Is This Your Year for a Whole-House Dehumidifier
High levels of humidity can cause structural damage to your home, your belongings and can even lead to health issues.
Moreover, mold can cause allergic reactions, respiratory problems, skin irritations and more.
Some signs that you have high humidity include:
- Moisture or mildew around windowsills
- Peeling wallpaper or paint
- Condensation on pipes
- A musty, mildewy smell
The building materials in your house, and also your furniture, expand as they absorb excess moisture. This causes everything to stretch and literally change shape. Paint will flake and wood will split. Add a little mold to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for serious structural damage that could have been prevented.
Mold contamination can also be to blame for ongoing respiratory problems, allergies, frequent head colds, skin rashes or other chronic health conditions. A whole-house dehumidifier denies mold one of the essential ingredients it needs to grow: moisture.
Ideally, the humidity in your house should be at about 45%. Opening a window isn’t a viable long-term solution in Tampa, where outdoor humidity levels can be just as high, or even higher.
A whole-house dehumidifier works by attaching to your HVAC equipment and pulling warm, moist air from your living space. The humid air moves over cold metal coils. This creates condensation (just like a cold bottle recently taken from the refrigerator). The condensation drips into a collection tank, and the water can then be pumped out of the house.
The amount of moisture the dehumidifier can remove depends on several factors, but most systems average about 10 gallons a day. That’s a lot of water that’s not being absorbed by your home!
If you would like more information about whole-house dehumidifiers, call Simpson Air. We’re happy to help preserve your home and health!
