Living in a coastal state comes with as much humidity as it does beauty.
If you’re a resident of a state like Florida or Louisiana, or if you’ve ever visited these notoriously wet-aired places, you know the feeling: an invisible, damp blanket draped around the back of your neck, along your arms, and covering any bit of exposed skin.
In places like these, the humidity blanket may not slip off when you come inside your house. A humid home makes you feel hot and uncomfortable when you should feel at ease.
As a result, you might turn to a dehumidifier to cure your moisture madness.
First, What Is a Dehumidifier?
A dehumidifier is a moderate sized, usually electric appliance that decreases the humidity level of a space by removing the water vapor in the air. It resembles a portable air conditioner without the tube leading to the outside.
You can set the humidity level you prefer on the device.
There are two types of dehumidifiers:
- Refrigerant, compressor, or condenser
- Desiccant
In a later section, we’ll discuss how each dehumidifier works in more depth.
Can Dehumidifiers Cool a Room?
No, a dehumidifier cannot technically cool the air. Don’t use a dehumidifier as a substitute for AC, as you may not get the effect you want in your room.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, electric dehumidifiers actually add a few degrees of heat (or more, depending on the type of device) to the space they occupy due to the energy they consume. Fortunately, most people won’t notice this temperature change.
Other electric appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers produce heat as a byproduct of their normal function, too. Even air conditioners, which truly cool the air, release heat waste outside the house.
But don’t discount a dehumidifier for cooling just yet.
Why Does Using a Dehumidifier Make a Room Feel Cooler?
As its name suggests, a dehumidifier reduces the humidity in a space, which we can measure as relative humidity (RH).
RH, expressed as a percent, tells us how much water vapor is in the air at a given temperature compared to the maximum amount of moisture the air can hold. The higher the RH, the more moisture exists in the air.
Your body naturally releases heat by producing sweat that evaporates on your skin. However, heat stays inside your body when there’s a higher humidity because sweat can’t evaporate as effectively in air saturated with water.
Those are the days when the air feels thick and maybe even suffocating, regardless of how hot it is.
A dehumidifier helps alleviate this problem in a room by reducing the relative humidity, allowing sweat to evaporate off your skin, and making you feel cooler, even though the temperature hasn’t changed—and may have even increased.
How Does a Dehumidifier Work?
Understanding how a dehumidifier works on a basic level will help you know whether you need a dehumidifier and which kind.
The two types of dehumidifiers both lower the RH in a room but use different methods to achieve it.
How Do Refrigerant Dehumidifiers Work?
The distinguishing feature of refrigerant dehumidifiers is that they use a compressor to pump a cooling substance, called a refrigerant, through coils to lower their temperature and condense humid air.
In other words, they work through the following steps:
- A fan draws humid air in through a grill.
- The humid air touches the cold coils full of refrigerant.
- The water vapor in the air condenses because of the temperature change and drips into a bucket or pan.
- The now dry air warms back up by coming in contact with hot coils
- The fan pushes out the dry, now room-temperature air, into the room.
How Do Desiccant Dehumidifiers Work?
What sets desiccant dehumidifiers apart is their use of a wheel covered in a desiccant substance that removes moisture from the air. In these devices, the desiccant is usually silica.
A common form of desiccant in everyday life are the little packets that say, “Silica gel, do not eat” in a package. Manufacturers put these packets in the packaging to keep products dry.
These dehumidifiers work through the following steps:
- A fan draws humid air inside the dehumidifier and slowly turns the desiccant wheel.
- The desiccant wheel collects moisture on its surface.
- The wheel pushes the majority of the now-dry air into the room.
- The rest of the dry air, called regenerative air, travels through a heater.
- The warm, dry air travels back to the desiccant wheel to evaporate the moisture that the silica collected to reactivate the substance.
- The dehumidifier then pushes this small amount of warm, now-moist air back into the room on the same side as the fan.
Decide Which Type of Dehumidifier Is Right For You
Neither refrigerant or desiccant humidifiers cool a room, but both reduce the air’s moisture and have some advantages that can help you choose which device is best for your living space.
