Weather change is something that everyone is both excited and sad about because transitioning from summer to winter is like a complete lifestyle change that occurs every year.
Making adjustments and trying to go with the flow can be done with a variety of items ranging from food to drinks to electronics such as dehumidifiers and air conditioners.
Key Takeaways
- Dehumidifiers remove excess moisture from the air, while air conditioners cool the air and reduce humidity as a secondary function.
- Dehumidifiers are more energy-efficient than air conditioners when used solely for humidity control.
- Air conditioners are better suited for larger spaces and maintaining comfortable temperatures, while dehumidifiers focus on improving air quality and preventing mold growth.
Dehumidifier Vs Air Conditioner
Dehumidifiers is an appliance that remove excess moisture from the air in a room. They are useful in humid environments and can reduce the amount of allergens and dust mites in the air. Air conditioners are appliances that cool the air and control the temperature in a room or building.
The dehumidifier pulls moisture in the air in and cools it over to a degree where the moisture compresses and splits from the air into the most popular types of dehumidifiers.
The water can be collected inside a container or tray which must be drained or changed regularly. The evaporator, condensing, compressor, and expansion valve are the most critical components of an air conditioner.
A refrigerant is a fluid that circulates through a system of tubes and serves as the principal means of eliminating heat from a space. The evaporator is the component that blows cool air into the room.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Dehumidifier | Air Conditioner |
|---|---|---|
| Process | The air is passed over a refrigerated coil in a dehumidifier to capture the excess moisture in the air. | Air is re-circulated in a room after passing over just a refrigerated coil in an air conditioner. |
| Purpose | A dehumidifier aims to remove excess humidity. | Air conditioners are used to remove heat from a space. |
| Use | The dehumidifier also helps with health issues by preventing mold buildup. | The air conditioner keeps the room at a cool temperature. |
| Principles | Mechanical, desiccative, and electronic dehumidifiers are all available. | Air conditioners mostly operate on mechanical principles. |
| Water | The collected water in the dehumidifiers must be emptied manually or attached to the plumbing system. | The water collected from condensation upon cold coils is dripped outside or evaporated on the hot loops by air conditioners. |
What Is Dehumidifier?
Dehumidifiers are used to remove moisture from the air. A water container with something like a hose hookup connection for specialized drainage is standard on dehumidifiers.
They have automated shut-downs to avoid spilling if people forget to switch the device off at the weekend (or fail to dump the condensate bucket).
In a dehumidifier, all of the moisture in the atmosphere is drawn inside and spills into the pail or tray that may be physically drained.
A dehumidifier, unlike an air conditioner, doesn’t spew warm air into the room and can be installed indoors even without outside vents.
A desiccant is a type of chemical that can extract moisture from the air. A desiccant is used as the dehumidification carrier in this equipment, and it works well.
Desiccant dehumidifiers are indeed resistant to voltage fluctuations and consume very little electricity.
These devices employ the “thermoelectric effect” to remove moisture from the air, as their name implies. As electricity is applied to a thermoelectric module, one side becomes cold, whereas the other turns hot.
The cool side is used to accumulate moisture, lowering the room’s humidity level.
These dehumidifiers are also the most comparable to refrigerators in that they work in the same way. The blower and the chilled coil both circulate hot air. The coil absorbs moisture in the air and so removes humidity.
What Is Air Conditioner?
Air conditioners, contrary to popular belief, do not produce cooler air; rather, they simply remove heat from the atmosphere and transfer it to another location. It may appear to be a minor distinction, but it is significant.
To absorb heat from the atmosphere, air conditioners employ special compounds known as “refrigerants.” A refrigerant is a gas that can readily be compressed into some kind of fluid with little force at room temperature.
For obvious reasons, the refrigerant is squeezed into a fluid by a mechanism known as a compressor. This liquid refrigerant is also pushed through a series of tubes known as “coils” by this compressor.
The rotors are just large enough for the refrigerant to release and return to a gaseous state. Decompression, on the other hand, necessitates the use of energy, such as heat.
Warm external air is blown through the tubes by a fan in one air conditioner, causing the refrigerant to capture the heat as it grows. The unexpectedly cool air fills one’s home.
The refrigerant then returns to a compressor to be compressed completely into a liquid to finish the circuit. This causes it to emit heat, which is then carried outside with the warm moist air through one’s home.
Main Differences Between Dehumidifier and Air Conditioner
- In a dehumidifier, the air passes through a refrigerated coil to catch the extra moisture from the air, but in an air conditioner, the air is re-circulated in the room after passing over only a chilled coil.
- The purpose of a dehumidifier is to eliminate extra humidity, whereas air conditioners remove heat from an area.
- The dehumidifier assists with health issues by reducing mold growth while the air conditioner maintains the area cool.
- Dehumidifiers might be mechanical, desiccative, or electronic, although air conditioners work on mechanical methods.
- The water gathered inside the dehumidifiers should be discharged manually or connected to the drainage system, whereas the water collected from condensation on cool coils is drained outside or evaporated by air conditioners on the hot loops.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778812005567
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050915009357
Last Updated : 14 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
