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Whole-House Dehumidifier, anyone have one? (1 Viewer)

T

TxBuckeye

Footballguy
Wondering if anyone here has ever had a whole-house dehumidifier installed? My home has been very damp feeling to me since we moved in. It is an energy efficient home, which I have read can lead to higher humidities. It also uses a heat pump. Everything I have been reading says 40%-50% is optimal for comfort, and anything under 60% is "ok" in the summer. Well, mine has been pushing 57%-58% since Spring started and the humidity rolled in. Today, my little thermostat downstairs was showing 61%. I have also read that the 60% level is the danger zone, over that can lead to mold and midew, allergins, etc. So these high readings, besides being uncomfortable, concern me.

I could try a few portables. But as we are going to be living here awhile, I think a more permanent, out of the way, convenient solution would be the whole-house dehumidifer. But I've never dealt with the issue before nor known anyone that has. So I am just looking for someone that has experience with one of these systems to see if it was worth the time and expense to have it installed.

 
I don't. Do you have any idea why you have this issue?

 
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We have one...never been turned on.

I personally know 2 families whose homes burnt down and it was traced to the dehumidifier unit.

:unsure: :bag:

 
otello said:
I don't. Do you have any idea why you have this issue?
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Really, as I said, I think the issue is the whole "Energy Efficient Home" plus Heat Pump, both of which I have read can lead to higher humidity levels, especially is the unit is over-sized. They say an over-sized unit may not run enough to eliminate the humidity, leading to the problem. It does have whole-house ventilation built in, which is supposed to help reduce chances of mold in the ducting and whatnot. But it doesn't do much as far as how the house feels.

Being new in the neighborhood, I don't know the neighbors well yet. But I guess my next step is to talk to them and see if the issue is common amongst the homes from this builder, or if I just have an issue with my particular unit. From there, I can communicate with the A/C people and/or the builder.

 
Being in MN I've considered a Whole-House Humidifier for the winter. Can you ship me your excess humidity 2nd Day Air?

 
TxBuckeye said:
otello said:
I don't. Do you have any idea why you have this issue?
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Really, as I said, I think the issue is the whole "Energy Efficient Home" plus Heat Pump, both of which I have read can lead to higher humidity levels, especially is the unit is over-sized. They say an over-sized unit may not run enough to eliminate the humidity, leading to the problem. It does have whole-house ventilation built in, which is supposed to help reduce chances of mold in the ducting and whatnot. But it doesn't do much as far as how the house feels.Being new in the neighborhood, I don't know the neighbors well yet. But I guess my next step is to talk to them and see if the issue is common amongst the homes from this builder, or if I just have an issue with my particular unit. From there, I can communicate with the A/C people and/or the builder.
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Good luck with your oversized unit and the wetness it causes, GB.
 
First thing is to find out how the humidity is getting there. I have a very efficient house and only heat pumps, and I don't have the problem. Humidity in my home right now (I have an app for it) is 34%.

Sounds simple, but the humidity (moisture) is either getting there from outside of the house, or from inside of the house.

For moisture from outside, inspect your gutters and downspouts and make sure they are removing all that water to at least 6-10 feet from your foundation, hopefully onto a downward slope away from the house. You may also want to make sure that the ground slopes away from your house for 5-6 feet. That will help insure that water isn't creeping in through your foundation (painting the basement with Drylock can help as well, but for larger issues you'll need to install a weeping tile system).

For moisture inside the house, run bathroom fans (which aren't just vented to the attic, but rather all the way to outdoors) whenever you shower and continue to run them for 10-15 minutes after the shower. Same idea in the kitchen when cooking. Same idea with your clothes dryer. Even everything to outside of your home's "envelope".

 
What type of climate do you live in? Do you have a full basement? How big is your house? Is it a newly built home?

Assuming you have central A/C, I would consider waiting and see where the % is at once A/C season is in full swing. A/C draws a lot of moisture from the air on its own.

