Will a Dehumidifier Cool a Room?

Ultimate Question: Will a Dehumidifier Cool a Room?

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There has been a recent spike in popularity that brought dehumidifiers into the spotlight. People are relying on them to make their homes more liveable and comfortable to be in.

It can’t be denied that a dehumidifier is a useful machine. However, there is some confusion about the exact purpose of dehumidifiers in terms of creating cold air. Sometimes people get them mixed up with air conditioners.

Will a dehumidifier cool a room? Or do they help air conditioning blow cold air into your home? Let’s go over how dehumidifiers work, so hopefully you will find the answers you are looking for.

What Can Dehumidifiers Do For You?

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Dehumidifiers have a multitude of helpful benefits. They work to reduce the level of mold and moisture in a house; they improve the air quality and help people with asthma; and they keep homes feeling dry and comfortable. There are many different designs and types of units that can be purchased so that people can have more options. It is up to the homeowner to decide which model will best suit their needs.

The question is, do dehumidifiers blow cold air? Dehumidifiers are not the same as air conditioners, and the two should not be confused. Air conditioners are used to generate cold air and cycle it through the house. Dehumidifiers, on the other hand, reduce the humidity levels of a home. Let’s take a closer look and see how dehumidifiers work differently.

How They Work

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Dehumidifiers have the ability to take warm air from the house and remove the humidity from it. Humidity is the muggy, heavy feeling in the air that you may have experienced. Humidity is an excess of water vapor in the air. This means that everything that comes in contact with air that has a high level of humidity will become damp and uncomfortable.

Humidity is particularly harmful inside houses. This is because it has the ability to cause so much damage. It can cause mold to develop, and make the house have a lingering musty smell.

The air is passed through a fan that is a part of the dehumidifier. Once this happens, the moisture from the air is removed and stuck to the coils inside the machine. The moisture then gets deposited into a bucket that is attached to the dehumidifier, which will need to be emptied. Some models have the ability to directly deposit the moisture in a sump pump by using a hose.

How A Dehumidifier Works


This is when the hot air gets cycled back into the room as cool air. So a dehumidifier does not generate cold air, but it does help to cool a room. It removes the humidity from the air, leaving the atmosphere cool and comfortable in the home.

Does a Dehumidifier Help Air Conditioning?

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The answer to this question is yes; dehumidifiers can help air conditioning. When a dehumidifier removes the humidity from the air, everything is left cool and dry. When the air conditioner is turned on, it will be much easier to cool air that is already dry. If the dehumidifier had not helped, the air conditioner would have had to work hard with air that was damp and muggy.

If you use a dehumidifier to keep the air dry, there will be less of a need for the air conditioner anyway. This means that you do not need to use your air conditioner as frequently, so you will save on the electricity bill. You will also save on maintenance fees because the machine will have less wear and tear. Another good thing about using a dehumidifier is that it will consume less energy than an air conditioner would. This will also help save on the amount of household energy consumption each month.

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Condensation

Checking to see if you need to run a dehumidifier can be simple. Typically, you would start by checking for any type of moisture damage in your home, whether it be very noticeable or almost hidden. This may include condensation on the windows, water stains on the ceiling, or doors that stick when you try to close them.

Another way to tell is just by measuring how comfortable you feel being in the home. If you decide that the climate is humid enough to warrant running a dehumidifier, you will get a sense of relief when you feel the dry air.

Exceptions

If you live in a climate that has a lot of humidity, running the dehumidifier will definitely benefit you and help keep your home cool. However, if your location is hot and does not have a great deal of humidity, it may be detrimental to you to have a dehumidifier running. This is because the machine will generate heat to operate. Removing humidity from the air will cause the dehumidifier, and therefore your house, to heat up. In this case, it would be a better idea to only run the air conditioner and not the dehumidifier.

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If you decide that running a dehumidifier is too much of a strain on the electricity bill, there are other alternatives that you could peruse. For example, you can purchase smaller dehumidifiers that are portable. They can operate in a single room, instead of in the whole house. Another alternative would be to leave your windows open at night, letting the cool air in. Then you can close them in the morning when the sun starts to warm the house.

Conclusion

Overall, whether or not dehumidifiers will cool your house depends on where you live. If the climate is hot and humid, dehumidifiers will work to your advantage. They will remove the humidity, and the heat generated will be less than if you hadn’t used it. If you live in a place that has no humidity, then dehumidifiers will generate more heat than they remove.

Finding the perfect balance between dehumidifiers and air conditioners can be tricky. Have you had any luck determining the correct combination? Let us know in the comments below!

Will a Dehumidifier Cool a Room?

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3 thoughts on “Ultimate Question: Will a Dehumidifier Cool a Room?”

  1. We have lived in deep Gulf Coast Texas for 35+ years. Sometimes humidity is so great, I feel like I’m drinking the air. We started using dehumidifiers about 25 years ago as an experiment. The experiment was wildly successful! Our dehumidifier machine started small and we noticed the air quality difference immediately. We gradually increased the capacity of our subsequent units because I was continuously emptying the buckets. We now use a portable unit that can take 70 pints of water out of the house in any 24 hour period. The bucket holds about 20 pints – I empty the bucket at least 4 times day from late May until mid-October. The dehumidifier draws 710W on 6.7A. Our central air is set at 77 degrees so the “Big Bertha Central Air” compressor/condenser runs far less than before dehumidifying.

  2. I live in RI & I’ve seen the humidity levels in the summer get to 90%. Though I’d like to run a dehumidifier in every room, I only have one in my basement where I work & where I keep my tools. I’ve found that the dehumidifier and fan are enough to keep it cool and dry. I can definitely feel the difference and will never go without the dehumidifier again. I previously only used a fan and it was never enough. My tools were always rusting. Since I’ve used this combo, I have not had any rust!

  3. My dehumidifier keeps filling up everyday

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