Have one, don't like it, don't use it. I use AC and fans when I am gone.

Don't waste your money unless you do not have sufficient insulation. Just set the thermostat at a reasonable temperature such as 82 degrees F and all will be good. We have been doing this for 10 years with NO problems.

We have a humidistat which was already in our pre owned home. It was explained to us by Munns that the dial should be set to 60. The air conditioning will not run unless the humidity in the house goes ABOVE 60%. The house can get hot as heck but the A/C will not kick on unless the humidity is higher than 60%. Munns said it doesn't matter how hot the house gets, it is the humidity that is the problem when leaving the house uninhabited for periods of time.

When we left our home after "the season", we kept the thermostat cool setting at 83 degrees and the humidistat at 60. We left the house with those settings for 9 months at a time. Never had a mold problem and the electric bills were minimal.

If your home is new enough to have a Carrier brand thermostat. It most like has a humidity setting. Mold has little to do with temperature, and everything to do with humidity. There's no mold in the dessert and mold exists in glaciers. Set your factory thermostat to control humidity at 50-55%, and set the AC to 80 deg. You are all set. Now people will tell you the house needs to be cooler: Well if you set the house cold enough, the summer humidity will condense around windows and creat water.

Son of a gun! Never thought about that. It is true, we have lived in south and central Florida for a total of 35 years and never have had a mold problem in the garage. Good point.

I've been in Central Florida for 40 years and never met anybody with a humidistat installed. I also used to do energy audits. If you're going to be gone for a while just leave the AC set at 84 degrees to keep the humidity out of the house.

Humidity
 

I am gone for 5 months during the summer. i do not have a humidistat. I set my thermostat for 88 degrees but for one hour each day it drops to 74 degrees. That insures that my A/C will run for at least one hour each day to dry the air and keep the humidity under control. I have had no problems with this approach and my electric bill is only about $35/mo. for an Amarillo.

I am an the owner/technician for Good Guys Air Conditioning and resident of LaBelle here in the villages with just over 40 years experience as a technician. There are many people here that have made a comment if you keep your air-conditioning on and set to 80 it will control the humidity within the home. That advice is correct.
There is also a couple comments about most carrier thermostats have a humidity setpoint that will actually over cool the space if humidity setpoint gets excited. The only comment I would add to that is that it’s not most carrier thermostats it is certain models but not all. I chose to replace mine with one that connects to the internet so I can be alerted if there is a problem.

Before moving to the villages I had a home I used for vacation in the Tampa area. For the last five years I kept the thermostat at 80° and experienced a humidity reading of between 40 and 50% all summer. The home was built in the late 70s and was notNearly as well as the homes here in the villages. If you keep the Internet on why you’re not here I would certainly recommend a thermostat that will monitor and alert you if there is an issue with either humidity or temperature exceeding your setpoint. If you have any questions you can contact me directly.

Thanks.


Wondering about snowbirds who are gone and not exchanging the air.


:shrug: