your system can make your home more comfortable and help your air conditioner cool more efficiently. At One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating, our team servicing Houston is skilled in quick and effective dehumidifier installation. Call (713) 352-7903 or book an appointment online to reduce the heat and bring comfort back to your home.