Dehumidification in Your Home

Author Rod Marchant-Smith | Peninsula Air Conditioning
Dehumidification in Your Home

The level of humidity can affect many things in your home. High humidity can end up inviting pests into your house.  It can also promote the growth of mould and mildew, putting your health at risk.  Hence, it is very important to make sure the humidity levels in your home are at a reasonable level.

Why Dehumidification in Your Home is Important

High humidity can be a huge problem in your home, especially if you happen to live in a more tropical or humid area.  Other than comfort, you may experience some health issues as a result of humidity.  Typically, the humidity in homes should be maintained at a level of 30% to 50% relative humidity, as anything higher than this can cause problems.  Dehumidification can also help you save more energy by relieving some stress on your air conditioner.

Make Your Home More Comfortable

Humidity can often cause you to feel uncomfortable.  With a dehumidifier, you can make your home more comfortable without having to lower the thermostat settings.  You should be able to feel less clammy, less sweaty and in turn, less tired.  With decreased humidity, the air in your home will also feel less heavy – again, increasing the comfort level.

Keep Your Home A Healthy Environment

If you use a dehumidifier to regulate your home to a reasonable humidity level, you can keep yourself and your family healthier in various ways. Dehumidification helps improve the breathability in the home.

Many allergy triggers like dust mites, mould and mildew all thrive in excessively humid environments.  This means that if you or your family members suffer from allergies or asthma, high humidity can make these conditions worse.

In fact, if the allergens are particularly severe, even a normal healthy person can feel ill.  Some symptoms to look out for include a stuffy nose, and itchy and/or watery eyes.  It can also cause sneezing, difficulty breathing, rashes, or a diminished immune system.

These symptoms are all warnings that your home may be causing you illness.  This dehumidification process is important in areas of your home with poor air circulation.  Some of these areas are bathrooms, laundry rooms and basements.  This is because these areas are often damp and can end up housing allergens and bacteria.

Get Rid of the Musty Smell

Similar to the previous point, due to the mould and mildew caused by humidity, they create this musty smell in your home.  With a reduction in humidity, your home will smell fresher and more inviting.

Keep Pests at Bay

Pests like spiders and cockroaches tend to prefer damp and moist environments.  As a result, they end up gravitating towards them.  Particularly, if you find that pests only appear in rooms that are prone to high humidity, it is likely that the humidity is the cause of your problem.  If you have noticed many pests within an area, you might consider using a dehumidifier to discourage their visits.

Keep Your Belongings Fresh and Damage-free

With high levels of humidity and moisture in your home, your house can end up encountering structural problems as time passes.  The condensation ends up building up and with mildew and mould growth, the structure can start warping and deteriorating.

If your home was designed to be well-sealed for energy efficiency, you may have worse moisture problems.  This can be caused by the lack of air circulation.  If you find that your paint or wallpaper starts peeling or you find unusual stains, consider using a dehumidifier to stop further damage.

Other than the structure, furniture and other items can end up damaged as well. For clothing and fabrics like bed linen, towels or curtains, humidity can also increase the risk of mold.

For computer and other electronics, the increased humidity will also cause rust and corrosion.  Even food like bread and cereals will remain fresh for longer periods of time since the environment is not suitable for mould growth.

More Energy Efficient

As you dehumidify your house, you will end up saving on energy costs as well. Your lowered humidity helps your heat pump run more efficiently, costing you much less.

High humidity makes your house seem warmer than it is.  This is why you end up setting your thermostat much cooler than needed, costing you a lot more.  Hence, if you use a dehumidifier, you will not have to use as much energy to cool your house.

Does It Help Your Air Conditioning?

As mentioned, a dehumidifier can help with your house’s air conditioning.  It reduces the “sticky” feeling and makes you feel cooler without having to actually make your air conditioner work harder.

Other than saving money on your electricity bill, you will also save on maintenance fees. This is because the machine will not have to work as hard and will experience less wear and tear.

Furthermore, the dehumidifier consumes less energy than an air conditioner. You can easily purchase portable dehumidifiers. This allows you to move it to whatever room needs to be dehumidified, and it can also be easily turned on and off as needed.

Since the dehumidifier will be used only when needed, the machine will also last for a longer time.  It will not require many repairs and will have less ongoing wear and tear.

Conclusion

Dehumidifiers can be a great investment since they can take some of the stress off of your air-conditioner and save you money. It is also a great addition if you are currently suffering from some of the problems that high humidity can bring to your home.

If high humidity is causing you and your home distress and damage, consider a dehumidifier.  It will help get rid of these issues and bring a clean and fresh atmosphere back to your home!

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