If the house is new construction, it can take a couple years for the excess moisture from the building materials to dissipate.

It my part of the country, pretty much everyone that has a full basement has moisture issues in the summer. Drain tile and fully insulating and sealing/waterproofing the exterior of the basement walls seems to be the best solution long term, but obviously costly. Most homes get by fine just running a portable dehumidifier during the summer.

 
There are so many factors in play here to really give you a good solution. Your best bet is to call a heating and cooling company to come and give you a cost on a dehumidifier. At the same time, they can run a load calculation on your house to see if your current heat pump is properly sized.

To me, that's the first step. You have to know if what you have is the right size for your home. If it's way oversized, there is your problem. If it's sized properly, you may need a dehumidifier for those in-between seasons (like right now) where the weather is somewhat mild where the heat pump isn't running enough in your area.

I noticed you are in the San Antonio area: I have an HVAC client there. I do marketing for heating and cooling companies and sold residential hvac for 5 years. PM me and I'll give you their info.

 
I'd be far more worried about why it's so humid than trying to blame the heat pump. I'd also want to get rid of the humidity at the source rather than just constantly remove the moisture. You shouldn't have that much humidity. Is your house really sealed up? i.e. do you have thermal blocking around your basement sill plates, and all your gaps sealed up? I'd think that sometimes OVER-sealing your house could lead to not enough air exchange which could cause the relative humidity to build up inside. No expert, but just a thought since you mentioned energy efficient house.

 
Somebody explain to me why an oversized unit hurts our friend here?

So because his heat pump works efficient and cools/ heats the house rapidly - this is a source of humidity? I'm calling :bs:

Humidity = water. Something is up somewhere. How is the drainage? Do you have any areas where the land slopes towards your foundation walls?

Laundry room not getting vented properly? No airflow in the house?

Try running the fan only to stir the sir?

Buy a less efficient, properly sized heat pump? :mellow:

 
Okay, updates and answers to your qustions. I live in San Antonio. The house is four months old, new construction with a builder named Meritage Homes that is lauded as an energy efficient builder. No basement, on a slab. Heat pump, blow in insulation. I do not have gutters, and we have had maybe one day of rain in the last month. Water run off isn't an issue since, well, there hasn't been any. We're in a drought. We use vents any time we do laundry or shower. Doesn't seem to effect readings one way or the other, but we do it as we should. It has been somewhat humid lately, but nothing that should cause this type of humidity indoors.

Steady, to answer your question, running the AC removes humidty with a heat pump system. An oversized unit won't run long enough to dry the house out, so it can be part of the problem. In my case, as you'll see below, it sure isn't the only issue at work here though.

Chief, please PM me the info in case it doesn't go well with the AC company. They are incompetent beyond belief. I've already dealt with completely disconnected duct work and a burned out compressor, and that was in the first two months in the home. If I need a dehumidifier, I won't be using the builder.

I just got off the phone with the builder. I wrote them last night after my living room hit 64% humidity! I think they realize it is serious because they pretty much called me right away. I explained the stuation, that my indoor humidity hasn't dropped below 57% in weeks. She mentioned she was sitting in the model where I signed for my house, about a mile away. I asked her what the humidity was there. She said 37%! So yes, something is messed up in my house. She knew it was bad and even said, high humidty plus blow-in insulation is bad, not something you want to be messing with. So she hung up and called the AC company right away. They called me right back and will be coming out tomorrow.

For whatever reason, the moisture is getting trapped inside my home. I'm obviously no AC guy, so I don't know if it means something isn't allowing air to flow out like it should, or if something is sucking up excess moisture fromthe outside and bringing it in. But whatever the case, my system is ####ed up yet again. Hopefully tomorrow does some good. Given their performance so far, I admittedly am not real hopeful.

 
TxBuckeye said:
Okay, updates and answers to your qustions. I live in San Antonio. The house is four months old, new construction with a builder named Meritage Homes that is lauded as an energy efficient builder. No basement, on a slab.
Click to expand...
Could that be part of the problem? Does it take quite a bit of time (over a year) for all of the moisture in a concrete slab to be released?

