The Veri-Dry Solution

The human body is comfortable when relative humidity ranges between 20 and 60 percent. In your home, an average relative humidity of 35 to 40 percent is appropriate when the outside temperature is 20°F or above. However, during cold weather, higher humidity ranges may cause structural damage because of condensation on windows and on the inside of exterior walls. As outdoor temperatures fall, condensation problems inside may develop.

The construction of a home also influences how much humidity is desirable. Tightly constructed buildings with properly installed vapor barriers and tight fitting doors and windows retain more heat and moisture. This is where mechanical ventilation becomes important. If a home does not have the proper mechanical ventilation, excess water vapor can move through walls and ceilings, causing wet insulation, peeling paint, and mold on walls and woodwork.

Veri-Dry converts any existing air conditioner into a monster whole building dehumidifier thereby reducing excess moisture that deprives mold spores of the nutrients and conditions they need to thrive. Drying out the damp air and extracting moisture from the structure are the most crucial factors in reducing the unfavorable environment for indoor mold growth and musty odors. 

How Veri-Dry Removes Four Times the Humidity and Uses 1/3 Less Energy….

Dear Home Owner:

I have been in the heating and cooling industry for well over 35 years and have done it all—as a heating and cooling mechanical contractor to an equipment manufacturer. It has been quite a run and I would not change any of it.  

This document is like nothing you will have read from any other manufacturer. I have tried to make it interesting, direct and full of content, written in a way that the average person can understand it. Furthermore, since I cannot talk with everyone, this document will have to suffice. It might also be perceived as controversial.  We will see. My time in the heating and cooling industry has led me to wonder about many things, including:

• How to improve cooling technology
• How to make heating and cooling systems more reliable
• How to leverage the latest technology
• How to make heating and cooling systems more efficient

From these issues, I have designed, or members of my staff have designed, every moving part for a myriad of dehumidification systems for pools, building and residences. And I am told by customers that our products are superbly engineered and with these devices my employees and I have led a rich and fulfilling life. You can go check out www.dry-air.com , a company I started in 1988.

Sometimes a problem sticks in my head and will not go away. One problem has bothered me for many years. This problem is how to handle the oversized air conditioner. (An oversized air conditioner means putting a unit designed for a large building into a smaller building).

There are many reasons why oversized air conditioners are installed in homes. The main reason is that most people think bigger is better and with air conditioners, the exact opposite is true. Once installed, these oversized air conditioners are sneaky like the devil. They seem to do what they are told and reduce temperature, but the humidity problems they leave behind are terrible. I have seen buildings plagued by mold, vents dripping with sweat, and people suffering from allergy problems—all because of high humidity and an oversized air conditioner. It doesn’t need to be that way. What I have learned is that there is an easy way to fix all of it.

Once you read this document and understand how Veri-Dry works and how effective it has been for others, you will know that air conditioners have a fatal flaw.

What is the fatal flaw?

A standard air conditioner cannot control humidity. It can only control the space temperature.

I know this is a controversial statement and I am not making this statement lightly. I do so after a great deal of thought and engineering work. This flaw greatly affects all air conditioners. The flaw in question can be insidious and sometimes is often not that apparent. In the southeast, places like Florida, Texas, and North Carolina, air conditioners  have little or no success with controlling humidity. In less humid parts of the country, like the Midwest and the Northeast, air conditioners may reduce humidity, but with less consistency. Let me say that the physics of heating and cooling systems design dictate that this fatal flaw can occur anywhere at all. 

Let me make something very clear. Most people see water dripping down the drain when the air conditioner is running and they think, “Wow, this AC unit is really doing a great job in taking care of all the humidity in my home.”  This is just not true!

Conventional home air conditioners primarily cool the air. Notice I said primarily. While it is cooling the air, the air conditioner removes some humidity, Notice I used the word some. Its second function is to remove some humidity. This flaw is not deliberately designed and built into the air conditioner. The air conditioner is tuned to cool high temperatures and is not equipped to handle a building that must be cooled as well as control humidity levels. If you happen to be a heating and cooling professional, this is old news. Still, I want to quickly make my point and to do so, imagine the following:

When you arrive at your office one morning, it is a hot 88 degrees with 75% relative humidity.  So, you turn the air conditioner on to cool the building. An hour later, after the air conditioner has had a chance to work, your office is 74 degrees and the humidity is still at 66%, which means you are still uncomfortable. (an example is going into a restaurant and it’s cold and clammy, that is caused by an oversized AC unit).  When the building reaches 74 degrees, the air conditioner turns off. It has stopped and will no longer remove humidity as the thermostat is telling it when to run based on temperature, and not on humidity.  Since the temperature is 74 degrees, the air conditioner does not run. An air conditioner has no flexibility.  A lack of flexibility becomes more problematic with an oversized air conditioner.

