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If moisture is allowed to enter a house it can cause many problems with the damp that it creates. Near the top of that list certainly are allergies, mold, loss of household energy efficiency and damage to property (which can become structural damage over long periods of time.

If you want to avoid these problems and gain better air humidity, quality and prevent your house from suffering the effects of damp and become more energy efficient, then there are a few things that you need to consider. Moisture control should be of high priority. If you want to be saved from the harmful effects of damp caused by moisture and improve your households energy efficiency then you need to effectively control the moisture level in your household.

To improve the flow of water moisture around your household the following three things need to be concentrated on.

1) Attics 2) Foundations/Basements 3) Walls 

In order to effectively control moisture flow through a home you need to understand the basics of how it moves. The three usual ways for moisture to travel through the house are: 1) By heat transfer 2) By diffusion 3) Via air currents.

By far the most important way moisture travels is through water vapor in wall cavities via diffusion. The air due to simple physics will of course always move from an area of high concentration (outside) to an area of low concentration (inside) through any gap. Transfer of moisture via air flow currents is by far the quickest method, usually cracks and holes in walls are the number one reason for this occurring and these should be effectively filled in.

The other method of diffusion, through materials and heat transfer takes a lot longer and the usual household building materials are already very effective at stopping this from occuring, along with insulation that works in reduction of heat transfer.

It will also be helpful to fully understand exactly how moisture appears in a household. Firstly water is often carried through the air, the higher the air temperature the greater the volume of water it is able to move around. As the temperature of the air decreases it will hit a point at which it is no longer capable of carrying that moisture. The air’s moisture will condensate on a nearby cold spot, when the air hits this temperature that is aptly named the dew point.

Therefore by installing vapor diffusion retarders, sealing any cracks or holes in walls and ensuring a good flow of air are the best and simplest ways to control moisture transfer in your house. If you are still having trouble with moisture then seriously consider the use of a home dehumidifier (ebac dehumidifiers come highly recommended) they are very effective at extracting moisture from the air even in very damp conditions. If you follow the above guidelines then you ought to be able to effectively handle most damp and moisture problems either with or without a home dehumidifier.  

Tags: Cooling, , Heating

Tags: Heating, Cooling,