Keep us updated about what the builder/HVAC guys say.

 
matttyl said:
TxBuckeye said:
Okay, updates and answers to your qustions. I live in San Antonio. The house is four months old, new construction with a builder named Meritage Homes that is lauded as an energy efficient builder. No basement, on a slab.
Click to expand...
Could that be part of the problem? Does it take quite a bit of time (over a year) for all of the moisture in a concrete slab to be released?

Keep us updated about what the builder/HVAC guys say.
Click to expand...
This could have something to do with it. I never would've thought of that matttyl...I know when our unfinished basement flooded after Hurricane Irene, I got rid of the water within about a day. We only had a few inches, and once my power came back and my sump kicked on, it pumped it out pretty quickly...even still, I had a dehumidifier that ran non-stop for several months and was constantly sucking water out of the air. The slab in the unfinished basement felt very cold the whole time, and it was definitely humid down there. Now that it's been a few years, it's dry and not nearly as cold.

Do you have any neighbors in the area who's houses were built in the same time-frame? It would make sense that the model would be lower since it was likely the 1st one built, but another one built around the same time as yours should have the same issue if this is the cause.

 
Fat Nick said:
This could have something to do with it. I never would've thought of that matttyl...I know when our unfinished basement flooded after Hurricane Irene, I got rid of the water within about a day. We only had a few inches, and once my power came back and my sump kicked on, it pumped it out pretty quickly...even still, I had a dehumidifier that ran non-stop for several months and was constantly sucking water out of the air. The slab in the unfinished basement felt very cold the whole time, and it was definitely humid down there. Now that it's been a few years, it's dry and not nearly as cold.

Do you have any neighbors in the area who's houses were built in the same time-frame? It would make sense that the model would be lower since it was likely the 1st one built, but another one built around the same time as yours should have the same issue if this is the cause.
Click to expand...
I keep peeking out, hoping to catch one of them. There is a guy right down the street with the exact same model that just moved in within about the last month. I'd love to reach him and see what his is running. I have built other homes here though (two) and have never had this issue. It's just not that wet here. However, maybe moisture got trapped during the laying of the foundation or something. There was a rainy period then.

Just a small update. I just got home from work. Thermostat set to 77 while we were away. Upstairs humidity when I came home at 60%, downstairs at 63%.

Friend of mine thinks maybe the return air vents are leaking or disconnected, blowing the moisture right back in to the house. I think he said return air. Whatever duct work it is that should carry exhaust air outside.

 
Check the weather and open the window if the RH is lower outside then inside.

Considering the new info that you've mentioned you already had an issue with you HVAC I'm going with that's the issue. Get a different Hvac company to check the system.

 
TxBuckeye said:
Wondering if anyone here has ever had a whole-house dehumidifier installed? My home has been very damp feeling to me since we moved in. It is an energy efficient home, which I have read can lead to higher humidities. It also uses a heat pump. Everything I have been reading says 40%-50% is optimal for comfort, and anything under 60% is "ok" in the summer. Well, mine has been pushing 57%-58% since Spring started and the humidity rolled in. Today, my little thermostat downstairs was showing 61%. I have also read that the 60% level is the danger zone, over that can lead to mold and midew, allergins, etc. So these high readings, besides being uncomfortable, concern me.

I could try a few portables. But as we are going to be living here awhile, I think a more permanent, out of the way, convenient solution would be the whole-house dehumidifer. But I've never dealt with the issue before nor known anyone that has. So I am just looking for someone that has experience with one of these systems to see if it was worth the time and expense to have it installed.
Click to expand...
I've had one since we moved in here 10 yrs ago

 
He made a fix. How much of an effect it will have, I don't know. We'll give it a few days and see. Basically, my house has a whole-house ventilation system. Basically, as houses are built better and more air tight, they figured out the air inside can get stale because there just isn't any airflow if the AC or heat isn't running. So these systems are designed such that, if your AC or heat hasn't run in awhile, the fan kicks on and opens this valve to the outside and just circulates fresh air in to the house. I turn it off in the winter because bringing in cold outside air doesn't feel real good when you are under the vent. But I leave it on otherwise because it helps keep mold from growing in the ducts and does keep the air a little fresher.

