dehumidifiers vs window a/c vs portable a/c

16 years ago

Hi all,

Looking for recommendations/advice for air conditioners. I live in SE CT, not too far from the coast. So, we are very muggy in the summer. Our home does not have central air and we don't want to have it installed. As long as the windows are open we can stand the heat with regular fans. Well, there are about 1 to 2 weeks in the summer that are pretty ugly, but so far we have lived! Our problem is mainly the humidity. It gets very "wet" in the summer and I'm concerned about moisture damage to our furniture and home. I can see evidence of mildew on a few things like a pair of shoes, inside a picture frame, and on the under side of a table. It seems to me that plain dehumidifiers won't help because we need the windows open when it gets really hot.

DH & I have an ongoing debate. We both much prefer fresh air to a noisy a/c unit. However, I think we need to get 2 or 3 window air conditioners or portable a/c's to control the humidity and protect the house and he doesn't think it is necessary.

Does anyone have a recommendation for window or portable a/c's that aren't terribly noisey and can also be used as dehumidifiers when it isn't so hot? The portability isn't so much of an issue as the ease of installation and removal. We wouldn't want to keep the unit in the window year round. There are a lot of reviews and such on the web but I wondered if anyone could share their experience and or opinion with these units.

Thanks a bunch,

Jane

Addenum to orig post. WHAT IF.........we got 3 dehumidifiers (one for each floor) and during the day we run them, close up the house, and pull the shades? We would only open the windows in the evening when we are home. Do you think that would give us adequate control over the humidity and potential mold in the house, or am I just grasping at straws here?

Thanks again,

Jane

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

daddo
16 years ago
You'll find that drying the home which has adapted to the humidity may present a few problems. Furniture and wooden floors will shrink some and may cause chairs to become loose and floors to gap. It's best to slowly drop the humidity and at constant levels. It's a good idea to keep the humidity at or near 45-55% for some time.
Comfort zones are different as you dry the air. A home at 74 degrees with a humidity of 70% may feel muggy and warm, but at 45% feel very nice and cool.
You may try a dehumidifier with the capacity for a room or two and see how that does first, but the house must be closed up and doing so may mean a warmer home.
If it were me, I would try a window a/c combined with a dehumidifier and adjust the temperatures as needed. We are very humid here too and I seem to do well with 78 degrees with a humidity of 50% with the cieling fans operating.
Reducing the amount of lights and appliances in the home will keep it cooler as well. Cieling fans will put out heat some, so they should run only when your in that room.
Remember- an a/c must deal with removing the latent heat (humidity) before it will actually be able to cool the air in the home.
fairyprincess
16 years ago
Jemstones:

The best least expensive way to dehumdify is to get multiple window cooling units that are undersized relative to the cooling load your house requires.

If your cooling requirements call for 24,000 btu's to properly cool the house, buy (2) 8,000 btu units and (1) 12,000 btu unit.

With all three running you can get the temperature down fairly quick.

With any combination of one or two units, you can dehumidify without making the space too cold.

The noise can be controlled by running the unit furthest from the area you are in and using cheap 20" floor fans to circulate the air to where you are.

The best thing is you can replace one or two of them at a time for less money than I used to charge for the average service call with repairs (About $300.00 in Wisconsin (7) years ago.).

Fairyprincess
Related Discussions
heat pump vs. a/c
Q
Comments (7)
minimun effieicncy heat pump with high efficiency furnace? guess that is the difference between heating & cooling climates! rbon, air sealing is a good investment as is duct sealing. windows cost a lot and only provide a 15% energy savings. adding storm windows may be a less costly way to address the window leakage. stopping air leakage into the house will make it easier to heat and cool. reducing ductleakage will put all the air you pay to heat and cool into the house. this is a good investment with a fast payback that improves comfort, reduces utility costs, and improves indoor air quality. always air seal before insulating. blower door tests and duct testing are small investments to make to know where leaks are and how to seal them best of luck.
...See More
Portable A/C vs Window Unit
Q
Comments (5)
aceh, have you been talking to my grandmother? :-) A window unit does not work the way you described. For one thing, on any air conditioner, it's the evaporator that cools the room air, not the condenser. The condenser dumps the collected heat. Have a look at . The partition is shown partially cut away, but in actuality it extends across the width of the unit in front of the compressor to keep the indoor and outdoor airflow path separated. Room air is pulled by the blower through the filter and evaporator in front of the unit and blown back into the room. The separate outdoor fan pulls outdoor air into the grills on the outside of the unit's cabinet, and blows it through the condenser at the rear. Some window units have a fresh air setting, which opens a small panel through which a very small amount of outdoor air is supposed to be brought into the room, but most of them don't have much effect.
...See More
system dehumidifier vs. 2-stage A/C
Q
Comments (2)
A/C units only dehumidify when they are on. Lots of weather when they don't run much but you need dehumidification. That's why the whole house units are an advantage. Also, check the specs on some of these 2 stage A/Cs. One popular model does poorly at moisture removal on low and not as good as their single stage models on high. So are you gaining anything? Most 2 stage units run 75-80% on low (though they say less) so not much diff between high & low.
...See More
CA vs window a/c
Q
Comments (2)
In my neighborhood, many of the homes have put a Window Unit in the MBR on the second floor of the 2100 Sq Ft two story colonial floor plan here in the MD suburbs of DC. (Not to replace but to supplement central A/C.) When faced with the choice of either a divorce or cooling the MBR, the cheaper option always prevails. Since I went with newer equipment of the same size as the old unit three years ago, I got rid of the window unit. This post was edited by saltidawg on Sat, Aug 3, 13 at 13:46
...See More
pkguy
16 years ago
I would just buy a couple of those really inexpensive $89 - $100 window units, more depending on the size of your house I guess. The kind you find at Walmart etc. They're actually not very heavy like the ones from years ago and so not that difficult for one person to pop in a window almost on an as required basis, take it out again easily once the muggy period ends. A dehumidifier will just add more heat to the room and they cost more than $89-$100
daddo
16 years ago
I like the idea "Fairyprincess" has.
Note; Dehumidifiers don't really add heat to a space except the heat from the compressor shell, since the evaporator and condensor are in the same space.
ionized_gw
16 years ago
"Note; Dehumidifiers don't really add heat to a space except the heat from the compressor shell, since the evaporator and condensor are in the same space."

The heck they don't!

The trouble is that if you have the windows open all night or even late into the evening, the humidity will rise dramatically and the moisture will have to be removed the next day unless natural warming of the house does it. I think that you are stuck with window units. Dehumidifiers might be useful as well when the humidity is high and temps are relatively low. Right now I am running windows units in the daytime and a window unit and the dehumidifier at night.
ionized_gw
16 years ago
I forgot to mention that setting the window unit to LOW fan speed will bias the AC better for dehumidification than for cooling.
andrelaplume2
16 years ago
We used to run a dehumidifier in a small room in our basement. It got hot as heck in there!

dehumidifiers vs window a/c vs portable a/c

Comments (7)

daddo

fairyprincess

Related Discussions

pkguy

daddo

ionized_gw

ionized_gw

andrelaplume2

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US