Can Your Home Benefit From a Dehumidifier?

Do You Need a Dehumidifier?

If you live in a humid area, you are well versed in the problems and annoyances humidity brings. You might be doing renovations in your house when a wall comes down and you look inside to see mold growing on your main wood post.

Or maybe you’re surrounded by large amounts of dust on a regular basis, even though you cleaned just the other day. If you’ve just moved, you might be experiencing stronger allergic reactions or more issues with your asthma than you were before. Whatever the reason, if you need to take humidity out of the air, then a dehumidifier is needed.

What Is a Dehumidifier?

A dehumidifier is a machine that reduces the amount of humidity in the air, usually by extracting water. A dehumidifier usually uses one of two processes. Condensate dehumidifiers use a refrigerator to collect the water, called condensate.

Desiccant dehumidifiers collect the water from the air by having the water ions bond to materials that are hydrophilic, meaning they attract water molecules. One such material is silica gel.

Dehumidifiers come in all shapes and sizes. You can get a unit dehumidifier that is just meant to dehumidify one room. These humidifiers can just be plugged into the wall. If you want to dehumidify your whole house, you will need to install a whole-house dehumidifier. This is done by either tying the dehumidifier into your air duct system or by creating a new air duct for the air to pass through separate of your current air duct.

Benefits of These Units

Dehumidifiers provide many benefits to the house owner. If you have allergies to dust, mildew, or mold, then a dehumidifier will help with the allergies. Because water serves as a support to allergen growth, taking the water out of the air will slow down the growth of allergens. The moisture removal also helps eliminate insects, like cockroaches, that gravitate to a more humid environment.

Removing moisture also helps the house. The build-up of moisture makes the structure more prone to developing mold or mildew. The water also can distort furniture over time, making them look warped.

The increased moisture also results in paint peeling. Dehumidifiers can also help air conditioners work more efficiently, which leads to lower energy costs.

How to Maintain Your Dehumidifier

Your dehumidifier is only helping you if it works. To keep it working, you need to make sure it is well maintained. There are some simple things you can do to keep your dehumidifier in working order.

Keep your humidifier clean. This keeps the humidifier from having to do extra work. It is also a good idea to change out the air filter every year. If you leave in the old filter, the machine won’t collect as much moisture and will have to do extra work to keep running. 

Wait roughly ten minutes after turning the dehumidifier on before turning it off. If you don’t, you could short cycle the humidifier and cause it to be less efficient in the future. If you are using a condensate dehumidifier, make sure to regularly empty out the water that is collected from the process.

About Chad’s AC Direct

Chad’s AC Direct aims to provide professional HVAC services to the Montgomery area. With 24-hour availability, Chad’s AC Direct technicians are available to help with any air conditioning or heating needs ranging from installation to repair. They offer affordable pricing for homes and businesses. Call them today for your HVAC needs.

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