How do you keep your place cool AND dry if you live close to the ocean and have no AC? Portable AC? Dehumidifier?
I recently moved here and absolutely love it, however I'm less than 2 miles from the ocean, don't have AC, and this heat/humidity lately has been brutal indoors. I work from home so don't have the option of just not being home during the hottest part of the day. It gets up to 80 degrees in my small 640 sq ft apartment and what's worse, 75-80% humidity. I've had AC my entire life and am totally new to this, even opening windows for a breeze is completely foreign to me. I've got indoor plants growing mold & getting fungus gnats in the soil due to the humidity. I've read conflicting things about keeping windows open vs closed, whole house fans, etc. I got some cool twin fans that can blow in/out but they are designed to stay in the window and keeping the windows open 24/7 like that seems to be making the humidity worse. I do have a whole house fan that really cools things down at night, but again, keeping the windows open even just during the night (and closing them up in the morning) still seems to be awful humidity wise. I was looking into getting a dehumidifier like this https://www.midea.com/us/store/cooling-and-heating/dehumidifiers/midea-cube-50-pt-dehumidifier-for-basement--room--or-garage---co.mad50ps1qwt to use in conjunction/alternate with the whole house fan, but for the same cost I could just get a portable AC unit that has a dehumidifying setting like this https://www.midea.com/us/Heating_Cooling/portable-air-conditioners/6000-btu-smart-portable-air-conditioner.map06s1awgr-t -- Any advice on which would be more helpful? And more cost effective? Any other tips on how to keep your place cool AND dry in the summer??