Tag: Excess Moisture

Whole House Dehumidifiers

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.

Sani Dry Dehumidifier

The Sani Dry dehumidifier is made by Therma-Stor exclusively for a company called Basement Systems. Basement Systems is a company that supplies and installs dehumidifiers with their own licensed contractors. They also offer basement finishing and repair services.

The Sani Dry dehumidifier model called the XP Dehumidifier works well in a large area up to 2,500 square feet. It can remove 109 pints of water, per day, from the air of your home making your home much more comfortable to live in and reducing the amount of damage that can be caused by excess moisture.

This unit is also capable of functioning at low temperatures down to 40 degrees. What this means is, if your basement is cool the coils have an auto-defrost feature to keep the unit from freezing up and shutting itself off. It will continue to operate at these low temperature and keep your home moisture free.

The unit can either be used as a free standing unit or can be installed directly into the ductwork of your home. If you are the handy type you could probably manage the installation on your own but if not then they will install it for you.

The XP is Energy Star rated so it is energy efficient and will not increase you energy bill by any significant amount.

The convenience of the unit is also a plus. There is no bucket to empty every day, the XP drains directly to a floor drain. If there is no drain in the floor, you will need to drain the water up and out by purchasing what is called a “compensate pump” separately and installing it in the unit.

The XP has an adjustable “humidistat” as well, allowing you to set the desired relative humidity of your home anywhere from 20% to 90%. Those settings are most extreme and you most likely will set the XP unit in the range of 35% to 50% to be comfortable in your home.

If you suffer from allergies you will notice a big difference in the severity of your symptoms once the XP is installed and begins to remove the excess moisture in your home.

Once the XP is installed, it will run until it achieves the level of humidity in your home that you have set then it will maintain that level by cycling on and off. It might take 24 hours or more to reach the level you want for your home.

Once the XP is programmed by you with specific data for your home, it will always remember it. Even if there is a power outage the XP will restart automatically and remember the settings you programmed into it.

As I stated earlier, the unit can handle up to 2,500 square feet. So, if the entire square footage of your house does not exceed that number then you can install the unit directly into the ductwork of your home and dehumidify your entire house.

The Sani Dry dehumidifier is solely capable of maintaining the moisture in your home to reduce allergens and keep the excess moisture from causing structural damage.

Garage Dehumidifier

One of the areas of your home that may have humidity problems is your garage. If this is the case you will need a garage dehumidifier to help handle the problem and reduce the chance that mold will grow and cause damage.

I think that you need a dehumidifier in your garage especially if the garage is a detached garage. When the garage is part of the house, basically, it can have some “climate control” due to the connection to the house.

Some examples of having excess humidity in your garage are on those hot and humid days in the summer, the humidity can get trapped inside the garage. Then in the winter you drive your car right into the garage with wetness like rain or snow and the snow is filled with salt and muck and grime from the road.

You may or may not have a floor drain in your garage. So where does this moisture all go? Into the air and onto everything stored in the garage. If this humidity is not reduced and kept to a manageable level it can cause mold and mildew to grow and cause metal parts or shelving to rust.

Getting a garage dehumidifier is not the only way to reduce the amount of humidity in your garage. Sometimes all it takes is proper ventilation. Set up a fan and if your garage has a window in it, open it. Let the fresh air come in and be moved around by the fan.

In the winter, You could buy a small space heater for your garage to help keep it warm and basically “burn off” excess moisture or you can splurge a little and have a garage heater installed up in one corner of the garage. The heat will help dry up any extra humidity right along with keeping the air warmer for your car, too.

Humidity can also be controlled a little better if there is adequate insulation inside of your garage. Insulation is needed to help maintain a constant temperature inside your house so why not use the same idea inside of your garage?

Maintain humidity levels in your garage by using proper ventilation, if possible, space heaters or garage heaters, and make sure your garage is well insulated.

If you are just building your garage or are in the process of remodeling your old one then you might consider placing a moisture barrier on the walls of your garage. These materials can drastically reduce the amount of moisture that gets in the garage.

They are called Vapor Barriers for a reason. The keep the moisture that can permeate the walls away, therefore, keeping the damage that can be caused by that moisture to a minimum.

Materials like plastic sheeting, stainless steel, aluminum sheeting, and reinforced hard plastics are all used for and are very effective moisture reducers. These are just some of the ways you can decrease the amount of the humidity in you garage without having to purchase a garage dehumidifier.

Choosing A Dehumidifier-Different Brands And Models

Choosing a dehumidifier can be an interesting process. There are so many different brands and models to choose from it is possible you may get more than just a little overwhelmed or frustrated especially if you are looking to buy your dehumidifier online.

Purchasing a dehumidifier can be a nice addition to your home. Using a dehumidifier correctly can increase the comfort level in your home and decrease the growth of mold and mildew. People who suffer from allergies or frequent upper respiratory illnesses may notice quite a difference in frequency of symptoms with continued use of a dehumidifier.

Decreasing the amoount of humidity in your home can also save on repair and replacement costs of the wood and drywall used in the area that has the most moisture which is usually the basement.

Choosing a dehumidifier requires research of different brands and models to make sure you are getting exactly what you need. Start your research by reading a consumer magazine to compare various models within your price range. Further your research by checking out reviews and comparisons online.

You could also go to a retail store and look at some up close to find a model that you like and then make your purchase online. There are sites that offer significant discounts on quite a few brands and models of dehumidifiers. If the one you choose is among the list of discounted dehumidifiers then you could save up to 34% on your purchase.

Some criteria you will need to follow before you even start looking is the total square footage of the space with the excess moisture. Measure the length of the room and multiply that number by the width of the room. This will give you the square footage of the room the dehumidifier will work in.

This is how dehumidifiers are sold. There should be a range of square footage that the unit can handle and you should make your pruchase based on the upper end of that range. You need one big enough to handle that square footage or else you run the risk of having the unit freeze up or over work itself and stop working all together.

Obviously, your budget has to be considered also. If you find a dehumidifier that you like but then look at the price tag and realize it is just a little too steep for you, you have two options. Either buy a smaller unit and run those risks I discussed earlier or save for another month or so until you can afford the one you need.

If you would like a dehumidifier that you do not have to empty every day then look into buying one that drains into a floor drain. Some do and some don’t, some require you to empty the bucket underneath every single day. Hopefully you have a utility sink in the basement so you do not have to go far and risk spilling the water.

Other research you need to do is to the unit’s efficiency. Check to see if the unit you have selected is Energy Star rated. With this rating you can tell if it will be energy efficient and will cost a lot less to operate.

Check, also, when choosing a dehumidifier, how much moisture it will remove from the air of your house in a 24 hour period. Experiment for the first few days to get a good feel of the unit and how it is working for you. Adjust the settings as needed to maintain around a 50% level of humidity in your home.

The unit may remove more moisture right at the beginning of usage and then taper off when it gets the house or area under control. If the unit is one that has to be emptied daily then, for the first few days check it several times a day and empty as needed until the unit does get the room under control.