5+ Benefits of Using a Dehumidifier in Your Home

While dehumidifiers are hardly among the most glamorous household appliances, they are worthy investments when looking to reduce the humidity levels in a home.

Also, people suffering from allergies or asthma are advised to invest in this handy device lest the moisture in their indoor air escalates their condition. Reduced moisture in the indoor environment not only leaves a home more comfortable, but also healthier.

Based on studies and research following are very compelling reasons for using dehumidifier in a home, living space, basements, or even in a trailers.

1. Overall Health and Comfort Improvement
2. Reduced Condensation
3. Protection of Personal Belongings
4. Longer Shelf life for Food
5. Maintain Structural Integrity of Home

Contrary to a misconception, humidity problems cannot be solved using air fresheners or antibacterial cleaning products.

And that being said, excess humidity in the indoor atmosphere can only be solved using a dehumidifier, which makes the air sufficiently dry to eliminate allergens and bacteria among other airborne pollutants.

Below you will find how excess indoor humidity impacts our health and comfort & how dehumidifier helps resolve them.

Excess moisture in the indoor air provides a hospitable environment for optimal growth of mold and mildew. This, in turn, leads to a host of health issues for the home occupants, including allergic complications and respiratory issues like asthma.

Also, consistent exposure to mold and mildew has been shown to trigger depression among other disorders associated with the nervous system. Dehumidifiers also serve the all-important purpose of eliminating harmful micro-organisms like bacteria from the indoor environment, making a home healthy in more ways than one.

Therefore, homeowners using dehumidifiers to extract moisture from their indoor environment can essentially reduce the opportunity for the mold and mildew growth.

Most people spend a lot of their time indoors and thus the comfort expectations for enclosed areas are gaining rapid popularity. Contaminants like toxins and allergens are not the only culprits contributing to poor air quality in a home. It’s, therefore, not a wonder to see homeowners getting concerned regarding both thermal comfort and indoor air quality in their homes.

High moisture levels in the indoor environment adversely affect both indoor air quality and thermal comfort, which could compromise the home occupants’ health and wellbeing.

Installing a dehumidifier directly to the home’s HVAC system or purchasing individual units for different areas of home can definitely contribute towards improving both indoor air quality and thermal comfort.

Since excess humidity leads to the growth of mold and mildew, it typically causes unwelcome smells in a home.

Thankfully, musty odor in a home can be eliminated by placing a dehumidifier in the affected areas, including crawl spaces, laundry rooms and basements. These devices are designed to nip undesirable smells in the bud, reinstating the luxury of a home instantly.

Albeit microscopic and therefore invisible to the naked eye, dust mites will often make people cringe with disgust. These micro-organisms dwell in the mattresses, curtains, bedspreads, and rugs among other fabric. The repulsive part is brought by the fact that these micro-organisms feed on organic waste, including the skin shed by humans.

While dust mites will survive just about anywhere, they thrive best in humid environments and end up causing allergic reactions on the home dwellers.

Occupants of a dust mite-riddled home will often exhibit an occasional runny nose, sneezing or watery eyes. In more severe cases, one can experience persistent coughs, facial pressure, congestion and asthmatic attacks. A dehumidifier will come in handy when looking to eliminate more than half of the dust mite population.

Condensation denotes the process by which the vapor in the atmosphere is converted into liquid. This results from warm air hitting cooler surfaces such as a glass containing a cold drink. It’s not unusual to find homeowners struggling with the issue of condensation. Basic chores like cooking, heating water or even taking a shower can cause this problem.

Home’s with adequate ventilation rarely experience condensation issues. This is unlike the modern homes that are equipped with energy-efficient, dual-paned windows, which often lack adequate ventilation and thus experience mold growth.

Basically, condensation becomes problematic when it remains on the home’s surfaces throughout the day, including after the outdoor temperature has warmed up. If condensation is streaming down the walls and the air feels damp and smells musty, then a homeowner has a problem that can, fortunately, be rectified using a dehumidifier.

Condensation will often pool in specific areas of a home, causing damage to carpeting, and furniture, not to mention creating a slick surface on which the home occupants might slip. At a minimum, condensation is unsightly and at its worst, it poses a grave safety hazard for homeowners.

