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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Are Air Conditioners Good Dehumidifiers?

Although the air conditioner is here almost for a century, the market for the device, especially the domestic market, is seeing a surge that it had never seen before. This can be attributed to various reasons. While some claim that more people these days have more disposable income which allows them to invest on these devices, there are others who believe that global warming and increased temperatures all over have pushed the sales for air conditioners upwards.

Whatever may be the reason, the fact is that sales have increased and those who are in the business of selling air conditioners are trying to make the most of this opportunity. This would make them claim things which are not completely true. They can even claim that air conditioners come with features, which upon investigation might prove to be completely false. So guard against what you are being told. It is your duty to be mindful. If you are duped, much of the blame rests with you.

Many air conditioner sales person would claim that their air conditioner dehumidify the air. Let us examine how much truth is there in their claim. It is a fact that air conditioners do actually dehumidify the air to a certain extent. The evaporator coil inside the air conditioner which is a below the dewpoint can actually condense the water vapor from the air that is being processed. So when the processed air is released into the room it is devoid of the water vapor that was there in earlier.

But this is by no way the primary function of the air conditioner. Its job is to maintain a temperature. That it dehumidifies is a bonus. But since dehumidifying is not its job, the amount of dehumidification it actually achieves is also limited. This can vary from anything between 40% to 60%.

If you are really keen on dehumidifying the air of your room then you must invest on a dehumidifier itself, a device dedicated to this job. The results you will achieve are much better.

So while buying an air conditioner, keep in mind why you are buying it. It is not for dehumidifying. If however, you feel that your conditioner does enough of dehumidifying and you are happy with what the air conditioner achieves then it is good for you. but never ever buy an air conditioner with the misconception that it will double-up as the dehumidifier.

Jason Uvios writes on "Are Air Conditioners Good Dehumidifiers?" to visit it :- air purifier,air ozonators and air conditioner

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