Latest / Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast / Why Is High Humidity A Problem In Summertime?

Transcript

Why Is High Humidity A Problem In Summertime? · Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast

• 0:01
  I love the summertime,
• 0:03
  but with summertime comes the heat and the humidity,
• 0:06
  I really rather just have the heat.
• 0:08
  Um,
• 0:09
  the humidity causes all kinds of discomfort and it can cause all kinds of problems in your home.
• 0:15
  So I've asked my good friend Nathan Shafer to join me here on the program today to talk about humidity and how it can be a problem in your home in the summertime.
• 0:28
  Nathan,
• 0:29
  how are you?
• 0:30
  Hey,
• 0:31
  I'm doing good.
• 0:31
  How are you today,
• 0:32
  Jim?
• 0:32
  I'm doing fantastic.
• 0:34
  So you can really help people a lot with getting humidity down and,
• 0:40
  and,
• 0:40
  you know,
• 0:40
  before we get into that,
• 0:41
  I'm just gonna remind everybody why humidity is a bad idea inside your home where you live.
• 0:48
  Number one,
• 0:49
  it's very uncomfortable.
• 0:50
  It'll feel warmer than it is.
• 0:52
  You'll be crankier too.
• 0:54
  So your spouse won't be happy with you.
• 0:56
  Um,
• 0:56
  it's,
• 0:56
  it's,
• 0:57
  it's also bad because it can create mildew and mold possibly and that's not good for anybody.
• 1:04
  And so it's really important to have a system in the home,
• 1:07
  whether it's a dehumidifier,
• 1:11
  you know,
• 1:11
  you know,
• 1:11
  a portable one,
• 1:12
  a whole house one or your air conditioning system,
• 1:15
  which really is kind of an ultimate dehumidifier.
• 1:19
  It will,
• 1:20
  it will de humidify,
• 1:21
  the entire home will keep you cool.
• 1:23
  But there are a lot of things you have to understand about that.
• 1:26
  So once again,
• 1:29
  the question,
• 1:29
  Nathan,
• 1:30
  why is it so important?
• 1:32
  And how does the high humidity affect the home?
• 1:38
  Yeah.
• 1:38
  No great question.
• 1:39
  We're definitely coming into that season right where we're about to start feeling it and the AC starts running.
• 1:46
  We got the temperature.
• 1:47
  We mean we thought coming out of spring,
• 1:48
  70 felt pretty good,
• 1:49
  or 72 felt good.
• 1:50
  And all of a sudden,
• 1:51
  like,
• 1:51
  man,
• 1:51
  why is the 70 or 72 or whatever you keep the thermostat at feels warmer all of a sudden we're,
• 1:56
  we're cranking it down lower.
• 1:57
  You know,
• 1:57
  like you said,
• 1:58
  that humidity plays such a huge factor into the overall comfort,
• 2:03
  what that feels like in the home.
• 2:04
  And so there's definitely a,
• 2:06
  a fine line.
• 2:07
  We don't want it to be too dry in the house,
• 2:09
  you know,
• 2:09
  and you get issues in the winter time.
• 2:11
  Don't want to be too humid,
• 2:12
  too moist in the house either because yes,
• 2:14
  it'll cause those,
• 2:15
  those issues with comfort with mold bacteria.
• 2:18
  Uh,
• 2:19
  things will start to expand,
• 2:20
  right and absorb moisture.
• 2:22
  Your flooring warranties will be voided if you read the fine print of most flooring,
• 2:25
  you know,
• 2:26
  or pianos,
• 2:27
  same thing,
• 2:27
  all these different things.
• 2:28
  It's amazing how much it's not talked about,
• 2:31
  um,
• 2:31
  but what the effect that it has and the overall comfort,
• 2:35
  uh,
• 2:35
  and health in the home,
• 2:36
  uh,
• 2:36
  they say,
• 2:37
  I think it's a,
• 2:38
  uh,
• 2:38
  with humidity for every 5% change in relative humidity,
• 2:44
  it'll feel like one degree.
• 2:46
  And so if it was to increase humidity in the house by,
• 2:50
  by 10% so it went from 50% to 60% that 70 now feels like 72.
• 2:58
  And so that's why you get that feeling.
• 3:01
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  And so the humidity makes a big difference.
• 3:05
  If you live in a climate where the humidity is only 20%.
• 3:09
  Maybe in the teens,
• 3:10
  like Arizona,
• 3:11
  they use totally different systems there.
• 3:14
  But.
• 3:14
  Correct.
• 3:15
  Yeah.
• 3:15
  In Ohio it's a little different.
• 3:18
  And so we really need to have,
• 3:21
  um,
• 3:22
  the right amount of humidity pulled out and,
• 3:26
  and so systems need to be sized right,
• 3:28
  your ac system and they need to cycle off and on correctly.
• 3:33
  You know,
• 3:33
  a big problem I've seen before.
• 3:36
  Nathan is,
• 3:37
  people will say,
• 3:38
  well,
• 3:38
  I've got the air conditioning running and it's only 72 degrees in the home,
• 3:45
  but it's still sticky.
• 3:47
  And the problem is,
• 3:48
  is probably not running long enough.
