Dehumidifier Selection Guide

by Jeff on June 13, 2009

Dehumidifiers are your first port of call for preventing overly humid conditions in your work place or home. Undesireable things like musty odors, mould rusting and so on are all far more likely to occur in areas of high humidity. A home dehumidifier can overtime completely eliminate the need for the use of a home dehumidifier. Here is our short buyers guide to getting the best dehumidifier for you:

Firstly a short explanation: if how dehumidifiers work will enable you to gain some valuable insights to allow you to find the best dehumidifier for your needs:

Most dehumidifiers work by absorbing excess moisture and water vapour from the air. They suck in air through a vent, cool it down fast which means that the air condenses. A fan then blows the air out of the dehumidifier. The condensed water then trickles into a holding tank or through a hose pipe leading to a type of drain. The best air dehumidifiers are not however only useful for lowering the humidity level, they are useful in order to:

Save energy– When the air around you is less humid you can feel cool regardless of whether the temperature is warmer, thus saving you on energy billing costs.

 

Supplement ACs To feel cool two things need to happen 1) cool enough air 2) dry enough air. Many times people leave their air con running because the air is musty, they will never actually reduce the air humidity significantly. The air conditioner would become more effective if you used a dehumidifier and reduce the need for you to keep it running for ages.

If a house is excessively humid in the long run then it may cause structural instability. Buckling floor panels, crimbling support beams can be very costly to renew not to mention the fact that it may decrease the value of your real estate.

On the market today you can find a massive range of dehumidifiers. They are usually categorised by their functionality. The categories usually are: residential, industrial and  commercial. When deciphering which is the best dehumidifier for you it is worthwhile considering the following elements:

Size: Dehumidifiers are designed in order to remove a  set amount of water out of a set amount of air per day. It is most easy to consider the size of the room you wish to be dehumidified rather than the amount of water you want to have removed as this is much simpler to workout. Often square foot guidelines are provided but even these may be inaccurate because your area depending on your location may have a humidity levels that differs greatly from the average.

you may be better off purchasing the next dehumidifier size up if your room is at the top end of the scale. This will reduce the stress placed on your dehumidifer and hopefully ensure its longevity.

For areas of especially high humidity then a larger more industrial sized unit might be better. If a smaller home dehumidifier is used then it will have to work for a greater periods of time which will affect its longevity and the amount of breakdown costs it may require. Some dehumidifiers are indeed designed particularly for troublesome areas such as basements, bathrooms and so on.

Many air dehumidifiers are not designed to operate in very cold conditions so again you will need to take this into consideration when making your purchase, the best dehumidifiers are equipped with anti-frost sensors so they will turn themselves off if they get too cold thus preventing themselves from getting damaged. These are even more important for enviroments like basements and outdoor buildings.

As with most products there are both high and low end products. The main variances are due to the range of features that are present on the dehumidifier and the amount of litres each hour they are able to draw out of the air. What you should try to do is find the best dehmidifier that match up with a list of features and qualities that you should make. Of course shopping around for a home dehumidifier is essential to make sure you are not paying over the odds and get the best dehumidifier (ebac dehumidifiers are highly recommended). Prices start from $200 to upwards of $1000 so there will always be an adequate choice.

 

 

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