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Our Fort Lauderdale summers come complete with temperatures in the 80s and 90s and humidity so thick you think you are wearing the air. Your HVAC system can bring both the temperature and humidity inside your home down to acceptable levels but your air conditioner is an absolute energy hog. The less you run your air conditioning the lower your FPL bill will be.

One way to reduce the amount of time your AC runs is to lower the amount of humidity in your home. Just like those folks in Phoenix you can live comfortably in a higher "dry" heat than you can a moist heat. By reducing the humidity you can up the thermostat and run the air less.

There are other reasons you want to lower humidity in your home as well. High humidity promotes mold and mites, both are obviously bad for your health. Your furniture and carpets will also suffer from excessive humidity and the structural wood in your Fort Lauderdale home can begin to rot.

Tips on Reducing Humidity in Your Home

To reduce relative humidity you want to minimize the amount of moisture that occurs in your home. It only takes between four and six pints of water to raise the humidity level inside of 1,000 square feet from a mere 15% to 60%. In Fort Lauderdale the three most common ways to reduce moisture in a home are as follows:

1. Air Circulation. Air that is moving tends to dry out moisture. Ceiling fans, floor fans and attic fans are your first line of defense against humidity. By keeping the air moving you reduce the humidity provide a pleasant, cooling breeze for the family. That cooling breeze isn’t actually cooling you it is evaporating the moisture on your skin making you feel cooler.
2. Leak Patrol. One way to reduce moisture is to reduce the amount of water that is introduced to the interior of your home. Bathrooms are typically the biggest culprits. Hot showers pour out steam. Take cooler and shorter showers to reduce the steam and make sure you exhaust fan is functioning. If the mirrors are still steaming up crack a window for a little while. Make sure the ventilation hood over your stove is clean and venting steam and other stovetop vapors. Go on leak patrol around all the appliances that use water to ensure there are no puddles. If you find a leak call a Fort Lauderdale plumber to fix them.
3. Relocate Indoor Plants. If you have an abundance of plants inside the home you will want to consider putting them outside for the summer. Ever notice how humid greenhouses are? Plants take the water you feed them and releases it as vapor as part of their life cycle. Put them outside or out on the lanai until cooler weather returns.

If we can help you with any questions on this topic or anything to do with air conditioning or plumbing, feel free to give us a call at Paradise Service Technologies today. We are always happy to hear from you.