When we moved into our house, the A/C unit hadn't
been used for years. I repaired it temporarily, but wasn't
ready to replace it till I finished upgrading the ductwork.
But that A/C unit was horribly inefficient, the house had
no insulation, and it was running virtually nonstop.

One night I was in the laundry room when the unit came
on and started delivering into the sump crock. The condensate
was steady for the first half hour, and then started slowing down.

Glancing at the thermostat showed that the temperature hadn't
changed, but it was already more comfortable.

So rather than trying to bring down the temperature, I worked
on simply using the A/C as a whole-house dehumidifier. After
all, a reasonably dry 83 degrees is more comfortable than a
muggy 73.

If anyone is interested in knowing how I did it, at no cost other
than my time, let me know by newsgroup reply.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
When we lived in Taiwan almost twenty years ago we had Hitachi
computer-controlled window/hole-in-the-wall air conditioners with a
"dehumidfy" mode. In this mode they would run for a while then stop,
then repeat the cycle, irrespective of the temperature. I don't recall
what the on/off ratio was, and I don't think it was adjustable. Would
it not be possible to cycle a typical central air system in the same
way to reduce the humidity without necessarily reducing the
temperature by much?
These also had a "night-time" mode, in which after 4 hours they would
raise the temperature by half a degree (Celsius) every half hour. The
idea was that one would not keep waking up because of being too cold.
Have North American A/C systems ever had such a mode?

Perce

I don't recall any with a "dehumidify" mode, but you can use a
programmable thermostat to do much the same thing on raising the
temperature. We don't generally have the the same humidity problem you
may have had. I would guess most people would just use a dehumidifier if
needed.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit