Can A Dehumidifier Kill Mold

Have you heard that mold is growing in your house? If so, you are not alone. Mold is a common problem that affects everyone who lives in an environment with an abundance of moisture. The good news is there are solutions available to help prevent mold from spreading and killing it once it’s there. In this article we’ll explore some of the symptoms as well as how you can use a dehumidifier to eliminate mold growth and improve your home’s indoor air quality.

You may have heard that using a dehumidifier to kill mold is an effective method of eliminating the spores. However, this isn’t true. Mold needs moisture in order for its growth cycle to continue and for it to survive. Although it’s true that some types of mold will thrive with more moisture than others, all species require some amount of water—and even though you might not be able to see them through your bare eyesight (because they’re microscopic), there are plenty of other ways for you to see them around your home!

Dehumidifiers are designed specifically so that they remove excess moisture from air by removing heat from the air space where they’re placed; however, this does not mean that these devices kill any particular type or level of mold spores present within it (or elsewhere). In fact, if left untreated over time by both hot and cold temperatures outside near windowsills where indoor humidity levels tend towards 100%, then those same conditions could potentially lead directly into another variety called black rot which creates bigger problems than just having one bad guy inside our homes!

You may be thinking that a dehumidifier is a great way to kill mold, but the truth is that this isn’t true. A dehumidifier can help prevent the growth of mold in your home and remove moisture from the air, but it will not actually kill any existing molds if they are there before you start using your unit.

A dehumidifier works by removing water from its surrounding environment (it doesn’t need any electricity), which reduces its relative humidity level. This makes it much easier for mold spores to survive since they are less likely to encounter dry areas or surfaces where they wouldn’t have access before being exposed to such conditions now that there are fewer opportunities available due to lower levels of moisture around them!

Dehumidifiers are great for preventing mold, not removing it. Mold can be found in many places in your home and dehumidifiers should not be used as a stand-alone solution to get rid of mold.
Dehumidifiers do not remove existing mold from your home, so if you have already been exposed to moldy conditions, then you will need to use soap and water or try another method of cleaning the area where the growth occurred before using a dehumidifier again (such as spraying Lysol).

Dehumidifiers will not kill mold. Mold needs moisture to grow, and if your home is too dry or you’re using a dehumidifier, it won’t be able to grow in high enough concentrations.

Dehumidifiers are great for reducing humidity levels in your home or office space, but if you don’t address the root cause of the problem (mold), then all that work will go down the drain when mold spores get into your house from somewhere else—like through an open window!

The most common cause of mold growth is moisture. Mold spores are everywhere, but they need moisture to grow and spread. They can be carried into your home on people, pets and other things like shoes and clothing.

Mold is a fungus that grows in tiny colonies and spreads very fast on materials that have high moisture content (like wood).

If a dehumidifier won’t work, you can use the following steps to remove mold and prevent its return:

Use a dehumidifier. Submerging items in water or bleach is one way to get rid of mold, but it doesn’t always work—especially if the area is large or contains many items that require drying out after treatment. A small fan may be helpful for ventilation purposes if your room has been affected by moisture build-up from moisture trapped inside walls or furniture over time.* Clean affected areas with bleach solution (1 part household bleach). Mix 1/4 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of household bleach in a bowl until all ingredients are combined well; then apply this mixture liberally onto surfaces where there has been visible growths within 24 hours after noticing an odor coming from somewhere else around your property.* Remove all items suspected as being contaminated by cleaning them thoroughly with soap and hot water before storing them away again in another location where they won’t cause any harm while waiting patiently until their turn comes around again next month when more will arrive back into our lives; don’t forget though! Make sure everything still smells fresh enough so we don’t end up getting sick again!

Whether you keep a dehumidifier running all the time (preventative) or only turn it on when you need to get rid of mold, these devices are very effective in killing mold.

However, they’re not a stand-alone solution. They work best when combined with other methods of preventing mold from growing in your home, such as:

Cleaning out dirty vents regularly
Using heavy-duty vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters and/or UV lights that kill airborne spores

A dehumidifier will reduce the level of moisture in the air. The lower the humidity level, the less likely mold will grow. On the other hand, if you have a high humidity level and don’t let it drop below 30%, then mold can thrive because it loves damp environments.

A dehumidifier can help to reduce humidity levels by removing water vapor from its surrounding environment and releasing it into an area where there isn’t as much available water vapor (air).

If you’re concerned about mold growth in your home, it’s important to realize that humidity isn’t just a nuisance—it can actually affect your health. The amount of moisture in the air is called “humidity.” When there’s too much, mold grows easily and can cause respiratory problems like asthma and allergies.

In order to prevent this from happening, we recommend keeping humidity levels below 50%. This will help prevent mold spores from spreading through your home. It should also keep any existing molds at bay by preventing them from growing as much as possible!

Mold is a fungus that grows in tiny colonies and spreads very fast on materials that have high moisture content. The spores of mold are very small and can be carried by air currents, so they’re not limited to just the area where you live or work. You may have noticed that when you walk into a room where there’s been water damage from flooding, the air seems to be filled with tiny particles of dust or white flakes floating around. This is because these particles contain spores from mold growing on your walls and ceiling tiles—just like those tiny white specks hanging around outside after an earthquake!

Conclusion:

Dehumidifiers are very effective at killing mold. They work by reducing humidity levels and lowering the moisture content of the air in your home. Keeping your dehumidifier running all day (preventative) or only turning it on when you need to get rid of mold is a good way to keep your air clean and healthy.

Check out our best pick dehumidifier Danby 50 Pint Dehumidifier.

How Does A Dehumidifier Work

Benefits Of Using A Dehumidifier

How Can A Dehumidifier Kill Mold

Removing Pesky Mold

Features To Look For In A Dehumidifier

Modern houses don’t provide as much air infiltration as older houses, so mold grows easily. Using chemical cleaners to combat mold issues can harm the air you breathe.

Instead of those approaches, try killing mold using a dehumidifier. Dehumidifier machines provide a natural way to eliminate mold growth in your home. So, Yes. A dehumidifier can kill mold.

How Does A Dehumidifier Work?

Dehumidifiers pull air from the room they’re in and remove the excessive moisture. The water droplets stay in a tank while the air recirculates into the room.

There are two ways dehumidifiers can work: refrigeration or absorption.

The refrigeration process pulls the warm air into the machine through a filter. The air funnels through freezing pipes, which cools it. As the air temperature lowers, the water vapor from the air molecules turns into water. The air flows over a compressor to warm it back up to its initial temperature before it blows back into the room.

The absorption process uses a duct to pull warm air into the machine. It flows past a large rotating fan covered in a water-absorbing filter. The water vapor sticks to the fan while the air passes on by and blows back into the room.

Benefits Of Using A Dehumidifier

Many people use dehumidifiers for their health benefits. If debris is in your air, you can suffer from irritated and itchy eyes, along with sneezing and a stuffy nose. If you suffer from allergy symptoms, you want to improve your conditions before you develop more serious health issues.

Allergens multiply in warm air and create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Running a dehumidifier pulls in the air and filters it, so not only does it come out as dry air, but it’s also cleaner.

Along with allergies, asthma is another condition exacerbated by low-quality air. When your air is moist, it seems thicker and warmer than normal. This makes it hard to breathe, especially if you have asthma.

Since dehumidifiers eliminate moisture from the air, it also helps your home in ways beyond decreasing the mold.

Damp air can make your house smell musty. Moisture damage can have detrimental effects on your furniture, whether by affecting its structure or ingraining a mildew smell in the upholstery. Excess moisture can make your wallpaper peel or discolor your painted walls with water stains.

Another benefit of dehumidifiers is that they increase the air quality in your home as well. You’ll notice how much lighter and crisper the air feels in rooms using dehumidifiers, especially if you live in a muggy climate.

Since you’re using a dehumidifier to cool the air and decrease the humidity levels, you won’t have to use as much air conditioning. This can greatly save you money on your utility bills.

In new builds, you can choose to install a whole-house dehumidifier. You can find a system rated for the square feet of your house. This might seem just as expensive as running an air conditioner, but it costs a lot less. Whole-house systems also use less energy than portable dehumidifiers.

Before you buy, look for Energy Star products—both portable and whole-house— to save money and reduce your carbon footprint. Many come with a washable filter to further reduce potential waste.

How A Dehumidifier Can Kill Mold

Mold infestations happen in moist environments with excess humidity. The ideal humidity level to prevent mold from growing is 35 to 50%. Since dehumidifiers reduce the humidity, they work to eliminate mold in your home.

It takes dehumidifiers about a week to reduce the excess moisture to make a difference in your home. They don’t kill the mold directly but reduce the humidity enough to prevent it from growing. Dehumidifiers slow the growth of mold in a way that makes a big difference in your home.

