Say it’s 25C outside and 30C indoors. I want to bring the indoor temp down to 25C, but opening all the windows barely makes a dent. Does it make sense to have the AC turned on and set to 25C while I have the windows open? Or should I be closing them anyway?
You provided an image of a mini split. They are so efficient, if it is colder outside than in it is pretty negligible that it will be any less efficient. Unless the window is near the outside unit and the heat just comes back in. But you need to take into account the humidity, if it’s much more humid outside you definitely should keep the windows shut.
Yeah, the humidity is a very important factor here.
Latent heat of vaporization causes some very non-intuitive temperature physics when you start condensing or vaporizing any fluids. Fun fact: A 300W(electrical) dehumidifier functions as a ~1500W(thermal) heater. And it doesn’t necessarily feel like one, because our perception of heat is intrinsically linked to humidity. But that only happens if the air is very humid. It’s the reverse of an evaporative/swamp cooler, which likewise only works effectively if the air is NOT humid.
Wait, what? I want to know more. A dehumidifier acts as a 5x wattage heater, but we don’t feel it?
TechnologyConnections is so glad you asked!
I was familiar with the material he covered, but he also mentioned another video where he compared a “dessicant wheel” dehumidifer (common in the UK) with a vapor-condensation dehumidifier (common in the US), and that was really interesting, as I’d never heard of a dessicant wheel dehumidifer before. Thanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzClLWL-Eys