Best Whole House Water Fil for Well Water
Tips for Buying and Using Dehumidifiers
Save your sinuses, your abode, and your money by controlling humidity levels with a dehumidifier.
Ah, summer chores! There'due south a lawn to mow, paint to touch up, a grill to clean. Just at that place are summertime maintenance concerns inside, also; namely, taming your home's No. 1 enemy -- moisture.
How Do I Know If My Home is Too Humid?
The EPA recommends keeping your home'southward humidity under 60% during the summer and between 25% to 40% in the winter. You can pick upwardly a hygrometer at your local hardware shop for less than $25; it'll mensurate the air's moisture content.
But your own comfort -- or discomfort -- is one of the best indicators of off-kilter humidity. Coughing, sneezing, and clammy easily tin can all be signs that the air is too humid.
Your dwelling house has a few ways of telling you, too:
- Wonky wood: Hard-to-open up wooden window frames and creaky, buckling hardwood floors are signs of swollen wood caused by also much moisture in your home.
- Funky smells: A musty smell can indicate growth of moisture-loving mold and mildew.
- Damaged walls: Peeling wallpaper, baking pigment, and nighttime spots on walls or the ceiling are all symptoms of excess humidity.
- Abiding condensation: Basic household activities like cooking and showering put moisture into the air, but if yous're seeing condensation on your windows long by bath fourth dimension, your humidity level is probably too loftier.
Related:What's the No. 1 Thing People Desire in Their Bathroom?
What Are My Options for Dehumidifiers?
A dehumidifier pulls in wet air, removes moisture, and so exhausts the drier air dorsum into your home.
There are 2 types of dehumidifiers: portable and whole-house. The type of dehumidifier that's best for the job depends on the size of the space you want to dry and how often you need to.
Portable Dehumidifiers
For one specific space, like a kitchen or a bedroom, a portable dehumidifier ($100 to $350) should do the trick. You tin move it from room to room as needed during the months when moisture is a problem.
Some larger models (those with 30+ pint capacities) can be beefy to motility, and with a portable y'all'll accept to empty the water tank each fourth dimension it's total. Fortunately, you don't have to worry nearly overflow; most new models come up with an automated shutoff if the water tank gets full. Some units also have humidistats, timers, remote controls, and built-in wheels.
Tip: Use the greywater your dehumidifier collects to water your houseplants.
Operating a portable dehumidifier will add to your energy bill -- about 160 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, or roughly $19 per calendar month. That'due south more than your refrigerator uses, merely less than the average air conditioner, which eats up about 300 kWh per month.
FYI: Speaking of your AC, yep, running your air conditioner can lower humidity in your abode, but more finer when temps are in the 80s or higher up. On days when the temps are in the 70s, your Air conditioning won't be running enough to pull any pregnant amount of wet out of the air. Without a dehumidifier, the air may yet feel sticky fifty-fifty if temperature in your home is at a comfy level.
This chart from the Clan of Dwelling house Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) can help you determine the size (pint capacity) of the dehumidifier you should use based on existing weather condition and the size of the space. The values indicate the number of pints collected in a 24-hour period.
| Condition without dehumidification during warm and humid outdoor weather | 500 sq. ft. | g sq. ft. | 1500 sq. ft. | 2000 sq. ft. | 2500 sq. ft. |
| Moderately damp -- Infinite always feels damp and has musty odor only in boiling weather. | 10 | 14 | xviii | 22 | 26 |
| Very clammy -- Space ever feels damp and has musty olfactory property. Damp spots show on walls and floor. | 12 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 32 |
| Wet -- Infinite feels and smells wet. Wall or floors sweat, or seepage is present. | xiv | 20 | 26 | 32 | 38 |
| Extremely wet -- Laundry drying, wet flooring, high load conditions. | 16 | 23 | xxx | 37 | 44 |
*Dehumidification variables likewise include such other factors as climate, laundry equipment, number of family members, number of doors and windows, and caste and intensity of area activeness. Chart data via AHAM.
Whole-House Systems
If you alive in a climate where controlling humidity levels is a year-round battle, or you notice yourself using multiple portable units, information technology may exist time to install a whole-house system ($1,500 to $2,800), which can be integrated right into your HVAC.
"While a portable dehumidifier can be constructive in certain areas, its range is very express. A whole-firm system utilizes a abode's existing duct system for heating and cooling to treat the entire business firm," says Andrew Parra, a consultant at Deljo Heating and Cooling in Chicago.
Plus, there'south no tank to empty; a plastic tube and a run of PVC pipe carries water into a basement drain. No basement? A condensate pump volition route water exterior or to another drain, often in a laundry room or bathroom. Y'all'll need a pro to install a whole-business firm dehumidifier.
Parra recommends installing the system's humidistat on a central, inside wall of your home, away from doors and windows, to ensure a more authentic read.
Low-Tech DIY Options to Dehumidify
Or maybe you want to DIY -- dry-it-yourself. You lot tin can dehumidify with some common household items, including:
- Chalk
- Kitty litter
- Charcoal briquettes
- Rock salt
These DIY solutions work best in small spots like closets or crawlspaces. Some do double duty, removing funky odors in addition to wet.
Source: https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/home-maintenance-tips/guide-to-dehumidifiers/
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