[hartford_renter]

Hi,

I might be moving to the florida area (Tampa) and had a question about air conditioning and humidity.

Do people normally have both a dehumidifier and an air conditioner? How do people best keep their homes dry? I heard that air conditioners dehumidify the air but is this enough in Florida.

Thanks

[upgrader]

You remind me of a joke from Steven Wright:

"For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier...I put them in the same room and let them fight it out".

If your A/C is correctly sized for your home, it will properly dehumidify.

[FLHfan]

There are times that you won't need to run the air in the winter but it will still be a little humid. I asked this same question before we moved here. Should have kept my portable dehumidifier because there are times I could have used it. If you already have one don't sell it until you get here and decide for yourself.

[upgrader]

Originally Posted by FLHfan

There are times that you won't need to run the air in the winter but it will still be a little humid. I asked this same question before we moved here. Should have kept my portable dehumidifier because there are times I could have used it. If you already have one don't sell it until you get here and decide for yourself.

Alternatively, leave your A/C fan on "always on". That's what I do, and trust me, my condo is "moist".

[Spring Hillian]

A a/c system with a separately controlled dehumidifier is pretty common in FL. Snowbirds use them to protect their winter homes from mold. A central AC unit with a dehumidifier monitors the humidity levels and adjusts it. You set your optimal comfort level and your central AC unit does the rest. It helps the central AC unit to be more efficient.

[davephan]

We live in Minnesota and replaced our furnace / central AC two years ago with a high efficiency natural gas furnace and a two stage central AC unit. We're considering becoming snowbirds in SW Florida in about 3 years and think that a two-stage central AC unit might work very good in Florida. Minnesota has some hot and humid summer days, but nothing to compare to Florida.

The two-stage central AC unit sometimes alternates between "cooling" and "dehumidifying". The blower motor runs 24 x 7 x 365. Most of the time, the blower is so quiet that it can't be heard. Sometimes the blower motor will ramp up in speed for awhile, then slow down later. The blower has 200 stepped speeds. The overall effect we've experienced with the two-stage central AC over the cheaper single-stage central AC unit is that the humidity is controlled much better. The temperature sometimes had to be turned down too cold to get rid of the excess humidity with the old single-stage central AC unit. The two-stage central AC unit reduces the humidity without making the temperature too cold.

I'd be interested to hear how two-stage central AC units perform in Florida. I suspect that the two-stage central AC units would perform even better with the more extreme hot and humid weather in Florida. If we end up buying a property in Florida, I think we would be tempted to replace an existing, functioning single-stage central AC unit with a new two-stage AC unit to get the benefits of improved cooling and dehumidification.

[bbronston]

The A/C does a good job of removing the humidity and I don't personally feel the need to dehumidify during the winter but I do run the ceiling fan in my living room pretty much year round. Some people get a separate humidistat (or a combo thermostat) that will run the A/C to hit a target humidity level independent of the target temperature. For people who leave their winter homes here, this is great because they can set the temperature at, say, 80 but, still be sure that the humidity level doesn't get high enough to encourage mildew and mold.

[gurinproducts]

in recent past i also had the same issue but my friend suggest me to use Gurin's Dehumidifier which is really awesome to use.