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Indoor Humidity
One of the things I hate about summer is the heat. The humid environment is uncomfortable. It’s that feeling of being sticky and uncomfortable. Even breathing feels like a chore, it is even worse indoors. This is due to high humidity inside the house or office.
You should feel comfortable indoors, but you are not. You find yourself feeling unwell and lethargic and generally not in a good mood. It could be that the humidity level inside is too high and has made things unbearable.
You need a dehumidifier when you are uncomfortable. Dehumidifiers are machines that extract water from the air. Mold and dust mites cannot grow in a low humidity setting. Dehumidifiers are instrumental in reducing humidity in damp basements and in other humid areas of the house.
Dehumidifiers pull air through cold coils to condense moisture. Air then moves through warm coils and back into the room. You could say they work like air conditioners but they focus on removing moisture from the air.
Side Effects Of Indoor Humidity
High indoor humidity can have terrible side effects. Maybe this is why you are feeling down in the dumps. The side effects can go beyond comfort. Some people can get very sick due to the impact of excess moisture.
Usually, your body can regulate its temperature by processing evaporation. When the level of humidity is too high, it is a lot harder for your body to do that. You feel like your body is heating up and it feels like the heat is coming from inside you.
High indoor humidity encourages mildew, mold spores and dust mites. These are horrible parasites that can affect your health. Mildew and mold can also cause a lot of damage to your home and cost you quite a bit to fix. Mold and mildew are fungi undesirables. Fungus can cause difficulty in breathing. They trigger asthma attacks and can lead to allergic reactions. If left untreated, rot can develop and cause a musty odors. [1]
Ideal Humidity Levels
Trust me when I say that not all humidity is terrible. Humidity in the air is necessary, but like everything else, there has to be a balance. Humidity is the level of moisture in the air. Healthy levels of humidity should be around 30-50% water in air.
When humidity is too low, it has adverse effects. Dry air causes difficulty in breathing, coughs, sore throats, and itchy skin rashes. This would make your space very uncomfortable. It also damages anything made of wood, bending and splitting it. Dry air ruins wooden window and door frames, wooden floors.
Maintaining the ideal range of humidity in your home or office’s is important. If the humidity levels are high, you need to do something. If the humidity levels are low, you need to do something.
Do something. The solution for me was to look for and buy a dehumidifier. This is a practical way to control indoor environment. [2]
When you introduce a dehumidifier into your space, you start to see the difference. The name says it all; it removes the excessive moisture. Dehumidifiers control moisture. High humidity and low humidity causes health problems. A dehumidifier can fix this.
A dehumidifier can reduce symptoms caused by allergy triggers. Symptoms like itching, eye irritation, chest pain, sneezing, wheezing or trouble breathing.
When the air quality is better, it is easier to breathe. Better air quality is less heavy with an ideal range of moisture. A dehumidifier makes the space cooler, and you can finally get back your comfort level. It also gets rid of a musty smells.
People with asthma and breathing problems really appreciate air quality. Dehumidifiers will give you a healthier environment and improves indoor air quality.[3]
Dehumidification Process (working)
If you are going to buy a dehumidifier, you may want to understand the working process behind it.
The appliance works by drawing warm air currents through a fan into its refrigerated coil. The hot air contracts as it’s fed through the machine’s cooling coils. The condensation remains inside the dehumidifier.
As the condensation collects one drop of liquid water at a time, it collects into an attached water bucket or flows into the drain hose. Cooler, drier air goes back into your home from the other end of the machine.
Your dehumidifier should lessen the humidity in the air to a relative range of 30%-50% humidity. Most dehumidifiers have a meter that determines the average humidity in your space. You have the option to set the humidity to the percentage you want.
There are different types of dehumidifiers. They all do the same job of removing moisture from the air. Let me try and break down a bit further. Well, like how I understand it. [4]
So when walking into a store or going online to buy a dehumidifier, you can pick one by the way it looks. You can make this decision on a whim and on what tickles your fancy.
Or, the decision has to be practical. There are several different styles and sizes of dehumidifiers. Here are some factors you might consider:
Choosing depends on the square feet you plan to use it in and also the humidity to which you want the air to be.
Capacity is a huge deciding factor. There are small capacity models for smaller rooms. Also, large capacity models for more extensive areas. Common dehumidifier size are: Mini, Small, 30 Pint, 50 Pint, 70 Pint, Large and Extra Large.
Here are more factors:
There are also whole-house models available.
You need to also throw in the moisture level in the room to determine which dehumidifier will work.