Advantages of Refrigerant Dehumidifiers
These dehumidifiers work more quickly because they pull more moisture from the air.
In higher temperatures, they are more cost-effective because they use less electricity to function.
In addition, these dehumidifiers add only a few degrees of heat to your room’s temperature versus up to about 10 to 15 degrees with a desiccant variety.
Advantages of Desiccant Dehumidifiers
These dehumidifiers decrease and maintain a lower RH over time more efficiently.
Desiccant dehumidifiers don’t require you to empty a drip pan because they don’t involve condensation. They are also less intrusive without a compressor because they don’t produce as much noise.
Advantages of Both Types of Dehumidifiers
With both types, you also have the option to add ductwork if you need to remove moisture from a crawl space or other hard-to-reach places.
Even with the added heat, both options will keep your living space feeling cooler and comfortable because your sweat will compete less with the moisture in the air.
Overall, both dehumidifiers can maintain your home at the recommended 30%–50% RH: the optimal healthy humidity range in a home. Not enough humidity can irritate your skin, eyes, nasal passages, and throat. Too much humidity can lead to dust, mites, and mold, which can cause respiratory issues.
How to Use Your Dehumidifier Efficiently
You’ll want to use your dehumidifier efficiently to save on your electric bill. Here are some bonus considerations to keep costs down:
- Room size and dampness level: The size and dampness of your room can affect the dehumidifier’s efficiency. For refrigerant dehumidifiers, you can reference the Energy Star chart. The chart outlines the water capacity of a dehumidifier that you should use for each room size and dampness level.
- Higher humidity level: As we said, the ideal RH range for a healthy living space is 30%–50%, but know that the lower the humidity setting you choose, the more energy the dehumidifier will expend. You will save more money if you are comfortable setting your dehumidifier at 50% RH.
- Closing windows and doors: By shutting all openings in a room, you minimize the amount of humid air that can re-enter the space as your dehumidifier attempts to remove the moisture from the air.
- Using automation to stop: Many refrigerant dehumidifiers will shut off once their drip pan reaches a certain water level. If your dehumidifier does not have this feature or if you have a desiccant dehumidifier, make sure to regularly check the room and turn off your device once the humidity is at a comfortable level.
- The size of the dehumidifier: A larger dehumidifier can remove more moisture than a smaller device, which puts less strain on your AC to dehumidify the space. With a lighter load for the AC, you can save more energy.
- Maintenance: Regularly empty drip pans and clean out filters to ensure your dehumidifier works as efficiently as possible.
- Positioning your dehumidifier: Placing your dehumidifier in the center of the room and clearing obstacles maximizes its efficiency.
FAQs on Using Dehumidifiers to Cool a Room
Are dehumidifiers good for hot weather?
Dehumidifiers are best for humid weather, as the device cannot lower the temperature. If your room is humid and hot, you will only feel cooler using a dehumidifier because your sweat will be able to release your body’s heat more effectively.
How do you use a dehumidifier to cool a room?
While you cannot lower the temperature with a dehumidifier, you can use it in combination with an air conditioner to cool down a room and lower the humidity levels to make the environment more comfortable.
Should you run a dehumidifier and air conditioner at the same time?
You can use both a dehumidifier and AC when your AC can’t dehumidify your room to a comfortable or healthy level on its own.
Does a dehumidifier make a room hot or cold?
A dehumidifier can technically increase a room’s temperature by more or less than a few degrees, depending on the type of dehumidifier. However, the heat is usually insignificant because your body can regulate heat better in lower humidity, and you will feel cooler.
Demystifying Dehumidifiers
As we’ve stated throughout this article, dehumidifiers do not make the air cooler, but they can make the heat more tolerable.
Choosing the best dehumidifier for your home may take some research, but it’ll make a world of difference if you’re suffering from a room prone to high humidity and musty smells.
With easy set-up, portability, and personalized settings, you won’t have much trouble making your home more comfortable.