Mold is a silent enemy. It creeps in unannounced and finds little spaces to make its home. By the time you discover its hiding place, that little mold spore has become a very big mold problem that could cost you a lot of money to clean up.
The way to keep mold away from your family and home is to bring in a top dehumidifier. These devices lower the humidity levels that make mold growth possible. They help you stop the mold before it becomes a large problem.
Does a Dehumidifier Help with Mold?
Mold will grow inside of homes and apartments when the humidity level reaches 55% and it really thrives if that level goes as high as 70%. A lower humidity level is one way to stop mold from finding a foothold in your home.
The way to lower that high humidity is to bring in a dehumidifier that is rated for the room’ square feet you need it in. Preventing mold growth is dependent on a good dehumidifier removing the moisture from the air and improving the air quality.
Once you figure out which dehumidifier you need and will work best in your home, you can stop the mold and mildew from forming and keep your house nice and healthy. How long you need to run the dehumidifier will be up to you and the area you live in.
If your home’s location is not in a high humidity zone, you should not have to run the device all day and all night. You need to judge this operation for yourself and your budget.
It is a good idea to look over the different dehumidifiers on the market today. Your needs should not be the same as your friend’s dehumidifier needs so do not buy a unit that is exactly the same as theirs. Your dehumidifier should meet your situation and house design.
Once you get the right one, you will see that these devices will help control your mold problem and keep the mold from growing. It will also make sure that new mold spores do not get inside your home and find a secure, hidden spot to live.
A good dehumidifier will lower the humidity levels in your home, all you have to do is set the controls and the dehumidifier does all the work. If you do not use the continuous drain function, the most you have to do is empty the water tank.
Of course, you do not have to drain the water into the sink. You can use it to water your plants, wash your car, or bike, or even flush the toilet. It is free water so use it to your advantage.
Does a Dehumidifier Improve Air Quality?
In a direct way, it does as it makes the room more comfortable, dryer and easier to breathe. But an air purifier actually removes the airborne pollutants from inside your house. This is something that dehumidifiers do not do.
Dehumidifiers do not remove smoke, or fumes, just the excess moisture. Air purifiers handle those jobs as well. There may be some days where you might need both devices working at the same time
What dehumidifiers are best at is removing the moisture so that mold growth should be a thing of the past for you.
Will a Dehumidifier Kill Mold?
In a word, no it won’t. Dehumidifiers have no effect on mold once it has grown and found a nice place to live. What that means is that you have to clean out the existing mold and mildew spores before using your dehumidifier to keep your house comfortable.
Removing the mold may get expensive depending on how much there is and where it is located. If it is behind the walls, expect a large cost in replacing the drywall and wood studs.
What dehumidifiers do is help prevent mold from finding a good home in your house. Which one you use is also up to you, your home’s size and you may want to go with a whole house dehumidifier to make sure you have 100% coverage.
Your mold problem will only go away if you take the right steps in cleaning up any existing spores and then take the right steps to lower those humidity levels.
As you can see, dehumidifiers do not kill mold and you may ask ‘does dehumidifier remove mold’. It is not the same question per se, as removing mold does not always kill the bacteria.
The mold will stay in place even as the dehumidifier removes the moisture. No matter which room you place it in, the dehumidifier has no mechanism to get the mold off the walls, floors or carpet, etc... That is a job that is left to you to accomplish. Removing mold can be a dirty job as it can grow just about any place including your crawl space.
Neither will a dehumidifier kill mold spores unless you count drying the air out as killing those little bacteria. All the dehumidifier will do is remove the excess moisture so those spores do not have the right environment live
Will a Dehumidifier Help with Mold in Bathroom?
The bathroom, kitchen and laundry rooms are special situations. Those rooms are all equipped, usually, with exhaust fans that are supposed to remove the steam and the moisture when turned on. Unfortunately, those exhaust fans are not always powerful enough to do the job.
What you do need is a smaller dehumidifier that will remove that steam and moisture those exhaust fans do not get. The device does not have to be large but it should be rated to meet the square footage of each room. A small to medium sized room can be covered by a portable dehumidifier that has the capacity of 30 pints to 50 pints.
Final Words
When you live in a high humidity area, stop mold before it gets started. Turn to a good dehumidifier that will keep the excess moisture that feeds mold away. Lowering the humidity levels down to 50% or lower is the key to stopping mold from entering your home.
Dehumidifiers provide you with a healthier place to live and makes everyone in your family more comfortable.
