A dehumidifier will help cool a room because it’s function is to lower the humidity in the room and excessive humidity can make it feel hotter than it actually is. But you should not expect the room to cool off while the unit is running because it expels heat into the room at the same time.
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Dehumidifier vs AC
Dehumidifier
- Primarily use for damp spaces like basements and flooding restoration
- Mobile
- Catches moisture in a container or is ran outside with a garden hose.
- Expels heat in the same room it’s used in.
- Heats the room.
AC
- Primarily used to cool the air down
- Stationary
- Moisture is piped outside.
- Expels heat in the same room it’s used in.
- Expels heat outside
Dehumidifiers and air conditioners both reduce the moisture in the air, and they both do so in exactly the same manner.Warm air is passed over the condenser coils which causes the water in the air to condense. Which then goes into a attached container or ran outside with a hose or pipe.
But there are some differences between the two.
Namely what they are used for.
Dehumidifiers are used for remediation in areas like a damp basement that does not have any windows or AC vents piped into it.
Because of the basements proximity to the ground, it is usually a moist place where mold growth takes root fairly easy.
Operating a dehumidifier in the basement will rob mold of the moisture it needs to feed and live.
Dehumidifiers, being mobile are also used to help with flood damage and restoration.
How the moisture is captured.
Dehumidifiers have a tank that the condensed moisture drains into. Most have a connector that you can run a garden hose too so that the water runs outside.
Air conditioners are all in one, and in the case of a central AC, the condensed moisture is piped outside. Window air conditioners typically have a hole in the bottom of the casing that drips the condensation outside behind the unit to.
Another difference is the way that heat is expelled from Humidifier.
Since dehumidifiers are mobile and are ran primarily in a single room at a time, the heat that is exhausted from it is released in the same room. Which is good to keep removing moisture but will also heat the room up.
Most people have walked behind a the back of an air conditioner and felt the heat coming off of it. That’s exactly the type of heat you get with a dehumidifier, only the heat is not being expelled outside.
So even though a dehumidifier will reduce the humidity, which in turn will cause the air to be drier and more comfortable after it is used,
So you shouldn’t expect the room to be cooler while the dehumidifier is running.
Air conditioning is stationary and located so that the heat generated is always exhausted outside.
should you run a dehumidifier and an air conditioner at the same time?
Using a dehumidifier at the same time as the air conditioner can be redundant since both reduce the moisture in the air.
But there are times when running both machines can be an advantage.
When the humidity is excessive, you can put extra strain on the air conditioning, which can lead to extra high energy bill, more repairs, and lower the lifespan of the AC.
Running a separate dehumidifier can take the extra work off of the AC in this type of situation.
Also there are rooms in the house where the AC does not reach as well.
Trying to dry the basement with the air conditioner is not likely to do a very good job. It takes a separate device like a dehumidifier to dry the room out satisfactory.
But there are also times when running a dehumidifier with the air conditioning on will do more to make the room hot and muggy than it will to cool off the room and aid the air conditioner.
If you were to put a dehumidifier in the living room , it would basically be like taking a window air conditioner and sitting it on the table. Though it may be reducing the humidity, it is also pouring hot air out of the back.
So in that case, it would be counteractive to run the air conditioning and a humidifier at the same time.
Is it cheaper to run AC or dehumidifier?
It is cheaper to run a dehumidifier than to run the AC because an air conditioner cycles all the way on and all the way off repeatedly. (Unless it is an inverter AC) Dehumidifiers do not have the same type of cycling schedule nor do they turn completely off over and over.
Powering an AC completely on and off takes more energy than a dehumidifier.
Recap
Will a dehumidifier cool off a room?
A dehumidifier expels heat from the rear of the machine. Though it will reduce the humidity that can cause the temperature to seem hotter than what it is, the heat coming off of the dehumidifier will reheat the room.
If you run a dehumidifier for a while, then let the room air out, you will likely find that that room is more comfortable than it was before you ran the dehumidifier.
But as an air cooler, it is definitely better to use an air conditioner. Not only will the air conditioner cool the room, it will also dehumidify as it’s cooling.
Dehumidifiers are made more as a mobile unit to place in a room that doesn’t have access to air conditioning such as a basement. They are also intended to be used as remedial aids for situations like water damage and flood Restoration.
Also being mobile means that the condensation captured by the dehumidifier must either be caught in a tank or ran with a garden hose outside.
Air conditioners on the other hand, can do little in the area of remediation because they are stationary and not meant to move around.
