How To Keep Your Home's Humidity Low During Arizona Monsoons

As the monsoon season approaches, so does the arrival of high humidity here in Phoenix, Arizona. We’ve discussed before how that humidity can lead to longer run times for your AC, which means higher energy bills and a greater chance of AC breakdowns.

The good news is that there are some tips for keeping indoor humidity under control. You can reduce humidity buildup by making sure to:

Let’s take a closer look at each of these tips. That way, you can enjoy the beauty of monsoon season without the headache of AC repairs!

They are many reasons you may want to block or close the vents delivering cool air to your home. Perhaps one room gets too cold, or some members of your household disagree on AC settings. Regardless of the reason, closing or blocking even one vent can increase the humidity inside your home.

It can also cause other problems, which we discuss in our blog, "Why Closing Air Vents in Unused Rooms Damages Your HVAC System”.

How does closing a vent or two lead to humidity problems in Phoenix, AZ? It comes down to the increase of negative pressure in your ducts and home. Your HVAC system's design pumps cold or hot air through those ducts and delivers them into your home through the vents. This ensures proper pressure within the ducts based on the number and location of vents in the home.

When you block a duct, you stop your system from releasing air as designed. That builds up negative pressure and allows outdoor air to build up in your home. When that outdoor air is humid because we’re in the middle of monsoon season, you have more humidity indoors.

The solution is simple: Keep your vents open and clear. If you’re concerned that your home cools unevenly, contact us to schedule an appointment with our professional and reliable technicians. We can help you identify problems with your HVAC system and fix them quickly.

It’s a good idea to keep your thermostat set to AUTO for the sake of your energy bill. When it’s set to ON, your system will run continuously. You may end up with more of an internal chill than you want, and your HVAC system will use more energy than you want to pay for by the end of monsoon season here in Phoenix, Arizona.

Another reason to go with the AUTO setting is to prevent humidity problems here in Phoenix, AZ. When your system runs continuously, your evaporator coils won't have time to drain accumulated moisture. That moisture is blown back into your vents, making its way into the air you breathe and creating more humidity inside your home.

The AUTO setting allows your system to shut down. At the same time, your home rests at a stable temperature, giving you a break on your energy bill while allowing those coils to release the moisture accumulated during the last cool cycle. Reduced moisture blowing back through your vents means less humidity inside your home.

If there’s one thing that can increase your need for emergency AC repairs, it’s a consistently clogged filter. While you should change your HVAC filter once a month, that's not nearly often enough when the monsoons arrive in Phoenix. As the humidity rises outdoors, the dust also starts to blow. Much of that dust will end up in your HVAC system and then in your filter.

Your filter will get dirty much faster during monsoon season. If you only change it once a month, your system will spend much more time working harder than it should. The clogged filter interferes with airflow throughout your home and prevents your system from dumping out heat. That leads to harder run cycles and reduced capacity to control indoor humidity.

Clogged filters will also dramatically increase your risk of a system breakdown during the intense heat of monsoon season. You can prevent that by changing your filter every couple of weeks rather than monthly.

The vents along the sides of your outdoor AC unit are designed to ensure proper airflow through the system. When those vents are even partially blocked, your system is compromised due to reduced airflow through that outdoor unit. The result is less efficient operations inside your home, which often means greater humidity during monsoon season.

If you have plants growing too close to your outdoor unit or other items sitting nearby, spend an afternoon cleaning up that area of your home. Cut back all bushes, flowers, and plants within two or three feet of the HVAC unit. Move trash cans, lawn furniture, decorative flags, and other items that may get blown into the unit and block those vents.

Finally, make sure your gutters are clean while you’re out there. You don’t want debris from clogged gutters dumping down into your AC system.

You’ve done a lot already to prevent humidity problems during the monsoon season. The next step is ensuring your AC system receives at least one maintenance visit annually. Just before monsoon season hits is a great time to schedule that maintenance because you’ll have peace of mind that your system is ready for the intense weather that may come.

When you call for AC maintenance in Phoenix, an experienced technician will look at every HVAC system component. They will clean your coils and make sure everything is in proper working order. If there are potential problems just waiting for a system breakdown, your technician can catch that early and fix the problem without the AC repair bill.