Spring in Massachusetts means sunshine and flowers&#;but it also tends to bring a lot of rain, and that can mean high humidity for your home. The damper your home, the more likely you may experience mold, mildew, allergies and even increased energy costs. Fortunately, dehumidifiers can be a great solution to removing excess moisture. Check out these tips for using your dehumidifier to the fullest this rainy season and beyond.
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How Does a Dehumidifier Work?
As air loses heat, it begins to lose its capacity to retain moisture. This is the reason why the outside of your iced coffee cup sweats on a hot day &#; as the air around the cup cools, moisture condenses out. Similarly, a dehumidifier pulls in hot and humid air with a fan and, as this air passes through, it comes into contact with cooled coils; when contact occurs, the moisture condenses out of the air and remains on the coils. From there, the collected moisture drips into a bucket, and the air is exhausted back into the room. Through this process, dehumidifiers remove excess moisture from the air, helping eliminate uncomfortable dampness in your home.
When Do I Need a Dehumidifier?
By removing unwanted moisture, dehumidifiers help prevent the build-up of mold, mildew, fungi, and dust mites in your home, all of which are common allergens. Mold allergies, for example, are a significant contributor to childhood asthma. This means dehumidifiers can benefit you and your family&#;s health by reducing these allergens and improving indoor air quality. Dehumidifiers are great for pets too, which can suffer from the same allergies and infections. Plus, dehumidifiers help remove that &#;wet dog&#; scent or similar musty odors.
Managing moisture levels in your home also prevents structural damage. Basements and crawl spaces are often prone to dampness, which can ultimately lead to rot in your home&#;s foundation. Perhaps more surprisingly, a less humid indoor climate also helps ensure things like bread and cereal don&#;t go stale too quickly, and you&#;ll be less likely to find rust and corrosion on tools, computers, and other electronics. These benefits promote a healthy indoor environment and make dehumidifiers great to use not only during muggy summers, but also during damp weather in the spring and early fall.
Hibernating for Winter
While comfort may improve by having a dehumidifier on during the warmer, more humid seasons, it is not only unnecessary to leave running during the winter &#; it could do harm to the appliance itself. Most dehumidifiers should not be operated in temperatures under 60° F because of the potential for moisture removed from the air to freeze on the coils, which can damage the unit. So, while a dehumidifier can prove beneficial during the spring, summer, and early fall, it&#;s best to unplug your unit as the colder weather arrives.
Making the Upgrade
As winter morphs into spring and you go to plug in your dehumidifier, it&#;s a good time to think about whether you should upgrade your unit. If you&#;re not using an ENERGY STAR® certified dehumidifier, it&#;s a great idea to invest. ENERGY STAR certified models remove the same amount of moisture from the air as non-certified models, but use 15 percent less energy! That&#;s more than $300 in energy savings over the course of five years.
Additionally, you can save even more by taking advantage of rebates provided by the sponsors of Mass Save®. In addition to a $30 rebate available for purchasing an ENERGY STAR certified dehumidifier, you also have the opportunity to receive a $30 rebate for recycling your old dehumidifier at no-cost during an upcoming dehumidifier turn-in event. This means you could earn up to $60 in rebates!
To learn more about rebates available through the Mass Save program, visit MassSave.com/Rebates! You can also check out the Mass Save Facebook page for additional tips and tricks to improve your home&#;s energy efficiency. For now, we leave you with this simple one: use a dehumidifier during the spring, summer and early fall to keep moisture at bay, but unplug and stow it away during the winter to prevent damage to your unit.
Lighting & AppliancesFeeling hot and sticky during the summer is a familiar feeling. And while you can&#;t change the oppressive air outdoors, it&#;s a different story inside your home.
Enter the dehumidifier&#;a home appliance that removes water vapor from the air to help you control humidity. There are some clear signs when a dehumidifier is a must: dampness on windows, mildew growth, musty odors, peeling paint. But even when humidity&#;s effects aren&#;t so obvious, this tool can be an important summertime addition to your home. Here&#;s why.
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If you want your home to remain as comfortable as possible during the summer months, you should consider using a dehumidifier to reduce the amount of moisture in the air. Using a dehumidifier during the summer also improves the air quality inside your home and can eliminate potential allergens like mold and mildew.
Inhaling damp indoor air can lead to coughing, wheezing and asthma symptoms, says the EPA. But keeping the relative humidity in your home between 30 and 50 percent will considerably reduce the growth of dust mites and other allergens. The EPA also says that managing humidity could reduce the level of toxins like formaldehyde from things like wood products, cigarette smoke, paints, varnishes, and carpets, which can be released when indoor air is too hot and humid.
Excessive humidity can encourage mold growth and attract pests like termites. Over time, this can cause decay and corrode building materials, says the EPA, resulting in damage to wooden support beams and floors, paint, furniture and insulation. Prolonged exposure to moisture can also warp books and may even take a toll on electronics.
Since dry air feels cooler, using a dehumidifier for summer may help you save money on cooling bills by allowing you to use your air conditioner less (or set it at a higher temperature). One study from the Department of Energy conducted in Florida found that a whole-house dehumidifier used with a central air-conditioning unit would yield projected space-conditioning energy savings of 8.2 percent over the course of a year.
&#;Size&#; doesn&#;t reference the dimensions of the dehumidifier, but rather its capacity&#;how many pints of water it&#;s capable of removing from the air during a 24-hour period. For a home with lower levels of humidity, Energy Star recommends using a 10- to 16-pint size for 500 square feet and up to a 26- to 44-pint size for 2,500 square feet, depending on the level of dampness.
Most portable dehumidifiers have a removable water bucket and a warning light to alert you when it&#;s full, as well as a fitting for a hose connection (so you don&#;t have to empty the water tank). You may also want to look for a frost sensor to keep frost from forming on the condensing coils if the temperature drops below 65 degrees.
Look for an Energy Star-certified model, which will have more efficient refrigeration coils, compressors and fans than a conventional model and will use nearly 30 percent less energy.
Portable units cost less up front, but the capacity of moisture removal is much lower and the operating cost tends to be higher, says Bill Ramsey, a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) professor in Georgia. A custom whole-house unit will need to be sized and installed by a contractor, but in the long term, he says, the lower operating costs and stable comfort can be worth the investment.
You can often find the best deals for portable dehumidifiers in late summer and early fall, says Ramsey. At that time, too, you&#;ll likely be able to negotiate a better price for a whole-house system than you&#;d get when the weather is humid and contractors are busy.
Most dehumidifiers have top-mounted air discharge and can be placed against walls, but side-discharge units should be operated away from walls and furniture so that air can circulate freely, notes Energy Star. To increase efficiency, make sure to close doors and windows to the room while it&#;s running.
Here&#;s another way to breathe easier: homeowners or renters insurance through the GEICO Insurance Agency. See if you could save money with a free, fast quote.
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By Nicole Cherie Jones
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