Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Humidity In Home Getting Unbearable

I live in Georgia and naturally we are already having 85 degree days. Of course we have central A/C. The humidity level in our home is really beginning to take it's toll. My spices are all clumping together, my cans are rusting, mildew is forming in the bathrooms, my crispy food is now chewy and quite frankly everything I do causes me to sweat. I realize that I live in a humid part of the country, but this is ridiculous. What is the best route to take to try and make this better?

My understanding is that moisture is removed from the air by an a/c unit, you might want to have it checked out by a technician to see if it is working properly. The most dampness comes from the basement, where it feels the coldest. A dehumidifier may work the best for you, but I think the a/c may not be working properly, or even to small for the amount of square footage of the home, could you post more info ie size of home,size of a/c unit, see if water is being discharged from the a/c unit.

You didn't say you even have air conditioning. If you don't, it would help remove most of that humidity. A dehumidifier would help too, but not if you keep the windows open. In order to keep the house comfortable, you would need to keep it closed up tightly (to prevent moisture entry) and create as little moisture as possible. LIke using the bathroom ventilator when showering and for 10 minutes afterward. Make sure the clothes dryer (if you use it) is vented to the outside.

If you do have A/C in the home. Is this a new system or this been a problem for you in the past?

IF your system is over sized, it going to run short cycles, and cool the house down too fast, and it's not working hard enought to remove the moister in the air....

You have to fill in some more INFO here INFO INFO we need.
Does the A/C run ok? Does it turn on and off a lot? Is the home over a open crawl space and no ground cover?If so do you have insulation up in the joist.Do you have a basement? Are the ducts in the attic or down under the floor?

INFO then someone here can help you
;) ED

Yes we have A/C. From what we understand and have been told, the unit is too small for the size of the house (we just moved in last year) so it is pumping out all the cool air it can and runs most of the time. We are unable to purchase a bigger unit at this time for financial reasons, but we did put a window unit in one of the sections of the house to help. We do not have a basement only a crawl space. We had it checked out and as far as the vents, everything looks okay. I was wondering if a dehumidifier would be worth it to help us with the humidity problem. As I stated earlier, my food is being ruined and the least bit of physical work causes all of us to sweat. Do I have any options here?

Ok what do you have in that craw space? Is there insulation in the floor joist?????????????? Do you have a poly down on the ground for a vapor barrier?????????;) ED

given all the factors, undersized unit, crawlspace, probably not covered in plastic sheeting (i too am in Ga, and few homes have it), and central air unit may not be performing correctly....does water run out of the pipe from the inside coil? i would think your unit is possibly in the crawl, many are here, and return duct may have gaps, pulling in moist outside air. when you replace your system, be sure a properly sized one is installed.

to answer your question, yes a dehumidifier will help. :D

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/bd4.html

This is a Dept. of Energy brief on Vapor Diffuser Retarders and Air Barriers. The section you want to read up on is Air/vapor barriers as it applies to warm humid climates.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/molds/preventionandcontrol.html

This is an EPA site for tips on the prevention of mold through moisture control.

Undersized air conditioning units should remove more humidity from the home than oversized units. This is because it takes a considerably more amount of time for an A/C unit to remove humidity from air than it does for the unit to drop the temperature of that same air. Undersized units must run longer than either properly or oversized A/C units. The result is undersized units remove more humidity than properly sized or oversized A/C units. There is an ongoing debate over the sizing of A/C between ASHREA, Dept. of Energy and EPA.

Your description indicates that yur A/C unit needs to be serviced. It could be as simple as changing the air filter. The "A" coil maybe dirty or the unit is not properly charged. In either case, it is only prudent for you to have the unit service every year by a qualified technician.

Besides having the unit serviced your description indicates that the source of the problem goes beyond the A/C unit. The Dept. of Energy brief discusses "Thermal Moisture Dynamic." It explains that the major cause for excessive moisture in homes today is air transported moisture than heat transported moisture. This gives credence to the importance of air barriers and air sealing.

For example duct leakage. The volume of air in the home remains constant. That means air cannot leave the home without the same volume of air entering the home. So let's say the return duct in a crawl space has a breach that allows air from the crawl space to be drawn into the return duct. This brings air into the house and when it goes through your system into the house, it forces air out of the house. On the other hand let's say the duct leakage is on the supply duct. Air leaks out the supply duct and this creates a void or vacuum inside the home. Air then is sucked into the home.

The problem here is related to Relative Humidity (RH%). When you drop the temperature of air the percentage of humidity in that same air increases. This is because warm air can hold more humidity than cooler air. For example, air at 90 degrees Fahrenheit with a 80 RH%, when this air drops to 85 degrees the RH% will be 100%. By the way this is exactly how the "A" coil removes humidity from the air that passes through it. The difference is that the "A" coil has a drip pan underneath it to catch and take away the moisture and the house does not.

If you look at the examples with duct leakage the supply duct leakage is worse than the return duct leakage. If warm humid air is drawn into a return duct that is much cooler than the air, the warm humid air will condensate immediately inside the return duct. Chances are the duct will degrade and mold will grow inside the duct. Worse case senario, the mold becomes toxic. On the other hand with the supply duct leakage, the warm humid air is being drawn into the house, probably through your walls, floors and ceilings. Worse case senario, your house gets condemned.

When we talk about supply duct leakage it would be nice to go around and tape up all the joints in your ducts. This has considerably amount of benefit to you but is really not the problem. In every case I investigated it was a branch duct that was not connected and it was cooling the attic or a crawl space.

The EPA site gives you some helpful tips on how to control producing moisture in your home. It would be wise for you to read it.