Air conditioners have no flexibility. Asking an oversize air conditioner to reduce the humidity level is like asking your dad to do a back bend—it just cannot be done.

Let’s examine the three governing principles that drove me to design Veri-Dry. These issues are:

1. Make the AC unit’s primary function be to remove the humidity first and cool the space second.
2. Allow the system to do this without compromising the airflow to the space—this is very important.
3. Lower energy costs and raise the comfort level.

To maximize comfort and solve the issue of the oversized air conditioner, follow these principles. I am not going to address #1 because it deals with a lot of technical jargon. Instead, I want to talk about #2, the most important of the three: airflow.

I want to make a comparison using your home to the human body. In your body you have a heart and arteries. If your heart is in good shape and your arteries are clean, you have good blood flow and a healthy body. In your home you have a furnace, air conditioner and duct work to distribute the air. If the furnace is in good shape and the duct works is sized properly, you will have good air flow and a healthy comfortable house. The point is this: You can have the best furnace and air conditioner unit in the world but without adequate duct work you will have high heating and cooling bills and an uncomfortable home with some rooms hot and some cold. Likewise, when we apply the same principles to the human body, we have the same results: A good heart with bad arteries results in cold hands, cold feet, shortness of breath, etc. When it comes to efficiency and comfort in your home, airflow is extremely important. You may be asking “what the big deal about airflow?”

When I explain these principles to heating and cooling professionals, a heated discussion often occurs with principle number two—maximizing air flow. And the discussions are sometimes beyond heated. You might say that they are on fire. You see, when you ask most heating and cooling professionals how they control humidity they usually say by lowering the fan speed. This means the air comes out of the vent slower. The air slowly passes by the cooling coil and slower air across the coil means more humidity is removed from the air. Perfect, you’re thinking. Just slow the airflow down and everything is perfect. You are probably thinking, “What the heck…the air conditioner is oversized and has plenty of capacity, slowing down the fan speed doesn’t matter.” Just do it. The problem is that it does not work. 

Slower fan speed produces a host of problems and it does not work. As I said previously, good airflow is the lifeblood of any heating and cooling system and most homes have questionable air delivery systems. A government study recently confirmed that 90% of the homes have poorly designed air delivery systems, which are analogous to having a good heart with bad arteries. 

Greater airflow improves the efficiency of the system. Slowing the fan speed down creates a bigger problem called stratification. Stratification occurs when a hot humid layer of air fills the room from the ceiling down. Think of a hot air balloon heading toward the sky. With reduced fan speed there is no power to push air around and air does not flow through the building properly.  The air travels through the vents with less power and emerges from the vents slower. Stale air and humidity hover in the conditioned space, like plaque sticking to arteries.

In fact, the second problem is just like plaque in arteries. Water often begins to accumulate in the vents and now you have leaking duct work and sweating vents. Like the body, the building begins to become sick.  Good health requires good circulation. Water laying in the duct work leads to mold and mildew.  Slower fan speed leads to poor circulation and bad health. A slower fan speed will indeed remove a little more water from the air but not enough to control space humidity. There are higher energy costs when using lower fan speeds. You are detracting from the overall health of the building and this is big no-no.

The third principle, lowering energy costs and raising the comfort level is a no brainer. If you lower the humidity, you do not have keep the room temperature so low, which results in lower energy usage and of course a much more comfortable living environment.

Summary

Sometimes the simplest ideas are right in front of us. Veri-Dry uses standard, simple heating and cooling technologies to accomplish something that is very remarkable. Veri-Dry removes 4-5 times the water, uses 1/3 less energy, and is virtually maintenance free. It is safe, clean and the best part of all, it costs far less than most add on systems that are difficult to install, expensive to maintain, and cost more to operate.   

Veri-Dry turns your existing air conditioner into a water-removing turbo charger and then re-adjusts into standard cooling mode. Veri-Dry saves you money and gives you the best dehumidification system on the market. Veri-Dry leverages the investment in your air conditioner.

If you have questions, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and myself or one of my engineers will be happy to answer them.

Sincerely,

Bob Posch
CEO/Engineer, Veri-Dry, LLC.