System and method using connected dampers for dehumidifying air

A control system, comprising:

• an air driver;
• a dehumidifier assembly;
• a damper assembly comprising:
• a first damper that controls an exchange of air with an external environment surrounding a building;
• a second damper that controls a recirculation of conditioned air from a space within the building;
• and
• a connector coupled to both the first damper and the second damper and configured to move the first damper and the second damper;
• and
• a controller communicably coupled to the air driver, the dehumidifier assembly, and the damper assembly, the controller configured to:
• determine a vent air dew point of vent air in an external environment surrounding a building;
• and
• determine that the vent air dew point is equal to or below a dew point set point and in response:
• control the connector to position the first damper in an open position to exhaust conditioned air to a vent exhaust opening fluidly coupled to the external environment, and to position the second damper of the damper assembly in a closed position to substantially prevent recirculation of the conditioned air to the space;
• control the air driver to exhaust the conditioned air from the space through the dehumidifier assembly to the external environment;
• and
• determine that the vent air dew point is greater than the dew point set point or is within a dew point threshold of the dew point set point and in response:
• control the connector of the damper assembly to position the first damper in the closed position and to position the second damper in the open position;
• activate the dehumidifier assembly;
• and
• control the air driver to recirculate air through the dehumidifier assembly to the space within the building.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a humidity control unit comprising a memory storing machine readable instructions and a processor, the machine readable instructions configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
• determining a vent air dew point of vent air in an external environment surrounding a building;
• and
• determining that the vent air dew point is equal to or below a dew point set point and in response:
• controlling a connector of a damper assembly to position a first damper of the damper assembly in an open position to exhaust conditioned air to a vent exhaust opening fluidly coupled to the external environment into a space within a building, and to position a second damper of the damper assembly in a closed position to substantially prevent recirculation of the conditioned air to a space within the building;
• controlling an air driver to exhaust the conditioned air from the space through a dehumidifier to the external environment;
• and
• determining that the vent air dew point is greater than the dew point set point or is within a dew point threshold of the dew point set point and in response:
• controlling the connector of the damper assembly to position the first damper in the closed position and to position the second damper in the open position;
• activating the dehumidifier;
• and
• controlling the air driver to recirculate air through the dehumidifier to the space within the building.