# High Home Humidity



## Boongie (8 mo ago)

I live in the Midwest in a 1400 square foot trilevel home, no basement. The family room, powder room, and utility room are below grade level, kitchen, living room, and dining room are at grade level, and three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. I have a 21 year old Trane central A/C and furnace in the utility room. Evaporator was cleaned in 3/2021. Twice a year I have my HVAC person come out in fall and spring to check out the furnace and A/C, respectively. No need for refrigerant to be added this year. The General humidifier attached to my furnace is off for the season. About two years ago I had a Nest digital thermostat installed. Since then I notice in the summer that the Nest is showing a humidity level of about 58% to 61% during the warm weather, even when the A/C is set to 69 degrees. At 69 degrees it still feels warm, probably due to the humidity level. I have a portable temperature/hygrometer meter that is reading about the same in same room as the Nest is located (family room). Also about two years ago I had a new roof with ridge vent, new vinyl siding, and new Marvin windows installed. At the same time I had insulation added to my attic bringing it up to R60. When the siding was done (with new soffits and eaves) it was noticed that there were not openings in the soffits to vent into the attic. The workers cut large holes along the plywood in the soffits to vent the attic. The insulation person told me that he was installing shield so that the soffit holes would not be covered by the insulation. My HVAC person agreed that the humidity in my house is too high. The only thing that he could suggest was that I purchase a portable dehumidifier or consider replacing the furnace and A/C. But he could not guarantee that a new furnace and A/C would solve the humidity problem. He also told me that he could not suggest that the size of the A/C be reduced to make a new one run longer. Any suggestions on what to do? Would one 50 pint dehumidifier in my family room or living room solve the humidity issue throughout the house or would I need a portable dehumidifier on every floor level? I don't really want to buy multiple dehumidifers, because of the expense, energy use, and need to empty. Or is there another solution? Picture of my furnace attached. Thanks for any suggestions.


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## Boongie (8 mo ago)

Forgot to mention that there is a water leak occurring while the A/C is running on this area on top of the furnace. Circled in blue. My HVAC person said that to repair the leak would require dismantaling the sheet metal above the furnace and might not fix the issue. He suggested that I put a towel in that area to collect the water. You can see a wet paper towel in the same area in the picture in my original post.


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