If you live in a very humid climate, you suffer from significant allergies, or you have a large home. If you have a specific need, consider purchasing a dehumidifier with special features.
Depending on the humidity effects, you want to get one that addresses your problem.
No matter what you are buying, your budget is usually a huge determining factor. You need an option that will not break your bank but will solve your problem.
Different humidifiers have different energy costs. Depending on your humidity levels, there will be cases when you need to run the dehumidifier for a long time. And it will give you a heart attack when your energy bill comes. So you need to consider how energy efficient the dehumidifier you want to get is.
Dehumidifiers will need maintenance; if you are a DIY person like me, you need to get easy and quick to maintain. It will save you lots of money this way.
A portable dehumidifier is something very convenient. If you can move it around, it will be very handy. You can move it to the area you want, move it from room to room, making full use of your buy. You don’t need something that will break your back every time you need to use it.
You also need to consider drainage when choosing a dehumidifier. Many smaller units have buckets that have to be emptied. Some come with continuous drainage, which means less work for you. It also means less maintenance, and your humidity is low longer.
How they drain the water is also a factor to consider. Those that drain using gravity are not as powerful as those that have a drain pump. So it depends on how convenient you want your dehumidifier to be.
An auto-start dehumidifier shuts off and on. This happens when the humidity levels in the room are down to your preferred level. The ability to set your appliance helps your pocket. Because your appliance only uses energy when its running.
Suppose you are not always at home, you spend all day at work, you travel for work, or go on vacation. In that case, you don’t want power outages to disrupt your dehumidification process.
When your appliance can restart itself, then your dehumidifier picks up right where it left off. [5]
You also want a dehumidifier that switches off when the water tray or bucket when it is full. Otherwise, you are constantly checking it to see if it’s full – so you can empty it before it overflows. This saves you time, especially when maintaining the dehumidifier.
Frost damage is one of the most annoying things that can happen to a dehumidifier. It means your maintenance cost is going up fixing the damage. But if the dehumidifier can defrost itself, it avoids the damage.
Getting a dehumidifier can help you live a healthier, happier life. So if you are suffering from allergies and other symptoms, you should own a dehumidifier.
Look through and find out which model you will buy. See which one is available for your budget. You get to enjoy clean & healthy air into your home.
Refrigeration dehumidifiers / Thermal condensation dehumidification
Thermal condensation dehumidifiers are also known as refrigeration dehumidifiers. This is because they work like a refrigerator and an air conditioning unit.
These are the steps it follows:
- The hot, humid air goes in through a grill on one side of the machine. This is due to an electric fan inside pulling the air inward.
- The humid air passes through the cold pipes through which the coolant circulates. It is like passing the air through a little mini-fridge. This action brings down the air temperature. Some of the moisture air condenses into liquid water and drips down the pipes.
- The dryer air then goes through the hot condenser and warms up.
- Dry air goes back out into the room through another vent.
- The moisture that condenses back into water collects in a bucket or drains into a hose.
- A plastic float rises in the machine as the collecting tray fills up. Once it fills up and the float reaches a certain level, it causes the switch to cut off the power.
- The dehumidifier fan stops. A light comes on to show the bucket is full, and you can empty it. Units with a drain hose continue to operate.
Your space begins to feel dryer, cooler, and the air is less heavy. You feel more comfortable and relax with the difference.
The other type of dehumidifier works by absorbing moisture. It has water-holding material that mops up the water out of the air and then squeezes the water away to remove it.
The mopping action involves absorption (where it absorbs the water right into something). Or adsorption (where it picks up the water on the surface of something). Let me simply explain.
Working of Adsorption Dehumidifiers
- Your appliance draws the moist air in through a vent opening. A whole house appliance draws in moist air into a duct in the ceiling or wall.
- The air moves past a giant rotating wheel. The wheel has a material that absorbs water, which removes the moisture.
- A fan operated by an electrical motor draws the air.
- Dry air blows back out into the room.
- The air duct underneath stays warm due to an element run by an electric motor
- The humidity-absorbing wheel rotates through the heated air and has hot air blown past it to dry it out.
- A fan powered by an electric motor sucks air past it.
- Hot, wet air blows outside through an exhaust duct. [6]
Final thoughts
Dehumidifiers can bring relief to your excess humidity problems. These appliances make your home more comfortable. Dehumidifiers will save you from allergies and protect your property.
Knowing how a dehumidifier works helps you choose the right one for you. Explore and save yourself some costs by buying the right one for you.
