How to Know if You Need A Home Dehumidifier: Check Out These 5 Factors!

It’s not a surprise to find many useless electronics in households and dehumidifier could be one of them. That can be the case for you if you don’t know exactly if you need it or not. In a situation where you don’t need it, it will only add up to your monthly utility bills when actually it’s serving you no good.

So, how do you know if you need a home dehumidifier? The solution to this puzzle is knowing the humidity level of your indoor space. For the best comfort of your indoor space, a humidity level of about 45% is perfect. A gadget known as a hygrometer measures the level of humidity in the air and it only costs too less. You can get it online from many stores or purchase it from your local hardware stores.

If the humidity level of your home reads too high, you follow these simple steps to determine if a home dehumidifier is an ideal solution or not.

Try properly venting high humidity rooms

High humidity rooms include bathrooms and kitchen. Simply try to vent these rooms properly by letting your fan run every time after a shower in the bathroom or washing utensils in the kitchen. The laundry rooms are also no exception to high humidity factor, but you can lower the levels by letting the windows open. You may also opt for replacing your carpets with a hardwood flooring or tiles since carpets are capable of retaining moisture.

However, it’s quite unfortunate that not all rooms can be vented or at least have the venting features. For instance, basements as well as crawl spaces form a favourable culture for growth of molds due to the darkness and dampness present in these spaces. These spaces may also lack fans and windows. In such a case as this, the only better and applicable solution is to have a portable dehumidifier unit in place.

Consider a portable air conditioner or Window AC

Your living space could be void of a central air conditioner and as such, you may consider buying an air conditioner that is portable or a window AC. You can consider this option as to buying a dehumidifier. Air conditioners are good and solve multiple problems in that they collect water vapor in the air as well as making the air more conducive for living. Now it sounds much better to you. Invest in something that can sole multiple problems at a go rather than a device that consumes same or more power but only solves one problem. In short, buy window or portable air conditioners first as this could solve your problem before investing in a dehumidifier.

Mold in your home is never a good a thing

Who wants mold in their home when they can be a big threat to comfortable living. Molds are capable of causing allergies and destruction of property. Should spot mold growth in your house, the first and immediate step should be eradicating the source of growth. If molds are growing near your windows, you can solve the problem by properly sealing the window with a weather caulking or stripping. At no instance should moisture be allowed to penetrate through a closed window. If mold growth is persistent or returns, you should opt for a home dehumidifier.

If the growth of molds is not related to the window such as on floorboards and walls with no windows, then it could be caused by leakages from underneath pipes. Even though the process of fixing the problem of leaking pipes under the wall is not so simple, it is the immediate solution and is an absolute necessity. A hidden leakage may cause wood frames to rot which eventually leads to deterioration of your house from inside.

Notice that in this condition, a dehumidifier won’t do you any good no matter how effective and large it is. Therefore, if your guts tell you that there could be a leaking pipe in your walls, get in touch with a professional contractor or a plumber and make arrangements for the suspected problem to be surveyed. If there are no leakages, then probably your house is located in a high moisture prone area hence presence of a large and effective dehumidifier would be necessary.

A dehumidifier can help prevent mold from forming

A dehumidifier offers a better solution to the growth of molds where other methods of eradicating the growth have failed. Note that molds grow on humid surfaces hence a dehumidifier extracts water from the air leaving the space with little humidity which inconveniences growth of molds. Take note though, that a dehumidifier cannot remediate an already present mold infestation. It is necessary to kill the source of the mold so as to ensure it never returns again.

Not only high humidity atmosphere but also for those who suffer from allergies

Home dehumidifiers are not only needed by those living in high humidity prone areas, but also those who are victims of allergic complications. If you have an anti-bacterial filter, it will enable your dehumidifier work as an air purifier through elimination of allergens such as dusts and pollen grains.

A home dehumidifier can be a real solution to the problem of humidity and allergens in your home. Always make sure there is no better and effective solution to the existing problems before making a dehumidifier purchase.

Categorised in: Dehumidifier, Techniques and skills