What Size Dehumidifier Should I Use?

Hygrometer

Humidity isn’t always something you want in your home, especially if you have certain allergies that are exacerbated by moist air.  Controlling the humidity in your home can turn into a hassle, sometimes, particularly if you live in an area where high humidity is a common occurrence. People often ask, “What size dehumidifier do I need?”

Dehumidifiers, whether for a room, crawlspace, or basement, are meant to help people successfully regulate the humidity found in and around their home.  Here, we’ll discuss the problems that dehumidifiers help to solve and help you figure out what size dehumidifier would be ideal for your situation.

Making a Cleaner Home Environment:

People often focus on using air purifiers to help clean the air in their home and, while these are definitely smart buys, dehumidifiers do a lot to keep various allergens out of the air.  Things like mold spores and dust can be dramatically affected by the humidity in a home.

Mold and dust mites love warm, humid spaces and can multiply in no time.  Mold can pose a variety of health risks and, to live with a specific mold allergy, life can get pretty miserable in a home where mold is running rampant.  Dust allergies are pretty common and can lead to year-round rhinitis issues.  Dehumidifiers are designed to remove humidity in a variety of spaces and external factors, with different-sized dehumidifiers being ideal for various uses.

Signs That You Need a Dehumidifier:

Before you even reach the issue of picking out the right kind of dehumidifier, you have to first recognize different signs that indicate you have a moisture problem.  Luckily, picking out these signs isn’t that hard.  Noticeable mold is an obvious sign that you have a problem with moisture/humidity, but so are musty smells.  Mold and mildew will have a distinct odor, so even if you can’t see any mold, the musty smell that accompanies it will give it away.

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Another clue to watch out for is condensation — something you can often see on windows but may also be able to feel on walls, cabinets, or furniture.  An increase in allergy problems may also be a good indicator that you have a humidity problem.  If you visit an allergist who is able to determine your particular allergies, and these turn out to be related to dust or mold spores, then it would probably be a good idea to cut down on the humidity in your home in order to control these allergens.

Localize Humidity Issues:

In order to figure out what size dehumidifier you should use, you’ll first need to identify the origin of your humidity problems.  Crawlspaces can be prime spaces for humidity that, in turn, causes mold growth on the underside of your house’s first floor.  Even if mold is growing under the floor, mold spores can find their way up and into your home.

All of that humidity and mold will also likely lead to rot, which opens a completely different can of worms altogether.  If you have a humidity problem in your crawlspace, then you’ll need to figure out the square footage and find a dehumidifier with a matching capacity.  You’ll also want to seal off your crawlspace from the outside so that humidity isn’t constantly being introduced into the area and the dehumidifier is able to successfully maintain a low humidity environment.

Basement staircase

Dehumidifiers that you’ll end up using in your home will typically be smaller and a little different than one you would install in a crawlspace.  A good rule of thumb to follow in picking the right size for different spaces is to choose one with a capacity that corresponds to the size of the space.

Dehumidifiers that can carry more pints of water in their reservoir — where water is stored once it’s been removed from the air — are ideal for larger spaces.  Small dehumidifiers in a large space just aren’t going to be as efficient — so save these for individual rooms.

However, while the water capacity to square footage rule applies in many cases, it’s important to know that other factors in your space will also affect the size you pick.  If you have a room that has particularly high moisture levels, even if the room itself is relatively small, then you’ll want to choose a larger dehumidifier that can keep up with the task of removing large amounts of moisture.  Size charts that take into account square footage, as well as moisture conditions, can help you figure out what dehumidifier sizing will work for you.

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