To stop the mold from growing on the walls, you need the humidity level to decrease inside the house.
Dehumidifiers help in reducing the humidity inside the house, but can a dehumidifier also kill the mold? The humidity level of the house should range from 35 to 50% to stop the mold from growing. As the dehumidifiers tend to start working slowly, they take at least a week to remove enough moisture, but reducing the humidity will only restrain the mold from spreading. Therefore, one should use some other methods to fully kill the mold.
Dehumidifiers do not kill the mold directly, but they play a significant role in controlling the humidity level of the house. Thus, prevent mold from growing. Let’s have a detailed discussion on the benefits of dehumidifiers.
Table of Contents
How Does a Dehumidifier Work?
Dehumidifiers are like vacuum cleaners as they suck the moist air from the room and release it after taking all the moisture out of it and collecting it in a water tank that needs to be taken care of from time to time. Now the main question is, how does it remove the moisture from the air?
A dehumidifier can work in two ways to remove the moisture: by refrigeration or by absorption.
Refrigeration Process
One side of the machine sucks the warm and moist air through a grille in the refrigeration process. An electric fan placed in the machine draws this warm air inside. After this, the humid air passes through the freezing pipes, which make it chilled.
When the warm air changes temperature, the water vapors present in the air also transform into the water and drip down off the pipes.
After becoming free of moisture, this air passes over a hot compressor and comes back to its original temperature. Finally, the warm and dry air blows back from the machine’s other side through another grille.
Absorption Process
A duct draws warm and moist air from the room, which moves past a large rotating wheel. This rotating wheel is made up of water-absorbing material, which removes the humidity from the air. After this, the dried air drawn by an electric fan is blown back out in the room.
Benefits of Using a Dehumidifier in the House
Dehumidifiers provide various benefits like preventing mold, making the environment clean, and reducing allergy symptoms.
Reduces Allergy Symptoms
Various allergy symptoms like sneezing, eye irritation, and itching are more likely to appear from mold, dust mites, animal dander, and pollen.
These allergens multiply in the moist environment or the rooms where water is present. Poor air circulation in the room also causes the climate to become dangerous for health. Dehumidifiers reduce the moisture in the air and restrain the growth of these allergens.
Controls Asthma
Air with humidity is more decadent, which makes it difficult for asthma patients to breathe. The use of a dehumidifier makes it easier for the lungs to breathe in and out. There are some studies that provide evidence that support the use of dehumidifiers for the treatment of chronic asthma.
Minimize Pest Related Problems
Allergies aren’t the only problem, but pests like spiders and cockroaches also gravitate in the humid environment. If the pests are being noticed in the house or in a specific room where the water is being used, dehumidifiers are an excellent choice to minimize pest-related problems.
Controls the Level of Moisture
A high level of moisture can cause damage to the structure of the house over time. Not only the infrastructure but moisture also damages the furniture of the house.
The tightly sealed homes with inadequate air circulation systems are more likely to have a musty or moldy odor. One might notice unusual stains on the walls and peeling wallpaper or paint in such houses.
Increases Comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
A house with a balanced humidity level is comfortable to live in, as one can notice from the use of air conditioners in tropical or muggy climates.
Dehumidifiers improve indoor air quality, making it more comfortable to live. With the cool and fresh air in the house, the air conditioner needs also decrease.
Decreases the Cost of Energy
With the use of a dehumidifier, the use of air conditioners decreases. The decrease in the use of air conditioners helps in saving electricity.
Therefore, the less energy used will cost less. Moreover, the latest dehumidifiers are being built, which use 15% less energy. Dehumidifiers installed in the whole house may look more expensive, but they use less energy than portable dehumidifiers.
How to Remove Existing Mold
To eliminate the mold to its fullest, you must remove the conditions that cause it to grow. While the main reason for its growth, humidity, can be reduced through a dehumidifier, the main question is how to make it vanish from existing?
The best way to remove mold from the house is by contacting a professional for mold remediation. It will not only help in removing the mold from its core but will also eliminate the conditions which allow it to grow.
One can remove the colonies of mold by exposure to heavy-duty chemicals and proper disposal of infested building material.
Products to Kill Mold
Chlorine Bleach: Sodium hydrochloride or household bleach is best to remove the mold from the walls. The bleach is usually quite sharp and should be diluted before using. Due to toxicity and dangerous fumes present in the bleach, Precautionary measures should be taken while using it, and one should not mix it with ammonia.
Hydrogen Peroxide: Hydrogen peroxide is less harsh than chlorine bleach, killing mold and lighten stains. Despite its quality of working as bleach, hydrogen peroxide works slower than chlorine bleach and has less dangerous fumes.
White vinegar: Vinegar is also commonly used to kill mold. It is sometimes diluted with water, but it works as the best mold-killer if used directly from the bottle on the affected area.
Vinegar should be left on the affected area for a while and then removed by scrubbing the mold with a brush. After a time, the smell of vinegar leaves, so if it is not tolerable, you can add essential oil in the vinegar before using it.
Baking Soda: Baking soda can also be used with vinegar and water or water alone to remove mold. Baking soda is very mild, and it removes the mold without leaving a scent behind.
Related Questions
Which one is better to kill mold, air purifier or dehumidifier?
An air purifier only kills the mold spores present in the air but not solves the leading cause of the problem: the moisture and humidity in the house. A dehumidifier works better to stop the mold from growing because it dries the air’s excessive moisture.
Will the mold die after drying?
Mold spores stay inactive when they become dry but remain a danger until they are in the environment. Without a proper cleaning process, the mold does not die as they only become inactive when adequate moisture is not available.
What are the disadvantages of a dehumidifier?
A portable dehumidifier is costlier as it consumes more energy than the dehumidifier installed in the whole house. We have come to know that the less expensive dehumidifiers cost more power than the costly dehumidifiers by some research.
Another disadvantage is the noise that the dehumidifiers make. Most of the dehumidifiers make 30Db to 55Db of noise. By the rule of thumb, desiccant dehumidifiers make less noise than compressor dehumidifiers.
Can a dehumidifier remove odors?
A dehumidifier not only dries the damp atmosphere, but it makes the air clean from the mold. The tightly packed houses have a moldy and musty smell in them as the air cannot pass through.
The whole house’s air can become clean and odor-free by Using the dehumidifier for a few weeks. If you want to remove the smell from a specific area, place the dehumidifier 6 inches or more from the walls, furniture, and curtains.
Open all the closets and close all the windows and doors. Turn the dehumidifier on and leave it for a while. The dehumidifier turns off automatically when the tank is full.
