The air side heat transfer and friction characteristics of wavy fin and tube heat exchangers with and without hydrophilic coating are studied under dehumidifying conditions experimentally. The effects of a hydrophilic coating on air side performance are investigated. The results indicated that the influence of the hydrophilic coating on heat transfer performance is mainly related to the flow conditions of condensation water on the fin surface without hydrophilic coating. The hydrophilic coating can enhance the heat transfer performance when plenty of condensation water flows and weakens the heat transfer performance when little condensation water forms on the fin surface. The pressure drops for the hydrophilic coating surface are lower than those of the corresponding uncoated surface. A maximum 44% reduction is observed. The proposed heat transfer coefficient ratio correlation and pressure drop ratio have a mean deviation of 9.9% and 8.2% from experimental data and can predict 76.6% and 82.8% of the experimental data within the deviation limit of 15%, respectively. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.