When my husband and I moved south, we were just happy to get away from the snow and cold. We were delighted to trade our winter boots for sandals. We threw away our snow shovels, ice scrapers and wool coats and bought sunglasses, sun block and shorts. We were looking forward to sunshine and blue skies. The house we purchased was equipped with central air conditioning, but the unit was quite old. We made the move in the early spring and the ancient cooling system had no trouble keeping up with demand. As the summer season brought temperatures into the high eighties and even nineties, the house felt overheated and sticky. Lowering the thermostat didn’t provide much relief. The air conditioner ran all the time but failed to satisfy. We had trouble sleeping at night, and there were problems with condensate running down the windows. We finally decided to invest into a new air conditioner. We spent a great deal of money on a high-efficiency cooling system with all sorts of extra features. While the new unit managed to bring the indoor temperature down, the house still felt muggy. When I complained to the HVAC contractor who installed the air conditioner, he explained that the humidity was the problem. Air conditioners are designed to pull heat out of the air. They aren’t capable of handling excessive moisture. The contractor suggested the installation of a whole-home dehumidifier. I was a little reluctant to spend even more money, but finally went ahead with it. The improvement was immediate and significant. The air conditioner no longer needs to run as often, work as hard or use as much energy. The house is way more comfortable and feels cooler at higher temperature settings.