So anyways, the valve for that system is located near a manual valve that is used by inspectors and maintenance and whatnot. They can turn the handle and close off the air to the house for testing or whatever. Turns out the valve for the whole house ventilation was stuck on the manual valve. They had left it open to far or it was installed to close or whatever. Either way, the whole house ventilation valve was stuck open. Since this is vented right to the outside, I am hoping that was just letting the moisture in and now that it can open and close, things will be better. But it isn't that big of a valve or piece of duct work I don't think. So we'll see how much it helps. At least he found something.
 
I've heard of people installing the vapor barrier the wrong way... but I think this would cause excessive condensation, and in the wall, rather than humidity build-up.

I hope that valve is your fix. Keep us posted.

 
Initial reaction isn't to hopeful, though admittedly I am pretty beaten down by this house at this point. While here, he ran the AC at 70 deg so he could go out and check the freon while he was here. That got the humidity upstairs down to about 52% while he was here. I then turned it back up to the normal temp when I went back to work, which is 77 deg. Came home about five hours later and we were right back to 59% upstairs and 61% downstairs. Now, I am hoping that it will just take time to dry out the air and it will improve over time. I expect to take through the weekend just monitoring the system and seeing if we see any improvement. By Monday, if nothing has gotten any better, I'll get back with the builder and see if they are willing to do anything else. Check ventilation duct work, check for water leaks, whatever it is they may be able to do to isolate the source of the moisture. After that, I don't think I'll have any choice but to go with a whole-house humidifier and hope that does the trick. An awful expensive solution for just having moved in to a new home.

 
If that fix doesn't normalize it I'll second what others have said and recommend getting a second opinion, especially before throwing more money at the problem as it may only fix the symptoms and not the disease.

 
johnnyrock62000 said:
If that fix doesn't normalize it I'll second what others have said and recommend getting a second opinion, especially before throwing more money at the problem as it may only fix the symptoms and not the disease.
Click to expand...
Yea, the company Chief directed me too does a sort of whole house comfort review. They check your airflow, humidity, yada yada yada. I may pay to have them come out and do that just to get a second (competent) opinion of what the issue is. To be honest, the builder really hasn't rendered an opinion. They sent the AC guys out because I requested them. The fact is, they probably don't want to come out because, if they do and there's an issue, they are on the hook to fix it. So it is likely very worthwhile for them to play the "that's just normal" card.

 
Sent an email off to Chief's guy today. Not seeing any improvement at all with the valve. Fact is, while the AC is running, the humidity begins to drop. As soon as it kicks off, the humidity shoots right back up. So, like some of you said, time to figure out where the humidity is coming from, because it doesn't seem to be tied to an AC problem bringing the moisture in.

As I said earlier, there was quite a bit of rain when the foundation was being poured, after the framing, etc. I'm really starting to think whoever mentioned the materials just plain being wet has some credence. That admittedly scares me. Is it going to form mold in there while the materials are wet? Something else to worry about.

 
Go to HD and buy a Ryobe(sp?) non destructive moisture meter for roughly $40-$50. Check your perimeter walls.

Is your house still under warranty? This is too many days of >50%. I'm concerned.

 
TxBuckeye said:
Sent an email off to Chief's guy today. Not seeing any improvement at all with the valve. Fact is, while the AC is running, the humidity begins to drop. As soon as it kicks off, the humidity shoots right back up. So, like some of you said, time to figure out where the humidity is coming from, because it doesn't seem to be tied to an AC problem bringing the moisture in.

