As you know, your HVAC is a complicated system. It can be affected by many different things, but plenty of folks don’t understand that humidity is one of the biggest factors and ask themselves, does humidity affect air conditioners?

Yes, humidity. If your house is too humid, then you’re going to have higher bills and have to replace your A/C unit that much quicker. However, if you learn all about humidity and HVAC, then you can save time and save money!

Keep going to discover how humidity affects your HVAC system.

WHY IS HUMIDITY IMPORTANT?

If you don’t know a lot about HVAC systems, you’ve probably got one big question right now: does humidity affect air conditioners? When you’re mostly worried about getting cool on a hot day, the humidity of your own home probably seems like the last thing you want to worry about.

Unfortunately, humidity and air conditioning are related on a really essential level. This is because part of how your A/C works is by removing the humidity from the different rooms of your house. This means that excess humidity is going to cause the A/C unit to work much harder, and this will drive up your bills while adding unnecessary wear and tear to your system.

Keep reading to learn more about the effects this can cause as well as what you can do to fix the issue!

MOIST AIR

Knowing the signs of humidity in your HVAC system is the first step to knowing if you have to fix anything. We’re going to start with the most obvious sign: the air in your home simply feels moist!

As we said earlier, a properly working HVAC system should be removing the moisture from the air as part of the cooling process. This means the various rooms of your home should feel dry as well as cool. If they feel a bit more like you walked into a jungle, then it’s time to call a professional about the HVAC humidity!

MUSTY SMELL

Sometimes, evidence of humidity will not be as obvious as moist air. Instead, you might find evidence of too much humidity after the fact. One of the best examples of this is if you discover that parts of your home feel smells musty.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. You know how the towels in your hamper smell when you put off washing them for too long? If parts of your home are starting to get that kind of odor, that’s a sign that you need to have a professional check your HVAC system.

FOGGY WINDOWS

Another less obvious sign of humidity issues would be foggy windows. Many homeowners actually dismiss foggy windows as a warning sign because because they think that may be caused by external factors such as the weather. In truth, it’s caused by the humidity in your own home!

As with the musty smells, this sign is relatively direct and self-explanatory. If your windows regularly look as foggy as the cars on Lovers’ Lane, then you need to have that HVAC system checked out!

CAUSES OF TOO MUCH HUMIDITY

Now that you know what some of signs of HVAC humidity are, you’re probably wondering what the cause of this might be. Once you isolate the particular cause, then you are well on your way to understanding what you need to have repaired or replaced!

THE UNIT IS TOO LARGE

We’ll admit that we’ve been guilty of this kind of thinking: when it comes to tools and appliances, it’s easy to assume that bigger is better. However, when it comes to your A/C, bigger can actually be a big problem!

It’s possible that your A/C has a bigger cooling capacity than your home needs. While that may sound good, it actually means the compressor will spend a lot of time turning off and back on and never fully remove the humidity from the air.

It’s possible to install a new system with the perfect size and cooling capacity for your home. However, it’s vital that you consult with an HVAC professional to get the system that is right for you and your family.

BAD THERMOSTAT

When you’re looking at HVAC issues, it’s tempting to primarily focus on the unit itself. However, the problem may be as simple as the thermostat…and simple things ranging from bad settings to a malfunctioning thermostat can make your whole home humid!

Sometimes, it’s just user error. If you’ve been using the “fan on” setting, then the fan never actually stops. This means it will run when the actual A/C is not running. Bottom line? Instead of removing humidity from the air, you just end up spreading the humid air around.

Similar things can happen if the thermostat is malfunctioning, too. We recommend contacting a professional and having them install a new “smart” thermostat. You’ll have the peace of mind of knowing it’s working perfectly, and you can control it from far away with your smartphone.

THE UNIT IS TOO SIMPLE

There are many things in life that are best when you keep them simple. Unfortunately, your appliances are not one of those things. And if you have an old unit that is limited to just one speed, then you’re likely to have issues with your humidity.

The reason for this is pretty simple: with only one speed setting, all your A/C can do is alternating going full speed and stopping entirely until you get the desired temperature. The ultimate effect is that it will not be consistently running, which means it cannot remove the humidity from your home with any kind of consistency.

If this is the case, we recommend having a new system installed. Consult a professional to find and install an energy-efficient model that has enough speeds to properly handle your humidity issues!

STOP SWEATING ABOUT HUMIDITY

If you’re reading this, then you are asking yourself does humidity affects air conditioners and are interested in dealing with your own humidity issues. And you’re probably wondering who you should call to help make everything better.

Good news for you: that’s exactly why One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning® of Charlotte is here! We are the ultimate HVAC authority in the area. We can not only help remove the humidity from your home, but if you need to install or repair anything, we can do it in the time you need and at the price you want!