Controlling Humidity in Your Tulsa Home Increases Summer Comfort

No one wants to live in a humid home. And in summer, controlling humidity in your home can be a challenge.

Controlling Humidity in Your Tulsa Home Increases Summer Comfort

How humidity makes you feel warmer“It's not the heat, its the humidity,” is a common expression. And it is true. A higher level of humidity in your home will make you and your family feel hotter on a warm day. But why?

Humans release heat from their bodies in a many ways, but the most common is by sweating. It is the evaporation of the skin's sweat that cools your body. A humid environment reduces this evaporation and makes you feel warmer. People feel most comfortable in homes with a relative humidity level of around 45 percent.

Controlling humidity in your home

Maintaining an ideal level of humidity in your home can be difficult. While air conditioners can reduce the humidity in your home's air by cooling the air (cool air holds less moisture than warm air), A/Cs are not the ideal way of reducing humidity. A/Cs are designed for hot weather operation and humidity is a hot and cool weather problem. To feel a difference year-round, you need to install a dehumidifier.

There are two types of dehumidifiers: a whole house dehumidifier and a portable unit. The portable unit can be placed in any room as needed. While this may sound like a good idea, remember that dehumidifiers are noisy. Depending on where you place your unit, you may find the noise to be distracting. In addition, as many portable dehumidifiers are not attached to drain pipe, the unit's water reservoir needs to be emptied often. Whole house dehumidifiers are built into the HVAC system of the home. They have the benefit of dehumidifying your entire house and require less maintenance.

Homeowners thinking about installing a dehumidifier, should speak with HVAC experts to assist them in their decisions. The HVAC specialists at Air Assurance are more than happy to assist you with any of your heating and cooling needs. Air Assurance has been proudly serving the Tulsa-area community since 1985.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Indoor Air Quality Need Improvement for Spring? These Upgrades Can Help

Indoor Air Quality Need Improvement for Spring? These Upgrades Can Help

With the arrival of spring, many residents of Broken Arrow dread the simultaneous arrival of spring allergies. But you don’t have to remain a victim to outdoor allergens. These indoor air quality upgrades can help you make your home a safe haven where you can find refuge from allergy triggers.Use ventilation

A mechanical ventilation system boosts air circulation in the home. Through a vent that supplies fresh air, and a vent that exhausts old, stale air, a ventilation system employs fans to boost the rate of air exchange, driving pollutants out of the home. This type of system is especially useful in tight homes that have little natural ventilation to drive pollutants out.

Try dehumidification

If allergy symptoms are triggered by molds or bacteria, allergens that thrive in humid conditions, installing a dehumidification may help to control relative humidity, and prevent conditions in the home that encourage the replication of microorganisms. For humidity control in the entire home, consider a whole-house dehumidifier.

Use filtration

You can also use your air conditioner’s air filter to your advantage to improve indoor air quality. Choose a high-quality filter with a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating in the 8 to 11 range. These filters trap a higher percentage of smaller particles, without negatively affecting airflow. Change the filter regularly over the season, at least once a month, or even more often.

Employ an air cleaner

Give indoor air quality a boost with an air cleaner that targets the specific allergens that trigger allergy symptoms. Choose from whole-house ultraviolet light systems, electronic air cleaners, air purifiers or high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) systems that target pollutants in the entire home. An air quality professional can help you identify the systems that best suit your needs, and conduct air-quality testing to determine which pollutants are present.

Air Assurance Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing has served homeowners in greater Broken Arrow for more than 30 years. If you’d like indoor air quality testing, or assistance selecting an air cleaner or ventilation system, get in touch with our indoor air quality experts, or visit our website.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  Image courtesy of Shutterstock