Moving south was a big change for my husband and I.
We’d lived our entire lives in the northeastern part of the country until just a couple of years ago. Out of necessity, we always purchased four-wheel-drive vehicles and had a full wardrobe of sweaters. We owned heavy boots, wool coats, gloves, ice scrapers and snow shovels. We worried about sub zero temperatures, freezing water pipes, snow removal, icy roads and overly dry air. Our new location doesn’t even require a heating system for the home. Our yard consists of sand, and we have palm trees in the garden. We now are more concerned with sunblock, sudden thunderstorms and issues with excess humidity. The air conditioner operates for approximately eight months per year. The temperature regularly soars into the triple digits, and our electric bills are a drain on the budget. We’ve figured out that lowering the thermostat setting is not the answer to ideal comfort. Over-cooling the home doesn’t solve the problem of too much moisture in the air. It simply adds to demands on the air conditioner, raises our monthly expenses and increases the risk of requiring repairs. We initially tried portable dehumidifiers. We found that the reservoir needed to be emptying constantly, and there wasn’t much improvement in our air quality. We still had condensate running down the window pains and mold growth. We now have a whole-home dehumidifier that is incorporated right into the cooling unit and works to pull moisture out of the air before it’s sent into the living space. The unit requires only annual maintenance, operates almost silently and has made a huge improvement in comfort.