• 3:50
  It's probably cooling too quickly and cycling off because the hum,
• 3:55
  uh,
• 3:55
  the thermostat says,
• 3:56
  oh,
• 3:57
  we're satisfied.
• 3:58
  A humid would say different,
• 4:00
  but a,
• 4:01
  a thermostat would say we're satisfied.
• 4:02
  So we're gonna turn it off but the humidity is still high.
• 4:06
  Right.
• 4:07
  Yeah,
• 4:07
  that's exactly right.
• 4:08
  You know,
• 4:08
  that it kind of goes back to a lot of times,
• 4:10
  you know,
• 4:10
  everybody always says every,
• 4:11
  all the years,
• 4:12
  you know,
• 4:12
  bigger is better.
• 4:13
  And so,
• 4:13
  hey,
• 4:14
  I need the biggest ac I can get,
• 4:15
  you know,
• 4:16
  because that's going to do a better job.
• 4:17
  And in all reality,
• 4:18
  uh,
• 4:19
  really,
• 4:19
  when it comes to comfort,
• 4:21
  uh,
• 4:21
  and utility savings and upfront cost really bigger could actually almost be worse than a little bit undersized for that simple fact,
• 4:28
  because at least ways if it was a little bit undersized,
• 4:31
  obviously,
• 4:32
  we want the correct size and it takes all the load couch and designs to do that.
• 4:36
  But if we had to pick one or the other for comfort,
• 4:39
  uh and utility savings and upfront cost undersized would do a better job if it's gonna run longer.
• 4:44
  And that ac like you mentioned is a dehumidifier,
• 4:46
  it's gonna pull more humidity out of the air versus something that's oversized or mis properly sized or not well maintained and,
• 4:53
  you know,
• 4:53
  different things not running up the specs,
• 4:55
  uh for that house.
• 4:56
  Well,
• 4:57
  it's now you're not gonna be able to remove the moisture from the air and the amount of shorter run time that it runs.
• 5:03
  Yeah.
• 5:03
  So if you're watching Nathan and I,
• 5:06
  you're not so sure what's going on,
• 5:08
  just call him.
• 5:09
  His information is located in the description of this podcast and a link to his website as well.
• 5:14
  It's really important to have things balanced right sized,
• 5:17
  right.
• 5:17
  You want to make sure everything from the air that's going into the system through the filter,
• 5:23
  then back out again,
• 5:24
  is proper that everything is balanced in the home because sometimes you'll have a hot spot or a cold spot in your house.
• 5:31
  It could be that guest room and you're like,
• 5:33
  why is it always cold in the winter and hot in the summer?
• 5:37
  Could be a number of reasons.
• 5:38
  So,
• 5:39
  just have Nathan and his team come out,
• 5:42
  they'll take a look at everything and you just want it to run efficiently.
• 5:46
  It's like when your car is misfiring,
• 5:48
  which doesn't happen as much as it used to.
• 5:50
  But you go back a few decades and,
• 5:52
  you know,
• 5:53
  cars would run rough,
• 5:54
  you bring it into the shop so they can tune it up.
• 5:57
  You need to tune up for your ac system as well.
• 5:59
  Isn't that true?
• 6:00
  100%?
• 6:01
  Yeah,
• 6:02
  absolutely.
• 6:02
  You know,
• 6:02
  studies show that,
• 6:04
  you know,
• 6:04
  get those,
• 6:04
  those tubs and by a tuna,
• 6:06
  I mean,
• 6:06
  really extensive,
• 6:07
  properly done tune ups and cleaning and inspections of those systems,
• 6:11
  um,
• 6:11
  by a trained professional,
• 6:13
  you know,
• 6:14
  at least,
• 6:14
  you know,
• 6:14
  twice a year,
• 6:15
  you know,
• 6:15
  once in heating,
• 6:16
  once in cooling,
• 6:17
  uh,
• 6:17
  not only extends the life of that system,
• 6:19
  uh,
• 6:20
  for many,
• 6:20
  many years,
• 6:21
  but as well as it makes that system run more efficiently in the meantime,
• 6:24
  keeps it closer to those factory specs that when you bought that system and it used to work so well.
• 6:28
  And for some reason now it doesn't,
• 6:30
  you know,
• 6:31
  all goes into,
• 6:32
  into having that system properly maintained and serviced.
• 6:34
  And something else too,
• 6:35
  which I won't get into a lot of detail is even though you may have had a house built by a reputable builder a few years ago,
• 6:44
  doesn't mean the H VAC system was installed properly.
• 6:51
  It works,
• 6:53
  but maybe the return is not in the ideal place.
• 6:56
  Maybe another return has to be put in.
• 6:59
  Uh The there could be a duct work issue,
• 7:02
  who knows for sure.
• 7:03
  Uh But the team of Shafer knows what to do and what to look for.
• 7:07
  And it's really nice when they fix a problem.
• 7:10
  So I really appreciate you being here today.
• 7:12
  Nathan.
• 7:12
  Thank you so much.
• 7:14
  Hey,
• 7:14
  thanks for having me,
• 7:15
  Jim as always good talking to you.