With excellent benefits for your health, it seems important to purchase a dehumidifier for your home. But before you spend your money purchasing a dehumidifier, here are a few things to keep in mind:
What Do You Need It For
There are various types of dehumidifiers that are used for various things. You don’t want to stuck with an industrial, flood-recovery dehumidifier in bedroom, but rather one that is small, and works perfectly at relieving allergy symptoms, or prevents mildew in you bedroom. Once you know what you’re going to use your dehumidifier for, you can make a more informative decision when purchasing one for your bedroom.
Know Your Space
It’s important to choose the right size dehumidifier, as the unit may not be able to remove enough moisture from the air if it is too small, and too much if it is too big. If you get a dehumidifier that is too small for a room, it will waste energy by working too hard and won’t have the longevity that you need. For best results, select the right size unit based on the square footage of your home or the room you want to be dehumidified.
Home dehumidifiers are rated by their pint capacities, which needs to right for the size of your bedroom in which the dehumidifier will be used. Something to keep in mind is that units with a higher pint capacity are more efficient in both moisture removal and energy use.
Shop Around
Make sure you spend some time doing your research on different brands before making your final purchase. Think about what will work best for your particular needs as well as the size of your bedroom. Different brands offer different types of models with different features including design, capacity and draining method. All the different types are designed with the features necessary to resolve humidity issues in their designated spaces. Familiarizing yourself with the different types and their features will help you make an educated purchase. Taking the time to do this might also save you some money down the line.
What Is The Room’s Temperature & Humidity Level
Both indoor temperature and humidity levels affect the performance of dehumidifiers. Using a dehumidifier in a low-temperature space like a garage or basement, you need to make sure that it will continue to operate efficiently in the cold climate. The coils in the unit may freeze up, and may it will become ineffective. If you need to dehumidify a space with extremely high humidity like a warm bedroom, then you’ll need a high-capacity unit that can handle large moisture loads.
Does It Have A Drain Hose Attachments
All dehumidifiers collect the water that they remove from the air, and you should consider how yours will eliminate this water. Standard dehumidifiers contain buckets that you must empty regularly, and automatically shut off when the buckets are full. Most modern dehumidifiers come equipped with drain hose attachments, which allows water to drain away without you having to empty buckets. This feature is especially important if you want to use your dehumidifier throughout the night in your bedroom. When purchasing your dehumidifier, for your convenience, make sure it includes a drain hose attachment.
DOES A DEHUMIDIFIER HELP WITH FLOOD RESTORATION?
Once an air mover has extracted all the moisture from the drywall, carpets and framing material, the dehumidifier can be put to use. A dehumidifier pulls in the warm moisture over a cold coil which causes the water vapor in the air to condense. The condensed water is then collected in a tray or pumped away (depending on your dehumidifier model and make).
Problems can occur if you have too much or too little air movement and not enough dehumidification. If water damaged structures have too much air and too little dehumidification, there is the possibility of secondary damage happening. Secondary damage is the result of extremely high relative humidity which can cause the following:
- damage of books
- damage of electrical instruments
- warped doors, drawers and ceilings
- peeling wallpaper and corroded metal
The same can be said for the reverse situation when you use too little air movement. This can prolong the drying process. The longer the water is present, the higher the probability that there will be damage to structural elements such as:
- sheet rock disintegrating
- framework warping
- carpet backing rotting
