Telkonet has the most effective and reasonably priced humidity control option on the market. Our platform can measure AND control humidity, and our highly calibrated occupancy sensors play a pivotal role in aggressively driving down humidity while guests or occupants are away.
In many regions of the country, high humidity is a challenge, often causing mold, mildew and air quality problems. Older residence halls retrofitted with air conditioning is not a solution for keeping the rooms dry.
Resolving humidity problems for one building is a large enough scope, but when using the EcoSmart solution, the cost to address the humidity issues can open up a multi-building solution on a single building budget.
Figuring out how to fix the humidity and mold problems while saving energy and money, is easily managed with Telkonet.
“What got my attention initially was EcoSmart Recovery Time, a technology I thought was pretty smart. When there’s nobody in the room, the technology actually calculates how much time it will take to recover, and sets the temperature based on that calculation. With everybody else, you pick your set temperature and it may or may not be optimum.”
Sean F. Facilities Energy Coordinator
The Occupied Room
During the data collection period, the room remained occupied from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The occupants set an aggressively low temperature of 66°, which is a common attempt to reduce humidity as well as cool the room.
As the blue line indicates, the HVAC sustained a long cooling drive, until the temperature reached the 66° set point. Then, as the blue sawtooth pattern indicates, the short cooling drives maintained the 66° setpoint.
The orange lines show that the relative humidity dropped from approximately 73% at 9:00 a.m. to 53% by 10:00 a.m. But almost immediately, the humidity began to rise. Notice the orange sawtooth patten. The cooling time was too short to force enough condensation on the cooling coil to achieve effective dehumidification.
The blue line represents temperature, and the orange line represents humidity.
The Unoccupied Room
At approximately 12:30 PM, the occupants left the room. As the blue line indicates, the room temperature was allowed to drift from the setpoint. The thermostat activated a Refresh Cycle: it forced the HVAC system into a sustained cooling drive, lasting for 10 to 15 minutes every 4 to 6 hours.
Now notice the orange line. During each Refresh Cycle, the HVAC system drove the relative humidity below 55%. The sustained cooling drives effectively dehumidified the air. Though relative humidity climbed between refresh drives, it never reached the peak levels seen during the occupied period.
When Moisture Makes an Extended Stay
Once outdoor water vapor has made its way past porous building materials, it moves first through the wall, insulation, and into the drywall.
If your property includes vinyl wall coverings, this can be problematic. Moisture will collect behind vinyl wall coverings, condensing and soaking the drywall and insulation until it is soft and crumbly, encouraging the growth of mold and mildew.
The presence of mildew or mold in a building creates a host of problems, big and small.
Telkonet’s system will assist in controlling humidity using standard platform features, such as:
To learn more about our automation platform and devices or to get an energy savings estimate, please contact our dedicated sales team today.
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