Continuous HVAC Blower Fan Operation for Optimum Indoor Air Quality
     

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Question: what is the relationship between continuous blower fan operation and indoor humidity where central air is installed? Can condensate in the air handler raise indoor humidity?

Edgardo:

A disadvantage I found running the AC fan continuously in my residence, was a noticeable increase in the humidity in the house. The fan would blow across the wet coils and drain pan while the compressor wasn't running and put the water it had removed from the air during the prior cooling cycle back into the living space. So I stopped doing that. - Edgardo

Reply: from DF

Edgardo, thanks for the comment, it's an opportunity to clear up some confusion.

When your compressor is not running the cooling coil in your air handler is not cool and NO condensate will be produced in the unit. So if you are seeing too much water in the air handler, including as you say, while the compressor is not running, then more likely your condensate drain system is not draining adequately and a reservoir of condensate is remaining in the air handler condensate drip tray.

You should not see standing water there ever. If you do, the drip tray is not draining and the tray or drain system need to be cleared and repaired. Details about condensate handling are in the article titled CONDENSATE HANDLING, A/C and details about target levels for indoor humidity are at HUMIDITY LEVEL TARGET.

Edgardo:

Hi Dan The pan drains fine, and the backup secondary pan is dry. I am not seeing any unusual amount of water. The problem I mentioned is caused simply by evaporation back into the living space of the residual condensation left on the coils and in the pan when the compressor shuts off. The parts can't be instantly dry when the compressor shuts off. Anyway I do run the fan more continuously in the winter, as between cycles the air will settle in the house and can be close to 50° at the floor when it's 75° 5 feet off the floor. Keeping the fan on keeps the air mixed up and I can run the heat a degree or two lower.

Dan:

Edgardo I'm surprised that the volume of water left on the cooling coil after the A/C system shuts off would provide a measurable quantity of total humidity in the living space. Consider the total volume of water that's resting on the coils (as you explain the drain pan is dry) - it has to be less than a quart. Evaporate a quart of water into the cubic feet of air in even a small home - it just would not be likely to explain an indoor humidity problem.

I agree that running the fan gives much better air distribution and more even temperatures (and RH) throughout the home.

If you are seeing high indoor RH I'd look at whether or not the system is dehumidifying adequately when it's running. Incidentally, as we explain at DEHUMIDIFICATION PROBLEMS, an oversized A/C unit will cool but won't dehumidify the space.

Try making some actual RH measurements throughout the A/C cycle and let us know what you're seeing. See Tools for Measuring Humidity.

Edgardo:

I mentioned before that the main pan drains fine, but it will still be wet until the residual evaporates, and the secondary pan is dry which is there in case the primary pan drain gets clogged. There should never be water in that secondary catch pan otherwise the main drain is clogged. Anyway, all that is normal. I have access to the condensate drain pipe, and yesterday afternoon I put it into a gallon jug and captured almost a half-gallon of condensate water in 1 hour.

Relative humidity in the house right now is 42%. Temperature is 78°. I have a 1953-built frame house that I think cost about $8,000 new when it was built. Needless to say it has lousy insulation and leaks air everywhere, and moisture up from the crawl space. So I think the AC does well all things considered. Oversized system? Don't think so. It can just keep up with the heat load, and cycle off once in a while when it's 100°+ outside. We have some pretty extreme summer weather and humidity conditions in Texas and the system handles it pretty well with reasonably low electricity usage.

Dan:

Edgardo I agree that if your RH is down to 42% that's a suggestion that the A/C is both cooling and dehumidifying and is not oversized. Perhaps taking some RH measurements at regular intervals and when the system is cycling on and off will give a more clear picture of the indoor RH.

It just doesn't seem likely to me that the volume of moisture residual in a wet but otherwise drained condensate pan would explain a measurable variation in indoor RH in the rest of the building. That volume of water evaporated into the volume of air in a building could not explain high indoor RH. It may be more likely that if the home is poorly insulated and more, drafty, indoor relative humidity (RH) climbs along with temperature between cooling cycles.

Also if the RH was coming from the ductwork as a prime source when the system is off, you'd find higher RH at the duct openings as well as evidence of airflow out of the ducts when the cooling system was off. But be sure to measure RH at both the return and supply sides and registers so we're not confused by cycling higher RH house air with moisture coming from other sources or outdoors. Some measurements ought to clear that up.

Please also be sure to take a look at DEHUMIDIFICATION PROBLEMS where we describe some sources of and cures for high indoor humidity in buildings.

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• Thanks to AMark Cramer, Tampa Florida, for assistance in technical review of the "Critical Defects" section and for the photograph of the deteriorating gray Owens Corning flex duct in a hot attic. Mr. Cramer is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator.
• Thanks to Jon Bolton, an ASHI, FABI, and otherwise certified Florida home inspector who provided photos of failing Goodman gray flex duct in a hot attic.
• Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, A. D. Althouse, C.H. Turnquist, A. Bracciano, Goodheart-Willcox Co., 1982
• Principles of Refrigeration, R. Warren Marsh, C. Thomas Olivo, Delmar Publishers, 1979
• "Air Conditioning & Refrigeration I & II", BOCES Education, Warren Hilliard (instructor), Poughkeepsie, New York, May - July 1982, [classroom notes from air conditioning and refrigeration maintenance and repair course attended by the website author]
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, 5th Ed., William C. Whitman, William M. Johnson, John Tomczyk, Cengage Learning, 2005, ISBN 1401837654, 9781401837655 1324 pages
• Air Conditioning SEER - New DOE Air Conditioner and Heat Pump Efficiency Standard
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• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Wikipedia provided background information about the definition of HEPA and airborne particle interception.

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