These work better than air purifiers because they only kill the mold spores in the air that comes into the machine. Many times, you can’t find the moisture source. Dehumidifiers decrease the overall humidity in the air, which prevents ground for mold in the entire humid environment.

As the mold dries, it becomes inactive. That means the dehumidifier will work to eliminate mold in your home just by decreasing the humidity in the air. But even inactive mold still poses a threat to you and your family. While your dehumidifier is running, work to remove the existing mold to ensure your whole house is clean.

Removing Pesky Mold

Look for signs of mold around your house. If you already have it, you need to eliminate that before your dehumidifier makes much of a difference. Instead of using bleach, which has an overwhelming scent and doesn’t properly eliminate mold, try a natural option.

White vinegar is an effective natural way to kill mold due to its antibacterial and antifungal qualities. It also isn’t too expensive, so you can buy a large bottle and use it without diluting it for maximum efficiency.

Put the vinegar in a spray bottle and apply it directly to the moldy surface. Let it soak in for about an hour before coming back with a soft-bristled brush. Scrub at the moldy surface before drying it. The smell will dissipate after the vinegar dries.

You can’t use vinegar on every surface, so be careful before spraying it. It dulls stone counters and ruins the finish on wood floors. It can corrode some metals, like stainless steel, aluminum, and copper. It’s also not effective in removing mold from carpet or other porous surfaces.

Baking soda is a natural alternative to vinegar. You can mix it with a splash of water to make a paste. Apply the paste to the mold and let it sit. Come back with a brush and scrub off the baking soda paste. The mold should come off as well. Dry any remaining residue from the surface.

The type of mold makes a difference. Black mold affects your respiratory system. If you have it in your house, you shouldn’t try to clean it because it releases spores that will affect your breathing. Instead, try to contain it and call a professional to remove it safely.

Features To Look For In A Dehumidifier

Before you buy a dehumidifier, you want to make sure you’ll find one that meets your needs. Consider your room size and how many rooms in your house will need a dehumidifier, then look for models with these specific features.

Collection Capacity

The collection capacity of a dehumidifier refers to how much moisture it can remove from the air in 24 hours, also called pints per day.

Portable dehumidifiers will understandably have a smaller capacity, but Energy Star models are still very efficient. You’ll need to empty the bucket of water more often, but it’s not a hassle.

The size or capacity of a dehumidifier you need depends on the size of the room and how much moisture is in the room. It’s calculated based on the overall condition of your house and the square feet. This dehumidifier size calculator can assist you.

Moisture Removal

All dehumidifiers have water tanks that collect the moisture they remove from the air. But there are different methods to get the pints of water out of the machine. Most commonly, it’s just a bucket that you remove, dump out, then put back into place.

Some machines come with a drain hose that allows water to easily flow into a floor drain. If you have a dehumidifier that needs to pump the water upward to remove it, you’ll have to get a pump attachment.

Whole-house dehumidifiers have a water line that connects to your sump pump to drain automatically, so you don’t have to do the work yourself. This is a major benefit, so you don’t have to worry about moisture build-up.

Air Filter

Not all dehumidifiers have air filter options, but it’s worth finding the right one. Air filters will clean the air that the dehumidifier pulls in. Depending on your machine, it might filter the air as it comes in or after it removes the moisture before releasing the air back into the room.

Keep in mind that buying a dehumidifier with an air filter will cost more over time unless you buy a washable filter. You’ll have to buy replacement filters when one is dirty. It also takes a little more effort to change even a washable filter periodically.

Noise Level

Dehumidifiers can be noisier than other machines you use in your home because they’re doing a lot of work. They aren’t necessarily loud and disruptive, but if you can find one that boasts about being quiet, that’s one worth buying.

Automatic Shut-Off

This feature is a nice one to have for safety’s sake. When the water tank is full, the machine will shut off. This prevents your appliance from continually running and possibly overflowing. Some machines also turn off if the current humidity level in the room is ideal and there’s no need to remove extra moisture.

Overall Size

Portable dehumidifiers are small and work well in average-sized rooms. If you want one machine to work in a larger space, you’ll want to size up. A dehumidifier that’s too small won’t be able to remove the level of moisture from the air to make enough of a difference. Buying too small an appliance means you’ll still have humidity and potential mold growth.

Final Notes

Dehumidifiers are an efficient way to eliminate mold while creating a balanced humidity level. Energy Star models offer a major benefit in terms of air quality. They also help with air conditioning conservation and energy consumption. Take advantage of every benefit of dehumidifiers by investing in one to improve your home life.