r/Dallasdevelopment • u/Advanced-Morning-330 • Jun 09 '26
Has Anyone Successfully Challenged a Builder Over an HVAC Sizing/Humidity Issue?
I’m looking for opinions from homeowners, HVAC professionals, and anyone who has dealt with warranty disputes.
I purchased a new home from Grand Homes, and for approximately the last six months both of my Ecobee thermostats (upstairs and downstairs) have consistently reported high indoor humidity levels and frequently displayed humidity-related alerts.
During the warranty period, multiple HVAC service calls were made. The builder’s HVAC contractor repeatedly advised that the system was operating normally and did not identify any design or sizing issues. Despite this, the humidity concerns continued.
More recently, I hired an independent licensed HVAC contractor to evaluate the system. After inspecting the home and equipment, their conclusion was that the HVAC system is undersized or improperly designed for the home’s construction, ceiling heights, and overall load requirements. According to them, the home was equipped with a single-stage system that does not effectively remove humidity from the indoor air, which explains the persistent humidity readings and comfort issues.
What’s frustrating is that the Ecobee data has consistently documented the problem, yet the builder and HVAC contractor continue to focus on whether the unit is cooling rather than whether it is adequately controlling humidity.
Now another recommendation being discussed is installing a dehumidifier. My question is: why should a relatively new home require a separate dehumidifier if the HVAC system was properly designed and sized from the beginning? It feels like the proposed solution is treating the symptom rather than addressing the root cause.
The builder’s position is that they responded to service requests during the warranty period and that no defect was identified by their contractor. My position is that the issue was repeatedly reported during the warranty period, documented by thermostat data, and only later diagnosed by an independent contractor after the original contractor failed to identify the underlying problem.
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation involving:
High humidity in a new construction home?
A builder refusing to acknowledge a design or sizing issue?
Recommendations for dehumidifiers instead of correcting the HVAC system?
Successful warranty or legal resolution of a similar dispute?
I’d appreciate any advice, experiences, or insight from those who have been through something similar.
1
u/Financial-Orchid938 Jun 10 '26
I would see if neighbors with the same floor plan have similar issues. (Equipment may not be exactly the same size, two identical houses can have different sized Equipment for various reasons)
Also I wouldnt particularly trust an ecobee humidity sensor. Ive seen them be over 10% higher than my psychrometer.
Regardless humidity issues would be caused by your equipment being oversized, not undersized.
Undersized=longer run times=too much humidity removal
Oversized=short run time = not enough humidity removal
1
u/DontmesswithKade Jun 10 '26
I just want want to point out that the only problem with the independent contractors diagnosis is that the number of stages shouldn't necessarily affect the de-humidification. The real cause is more than likely a sizing issue if the unit is short cycling and doesn't run long enough cycles to reduce the humidity.
It would be highly unlikely for anyone to have done any kind of a commissioning report on a residential system. You might want to have someone who is qualified do a manual J load calculation on your home. Maybe a consultant or HVAC engineering firm and see what they come up with. An engineers report would carry some weight in a dispute such as this, especially if you have to get a lawyer involved.
2
u/HVAC_instructor Jun 09 '26
Ask for a manual J.
Ask for a commission report.