A Whole House Dehumidifier

There are a few scenarios in which you might need a whole house dehumidifier, hopefully the reason you need one is for personal comfort from humidity rather than health reasons brought on by dampness in the house. Whole house dehumidifiers can be run continuously as a way of ensuring that the immediate living or working area is kept dry and comfortable.

Apart from reducing the level of the humidity in the house a whole house dehumidifier might be required if the basement is found to be overly damp and that dampness is affecting the rest of the house.

A home that is plagued with damp and humid conditions is a breeding ground for molds and mildew. Another common allergen in the form of dust mites also thrive in high humidity. Not only that but it is an uncomfortable environment to live in on a daily basis.

It may not have actually registered that a whole house dehumidifier is the appliance that you need to make living in your house more comfortable. You may simply have thought that the conditions were a necessary part of living in the location that you do and there was nothing you could do about it. Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar to you?

• The house has suffered extensive water damage that must be quickly removed.
• There is a noticeable musty smell throughout the house.
• Mold or mildew continually grows on the walls and ceilings of the house.
• You have trouble sleeping at night because of the constant humidity in the air.
• Family members or you have problems with allergies, asthma or other breathing problems.
• The tiled or hard floor surfaces feel a little sticky or damp when you walk on them with bare feet
• A persistent problem with water condensation on the water pipes.

One, some or all of these factors may be taking place in your home and can be caused by moisture that is present in the home. This moisture can be affecting the health of you and your family but it can also be affecting the walls, ceilings, floor and furnishings within the house. Failing to take action could be endangering your family and destroying your belongings.

By running a whole house dehumidifier in the background your home’s humidity level will be normalized very quickly and you entire housing structure, the furniture, the walls and ceiling will all benefit. In fact, running a dehumidifier in the basement of the house, if this is a problem area, can work wonders in relieving musty smells throughout the entire house, dampness and recurring mold growth.

Depending on the extensive nature of the moisture problems within the house you have a choice of two types of whole house dehumidifiers that can offer you the most appropriate value. You can choose between a portable dehumidifier or an integrated whole house dehumidifier. In looking at the whole house version we will also discuss the benefits of the smaller, portable options.

When the majority of the home is beset with moisture and humidity problems then you will need a whole house dehumidifier. These units are larger and more powerful than the portable units and can be hooked up to the home’s ducted air-conditioning system if one exists. They can be operated from a remote area of the house and will run inconspicuously in the background out of the way from the occupants.

If you don’t have central heating or cooling you may still opt for a whole house dehumidifier if the area you are trying to dry out is a large, open area that will be accessible by the dehumidifying operation.

There are a few advantages to using a whole house dehumidifier and the main one is that it is a more energy efficient unit than portable dehumidifiers. They are designed to run for long periods of time integrated with an existing air conditioning system. An added advantage is that the units themselves are quite small and when they are installed inside your existing heating or cooling system they will be completely out of sight.

Many whole house dehumidifiers are self-draining which means that they can be hooked up to a drainage system that will take the captured moisture away and out of the house.

When trying to decide on the kind of dehumidifier to get one of your main concerns should be that it will be able to do the job required without being disruptive. For the dehumidifier to do the job properly it is likely that it will have to be running for a long period of time. You are also going to have to attack the parts of the house where the worst of the problems occur.

Buying a crawl space dehumidifier will answer both of the needs mentioned above. It can be put in a place that is out of the way, but crucially, the crawl space is the place where a lot of the problems emanate from. A poorly ventilated crawl space under the floor that contains a lot of moisture can be sending mold spores into the house from below. Add to this the possibility that the damp can be getting into the framework of the house and you have a dangerous situation.

A crawl space dehumidifier makes a lot of sense and they are compact but quite powerful pieces of equipment that can work away and turn an unhealthy part of the house into a dry area that can assist in turning the entire house into a much more healthy place to live. In a way the crawl space dehumidifier is very much like a whole house dehumidifier without having to go through the rigmarole of connecting up the necessary ductwork.

The obvious benefit from using a dehumidifier is the health risks are being dealt with. Allergens such as mold are having the conditions in which they thrive removed. Dust mites also thrive in high humidity conditions and lowering the humidity below their preferred level will help to reduce the dust mite numbers.

A house that has had the humidity lowered is a more comfortable place to live. It will no longer be necessary to put up with feeling uncomfortably sticky simply because it’s a humid day outside. When the dehumidifier is integrated into the air conditioning system will allow you to control the humidity without having to unnecessarily cool the house down until it feels like an icebox.

