Rethinking Reheat for Dehumidification

Using AC units with reheat coils for dehumidification is a common practice among retailers – from grocers to small bakers. But for those who need to control moisture levels in stores of all sizes, it’s rarely the most cost-effective method. 

Reheat for dehumidification is simply cooling the air with the air conditioner to pull out the moisture. But instead of throwing the heat outside, the reheat coil simply puts that heat back Into the original air stream.  It forces an air conditioner to act like a poorly designed dehumidifier. 

The traditional approach, while often accepted, is generally inefficient (you’re throwing away money) and less effective than the alternative option: A combination of high-efficiency commercial dehumidifiers coupled with fewer AC units. 

“We’ve looked at numerous scenarios, run comparative analyses, and consistently we see the same thing: Using AC’s with reheat coils for dehumidification just isn’t nearly as efficient,” said Dan Dettmers, applications engineer at Quest. “Honestly, it’s just become the de facto solution because many people aren’t aware of the alternative.” 

Dehumidifiers equal efficiency, savings 

Using air conditioners to dehumidify air has never been efficient. Here’s why: 

• When an AC is in reheat mode, it isn’t cooling. That means store temperatures rise. 
• To combat that problem, more ACs are installed, which means more money spent. 
• If recirculating indoor air, you’ve already paid to cool the air once, then you pay to heat it, and then pay to cool it again 

You are asking an air conditioner to heat the air, which is against Its nature. The alternative – and more viable option – lets ACs focus on what they’re good at doing: cooling air. Combining Quest dehumidifiers (important, because they’re the most energy-efficient in the world) with several AC units eliminates the need to re-cool air and lets you use fewer AC units – all of which reduces cost. It’s that simple. 

To help paint the picture, we worked with Quest engineers to map out how Quest dehumidifiers and ACs work to control an environment more effectively. The end result, no matter the scale of the project, is lower electric bills, decreased capital costs, and a more consistent, controlled environment. 

A better option than reheat coils for dehumidification 

Want more information? Have more questions. Call us at 1-877-420-1330, or email Sales@QuestClimate.com.