Therefore, dehumidifier should be used in such houses to helps eliminate the excess moisture from the indoor air before the problem gets out of hand.

Mold will often grow on curtains, clothes, and upholstery, which, in turn, reduces their value significantly.

Objects like paper and books can also get damaged from extended exposure to excess moisture. Luckily, a proper functioning dehumidifier will reduce the moisture levels in a home, thereby mitigating the chances of mold infestation, not to mention the associated odor.

This appliance also helps with the following:

As the season changes, say from summer to winter (i.e. say you are in California, Toronto or in New York), homeowners are compelled to swap their sunglasses and short sleeves with warmer clothes to combat the cold weather. This involves putting away the lighter clothes to keep them safe, allowing the users to wear them again when the right time comes. However, homeowners cannot achieve this dream if their home suffers from excess moisture.

Too much humidity will cause the stored clothes to gather mold and get ruined, regardless of whether they’re boxed in the attic or hung in the back of a wardrobe. This is where a dehumidifier comes in handy; it removes excess humidity from the indoor environment, thereby preventing mold infestation while also ensuring that the clothes are fit and ready to wear come the next season.

A dehumidifier goes a long way in ensuring that the process of drying clothes indoor is successful, which is achieved by removing the moisture so released from the indoor air. Besides, drying clothes indoors helps with preservation of their colors; with the advent of dehumidifiers, homeowners no longer need to hang their laundry outdoors to dry.

Household items like furniture will often rot if exposed to high humidity levels. Also, window and door frames and hardwood floorings can hardly maintain their structural integrity if the air surrounding them is filled with moisture.

This is where a dehumidifier comes in to save the day; it eradicates the unwanted moisture from the indoor air, preventing untimely deterioration of the homeowner’s property.

With reduced indoor moisture, home electronics and metallic appliances are protected from rust. Electronics like printers and computers are at a high risk of getting damage in the presence of high humidity in a home. This makes a dehumidifier a handy appliance that goes a long way in prolonging the lifespan of home appliances.

Mold typically grow on anything moist and damp; foods are not exempted. For example, development of fungus over bread triggers decay, which makes it poisonous and, thereby, unfit for consumption.

By extracting moisture from the indoor environment, a dehumidifier deters mold growth and therefore food like cereals and breads can last longer.

Besides, dehumidifiers can filter out pathogenic micro-organisms from the air, including bacteria. This further facilitates the homeowner’s efforts to keep fresher for long period of time. Fresh food is not only free from contamination but also more edible, devoid of staleness.

Too much moisture in a home is particularly manifest in basements and crawl spaces. This is because the dampness often results from underground leakage and burst pipes. Therefore, excess humidity can cause irreversible harm on a home’s structural integrity.

Over the years, too much moisture will often impact adversely on the wood in a home by causing them to warp, split or crack, and the support beams are no exception. Mold can also develop inside the walls and metal fittings might begin to rust.

The aftermath of excess humidity doesn’t spare the flooring materials either; mold and mildew will develop on the carpets and wood flooring, which could call for untimely replacement of the floor or expensive cleaning procedures.

Humid air can also penetrate walls, causing them to become soggy and unsightly. Moist walls might also attract mold and mildew. When the indoor air is excessively moist, the paint on the walls tends to bubble and peel and ultimately lose their aesthetic appeal.

Since mold is an aftermath of too much humidity, the best way of preventing structural destruction of a home is investing in a suitable dehumidifier. With this appliance, homeowners can sit back and relax knowing that their property as well as their family is protected from the repercussions of excess humidity.

Dehumidifiers are tasked with reducing the moisture content in the indoor air, creating drier and more comfortable home. This handy device will not only protect the home’s occupants from mold related health issues but also with maintaining the structural integrity of a home.

Besides, humidity levels above 50% have been shown to host mold and dust mites, both of which are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the home’s occupants. Having discovered the top five benefits of utilizing a dehumidifier, homeowners will want to invest in a suitable unit and keep these appliances fully functional all the time.