EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Essential question of humidity vs temperature

Daox · 10-08-12, 12:30 PM

Excellent topic Osolemio! Controlling humidity really can have a drastic effect on comfortability in a home, and you are right that most people don't even think about it.

My house has no central A/C system. I normally use window/box fans to pull air out of the 2nd floor windows during the night to cool things down. When it gets real hot I have a window A/C unit in my bedroom for comfortable sleeping.

This year I tried something new though. I put an additional window A/C unit in my kitchen downstairs. After I woke up in the morning I would close the house up and turn the A/C on for a couple hours (on a timer). This would help dehumidify the air, but not really drop the temperature of the room much at all. Admittedly we had a dryer year than normal, but even when the house got up to 80F/26.6C it was comfortable with just the ceiling fan circulating air. The window A/C unit didn't use a ton of power compared to a central A/C system, but if it were possible to remove the humidity another way I'd definitely look into it.

Xringer recently posted about a small device to absorb moisture. However, it looks like it uses an electric heating element to remove the moisture. Still, something to look into. Perhaps one could make a solar heater to heat things up to remove the moisture.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...ll-spaces.html

Also, to add a bit more. In winter time it is valuable to add some humidity back into the air to keep things feeling warmer. Obviously this is quite a bit easier than removing humidity.

10-08-12, 12:30 PM	#2
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Excellent topic Osolemio! Controlling humidity really can have a drastic effect on comfortability in a home, and you are right that most people don't even think about it. My house has no central A/C system. I normally use window/box fans to pull air out of the 2nd floor windows during the night to cool things down. When it gets real hot I have a window A/C unit in my bedroom for comfortable sleeping. This year I tried something new though. I put an additional window A/C unit in my kitchen downstairs. After I woke up in the morning I would close the house up and turn the A/C on for a couple hours (on a timer). This would help dehumidify the air, but not really drop the temperature of the room much at all. Admittedly we had a dryer year than normal, but even when the house got up to 80F/26.6C it was comfortable with just the ceiling fan circulating air. The window A/C unit didn't use a ton of power compared to a central A/C system, but if it were possible to remove the humidity another way I'd definitely look into it. Xringer recently posted about a small device to absorb moisture. However, it looks like it uses an electric heating element to remove the moisture. Still, something to look into. Perhaps one could make a solar heater to heat things up to remove the moisture. http://ecorenovator.org/forum/applia...ll-spaces.html Also, to add a bit more. In winter time it is valuable to add some humidity back into the air to keep things feeling warmer. Obviously this is quite a bit easier than removing humidity. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by Daox; 10-08-12 at 12:35 PM..