Dehumidifiers are used all over the country rather they be a smaller portable system or a centrally installed system that moves through your duct work. While their function is rather basic, removing excess humidity from your home, their benefits are numerous.
Excess humidity in your home can cause a whole host of problems. It could be causing a damp or musty smell to come from your basement. It could be causing water to condensate on your interior windows. It could be causing mold to begin growing on your walls or curtains. Whatever symptoms you are seeing a dehumidifier can help with all of them. To see all of the various benefits that dehumidifiers can offer please check out our article.
In this article though we are going to focus on one specific problem caused by excess humidity, mold. If black mold has begun to grow in your home then you or your family could begin experiencing a whole host of health problems. These could be both short term and long term. In extreme cases of mold growth you can begin to see the mold growing on your curtains, your bed sheets, and even on your clothes.
By purchasing and running a dehumidifier in your home you are removing that excess humidity or water from the air. Removing this humidity makes your home far less hospitable for black mold to grow. I won’t get into all of the various sizes of dehumidifiers in this article, but if your whole home is having an issue then it may make sense to go with a centrally installed dehumidifier that connects to your ductwork. If it’s just a few rooms though then a portable dehumidifier should work for you, just be sure to buy one with a decent pint size. (The higher the pint sizes the more water it can remove from your home.) I would recommend a fifty pint or seventy pint system to ensure you get your home back to normal humidity levels. (The most comfortable and safe humidity levels for a home are between thirty to fifty percent.)
One point of caution here folks that I wanted to make you all aware of. Running a dehumidifier will make your home less hospitable to mold but it will not remove mold. In some cases the fans of the dehumidifier can actually spread mold spores. It is best practice to have the mold removed entirely before you start with the dehumidifier. It is also not recommended that you try and do this yourself as you could end up inadvertently spreading the mold further. You should hire a trained professional contractor.
Once you have the mold removed you can then start the dehumidifier up in the affected room or house. With the humidity now at a controlled level the chances of mold resurfacing are minimal. The only other concern is if there is water coming into your home from an outside source. Your dehumidifier will dry the area out but you will still need to fix the water source.
Conclusion
If you are interested in purchasing a dehumidifier then I recommend you check out our complete buying guide that I completed earlier this week. The guide goes over every possible question and consideration that should be made before purchasing a dehumidifier.