Question for those in hot and humid climates: do you use dehumidifiers? Bama is humid as shit right now and the humidity is turning out to be more of a problem than the heat itself.
We went for about three months in spring with no heat, no AC (closer to 4 if you exclude a few outlier days), just opening and closing windows as needed, using box fans to move air. At the end of that time, right before we turned on the AC, we noticed that some of our things in less-used areas had grown substantial mold.
We're pretty good at pushing our heat tolerance near 80 and even higher sometimes, but we need our house to not grow mold. I'm talking shoes, leather garments, and a few other things of that nature, just covered in it. We're temporarily using the AC more than comfort alone would require, while we figure out the best solution. I worry a dehumidifier wouldn't be efficient or effective during passive heating/cooling periods since I'm just washing the house in humid outside air at the same time.
Any ideas appreciated.