As I said earlier, there was quite a bit of rain when the foundation was being poured, after the framing, etc. I'm really starting to think whoever mentioned the materials just plain being wet has some credence. That admittedly scares me. Is it going to form mold in there while the materials are wet? Something else to worry about.
Click to expand...
Let me know what they find out. I sent him an email this morning to let him know you were contacting the company.

 
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.

 
To answer your question about the dampness- mold can grow after porous materials are wet for 48-72 hours.

Do you have a basement? Is it finished? If do, pull the base. That sandwich between the damp framing , wet drywall, and base is where mold will grow first.

 
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
To answer your question about the dampness- mold can grow after porous materials are wet for 48-72 hours.

Do you have a basement? Is it finished? If do, pull the base. That sandwich between the damp framing , wet drywall, and base is where mold will grow first.
Click to expand...
No basement. I'll let Chief's place do the moisture checking and all that. At least I hope they do that as part of the inspection. I'd hate to have to start buying a bunch of stuff that I'll never use again. Yes, the house is only four months old, definitely under warranty. They don't seem overly interested in helping though.

Chief, I used their Message function. Didn't see a direct email to your guy. I am out of town this weekend (didn't want to cancel the trip over this). Monday, if I don't have an email from them, I'll give them a call.

 
matttyl said:
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Will one take care of two floors? Or would I need two, one on each floor?

 
TxBuckeye said:
matttyl said:
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Will one take care of two floors? Or would I need two, one on each floor?
Click to expand...
Get 2.

 
GTBilly said:
TxBuckeye said:
matttyl said:
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Will one take care of two floors? Or would I need two, one on each floor?
Click to expand...
Get 2.
Click to expand...
That's what I was afraid of. I really don't have any place downstairs that it would be hidden. I don't think my wife would go for a box in the middle of our living room.
 
TxBuckeye said:
GTBilly said:
TxBuckeye said:
matttyl said:
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Will one take care of two floors? Or would I need two, one on each floor?
Click to expand...
Get 2.
Click to expand...
That's what I was afraid of. I really don't have any place downstairs that it would be hidden. I don't think my wife would go for a box in the middle of our living room.
Click to expand...
1 is better than none. Damp "heavy" air goes down (kinda like warm air rises). Putting one on your lowest floor is better than nothing. Any other updates?

 
matttyl said:
TxBuckeye said:
GTBilly said:
TxBuckeye said:
matttyl said:
You can get a regular mobile dehumidifier (something any house should really have anyway) for $150-200 on sale. I got one at Sears a few years back (had moisture issues in the basement of my 1968 rancher) for like $150 and ran it a few hours a day when I was at work. It would take quite a bit of moisture out of the air. $150 and the electricity it took to run were a much cheaper and easier solution than digging up around the foundation to put in a weeping tile system.

With that much moisture already there and possibly leading to mold issues, that would be my first option. I'd still be on the lookout for what's causing it, but I wouldn't want it to be doing any more permanent damage in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Will one take care of two floors? Or would I need two, one on each floor?
Click to expand...
Get 2.
Click to expand...
That's what I was afraid of. I really don't have any place downstairs that it would be hidden. I don't think my wife would go for a box in the middle of our living room.
Click to expand...
1 is better than none. Damp "heavy" air goes down (kinda like warm air rises). Putting one on your lowest floor is better than nothing. Any other updates?
Click to expand...
That was what i was thinking. The downstairs always reads 3% to 4% worse than up. Then again, it may be the reading mechanism. The upstairs reading is built in to the thermostat. The downstairs is a cheapy $10 temp and humidity device I bought at Lowe's.

I went ahead and called Chief's guy. He is coming out tomorrow to inspect the AC system as the first step from his end. He says he'll do step one and two. Step 3 is a bit more pricey, but may or may not be needed. So, I'll let him do his thing tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.