Your furnishings will be protected from mold and mildew damage that accompanies a high humidity environment. Homes with hardwood floorboards run the risk of warped floors from the swelling that may come from the excess moisture in the air.

Portable dehumidifiers are suitable for smaller problem areas or for intermittent moisture problems that require short periods of operation. These units can be moved from room to room as required and are simple to plug in and operate when needed.

Sometimes a portable dehumidifier may be operated for house cooling purposes, something that is appropriate in areas where the humidity gets high during the summer months. The downside with using a portable dehumidifier is that, as the moisture is removed from the air, the unit will begin to fill with the captured water and it will need to be emptied on a regular basis.

A type of dehumidifier that sounds as though it could be a unit that will dry the entire house, but actually isn’t, is a closet dehumidifier. Closet dehumidifiers are installed inside the closet to protect clothes and other valuables from the mold and mildew that can take hold in an environment that may become warm and damp just the same as other parts of the house. A closet dehumidifier is a small unit that is designed to operate in a small space and will help to keep your clothes fresh and dry from one wear to the next.

A whole house dehumidifier might sometimes be referred to as a closet dehumidifier because it is recommended that these units are installed out of the way in places such as a closet. However, these units are then hooked up to ducting that reaches to all parts of the house rather than in the closet itself.

Some people might be a little confused over what the capacity quoted in the name of dehumidifiers might mean. A 50 pint dehumidifier means that the unit is capable of removing 50 pints of moisture from the air in a 24 hour period. Naturally, this means that the higher the capacity, the faster the water will be removed from the room. What this also means is that the bucket is going to have to be emptied more frequently if the dehumidifier is not attached to a draining hose.

When you come to buy a dehumidifier you will have to decide on the capacity that you want to get. A 50 pint dehumidifier is capable of removing 50 pints of water from the air in a day. If you have a dehumidifier with a bucket, this means that you will be required to empty the bucket whenever it gets full. When dehumidifier buckets become full the unit cuts out until the bucket is emptied.

Even the wettest of conditions in an area of around 1000 square feet in size would only need a dehumidifier with a 20 pint capacity to remove the moisture. The tendency is to get a unit with as great a capacity as you possibly can. After all, you want the moisture removed as quickly as possible. However, it is possible to remove too much moisture turning the area into an uncomfortably dry environment.

A whole house dehumidifier can be set so that it only operates when the humidity level in the house rises above 70 per cent. With a 50 pint dehumidifier in operation, the need to empty a bucket may be removed by connecting the unit up with a draining hose. Not all systems come equipped with draining hoses and there will be a time of operation when the bucket will have to be emptied quite regularly. As the humidity level drops the frequency will drop and you won’t be called on to see to the bucket as often.

There are many portable dehumidifiers with a capacity of 50 pints and higher that are very effective at keeping the room at a comfortable level. Once the moisture level in the room has been stabilized it can be left to automatically switch itself on and off as required. Smaller units also operate quietly so they can sit in the room virtually unnoticed while they do their job.

You will find many top quality 50 pint dehumidifiers for under $300 from top companies such as Frigidaire, DeLonghi, GE, Danby, Honeywell, LG, NewAir and more.

The following are some of the questions often asked by people trying to decide whether a dehumidifier is appropriate for their home.

Can a dehumidifier be hooked up to central air unit?

The answer is yes. This is possibly one of the big questions that are asked by people trying to decide whether they should invest in a whole house dehumidifier. In fact, the best solution is to make use of the existing ductwork through which the air conditioner operates.

Can dehumidifiers do the entire house?

You can set your dehumidifier up to operate through the entire house, all it would take is the access into each room so that the humid air is drawn out and the dehumidified air is returned.

What are the benefits to running a dehumidifier?

There are quite a few benefits to operating a dehumidifier in the house. First of all there will be less chance of mold or mildew growth throughout the house. The permanent stuffy feeling that often accompanies a home with high humidity will be gone. Restless nights trying to sleep should suddenly be solved due to the operation of a dehumidifier. The air quality will be vastly improved and the air will be healthier with the moisture content reduced. The house itself will be more protected because the presence of moisture is also not healthy for the structure and fittings in the home. It can lower your energy bill because you may find that you won’t have to run the air conditioner quite as often in the warmer months.

Where do you put the dehumidifier if you have 2 floors in the house?

This will depend on whether there is a humidity problem in both floors. If the entire house is experiencing a humidity problem then you need a whole house dehumidifier and you should position the unit in a place where it will be the least disruptive. For some people this may be the basement or perhaps you would rather it in the utility room. The unit will be connected up to a duct system which means it is going to operate from another part of the house no matter whether there are 2 storeys, 3 storeys or only a single storey.