Whole house dehumidifiers work just like any other single room dehumidifier does except they help remove excess moisture from your whole house, not just one room. Excessive moisture, or humidity, is just plain uncomfortable. It also encourages the growth of mold and mildew.
Mold and mildew, along with other allergens like dust mites, can make an allergy sufferer downright miserable. No one should have to be miserable in their own home. Keeping your house a little drier could help those allergy symptoms and if the excess moisture is throughout your home then this is the time to look into whole house dehumidifiers.
The first thing you need to do before you start shopping for your dehumidifier is to measure each room and add up the total square footage of space you need to have dehumidified. Then either shop online or in a retail store to find a dehumidifier to handle that square footage.
The dehumidifier you buy will not look like any of the smaller portable units that you can easily set in one room or another. The dehumidifier you will buy is much larger and heavier and will sit in one place near your heating and/or cooling system so it can be connected directly into the ductwork of your house.
Do some comparison shopping and find one that is powerful enough to remove the most amount of moisture. Most have settings so that you can program them yourself and give you a nice range. Moisture levels in your home should be around 50% at all times. make sure to buy a unit that has been Energy Star rated so it is energy efficient and won’t cost an arm and a leg to operate.
One nice thing about installing a dehumidifier of this type is that the water it removes from your house gets drained into a floor drain so you do not have to worry about emptying a heavy bucket full of water everyday. No more spills to wipe up.
Ever wonder how they actually work? Well, I can tell you that a dehumidifier works just like your air conditioner. There are coils inside the unit that have a refrigerant inside and when the warm, moist air passes over them it creates condensation. The condensation drips down into a collection pan, or bucket and is then drained into the floor drain or emptied, by you, into a sink or even outside.
The difference between your air conditioner and your dehumidifier is that the air conditioner cools the air and does not remove any moisture from the air it sends into your home, the dehumidifier warms the air back up before releasing the drier air into your home.
Whole house dehumidifiers will give you a more comfortable home and reduce mold, mildew, and other allergens so you and your family can rest easier. And since excess moisture can affect the materials used to build your home, your home will not rot from the inside out as well.