By the way, not overly bad today. Very dry air outside. Sitting in 54% humidity in the living room. That doesn't feel to bad. But honestly, with the air as dry as it is and with it being hot (99 today!!!) and the AC pretty much running, I know that is as good as I can expect it to get. It should really be down in like the 30%s today.

 
Okay, so had the AC guy out yesterday. What he basically said is the system is working great. 23 deg drop across the coils is excellent and should be keeping the house nice and dry. System is also sized right. If anything, he was surprised it wasn't bigger. But after seeing all the blown-in insulation, he said it was probably right too. So that should also contribute to dryer air. The one thing he did not like is the whole_house ventilation system. In his opinion, since all that does is draw outside air, filter it, then run it across the coils before blowing it in the house, he feels that air blowing across the wet coils is what is drawing all the humidity in to the house. We watched the AC run and bring the humidity down to around 45%, which was awesome. Then the AC shut off, and the fan continued to run for almost 45 minutes. During that time, the humidity shot back up 7%. That seemed to confirm what he was saying. I've been reading about the system and what the ventilation does. Oddly enough, one of the things it is supposed to do is draw OUT the humidity. But obviously that isn't happening. So tomorrow, I have the builder's AC coming back. I will talk to them about what the drawbacks are, if any, of just shutting that system off. Hopefully there are no negatives, I can just shut that thing off, and drop the humidity that way.

 
Dropping it is one thing, getting rid of what's already there is another. Best of luck.

I'm currently in the process of "tweaking" the ventilation in my (new to me home's) attic. Seems that the insulation batts were taken all the way to the point where the roof sheathing meets the attic floor (thus blocking the soffit vents), which will make it very, very hot this coming summer. The added ventilation also helps to remove moisture I believe. Might be something you want to look at.

 
matttyl said:
Dropping it is one thing, getting rid of what's already there is another. Best of luck.

I'm currently in the process of "tweaking" the ventilation in my (new to me home's) attic. Seems that the insulation batts were taken all the way to the point where the roof sheathing meets the attic floor (thus blocking the soffit vents), which will make it very, very hot this coming summer. The added ventilation also helps to remove moisture I believe. Might be something you want to look at.
Click to expand...
If those soffits are blocked YOU WILL HAVE MOLD throughout your entire attic which will require the entire roof to either be encapsulated from inside or replaced entirely.

I have seen about 30 houses over the past two years alone where homeowners thought they were insulation their attic by adding insulation.

An attic is supposed to breath. The attic temperature should be close to the exterior temperature. If those attic vents/ soffits are blocked what happens vision the summer your shingles cook from the heat and in the winter, hot air from your house creeps into the attic via very small holes/gaps/seams/attic entrance opening and that hot sir mixes with the attic cold air to make....... Humidity which leads to condensation. That leads to the attic mold and if your shingle nails are exposed as they often are, they rust.

Typing this quickly on my phone before I walk into a meeting so I excuse any mistakes ATM.

 
No mold, and no rust - but the house isn't that old. The batts did allow a little bit of airflow from the soffits, but likely not nearly enough. I'm installing the "raft-r vents" between the rafters, which is difficult to do in an already insulated attic. Just making sure each rafter has access to fresh outside air - and the vents are about 3 feet long each. Once I've got it all done and each rafter space is properly being vented, I'll add additional "blown in" insulation this fall.

 
I'm not an HVAC guy but I wouldn't shut the whole house ventilation down. You need the fresh air. What you might look at it is not venting both air intakes to the outside, which somewhat limits the amount of untreated air brought in.

That's what my Geothermal guy did. In MN during the winter it's expensive to bring in that much freezing air.

 
For now, it is shut down. Maybe after he sets it to minimum run time tomorrow, I'll turn it back on and see how it does. But both HVAC guys told me they would NOT use it except when they were going to be gone for an extended time with the AC turned up, like when on vacation. So I tend to think it won't hurt anything. My downstairs humidity hasn't topped 50% since I turned it off. It's been nice after weeks of pushing/going above 60%.

 
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