Where To Start?

Dehumidifiers are a fairly common device to find in a person’s house, usually stuffed in a corner of the basement collecting dust. A main reason for this is that many people don’t realize is how important it is to keep your home in a set humidity range. Having your house be too humid or not humid enough allows for bacteria, viruses, and fungi to thrive. Another concern people face with running a dehumidifier is how much energy it’s using to keep their home inside that recommended humidity range.

What You Should Know

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) did multiple studies back in 2016 where they learned that controlling humidity was important for more than just personal comfort. Having the humidity levels be below 30% or above 60% allows for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and mites to grow at a much faster rate. A test involving mice and aerosolized influenza also showed a higher mortality rate for the mice when the humidity level was outside of a 40% to 60% range.

Beyond the health benefits of keeping your home at a set humidity level, static electricity is another property that is affected by the humidity in the air. When the humidity levels drop below the 40% to 45% range, electrostatic shock becomes far more common. This is why static electricity seems to be more common during the cold, drier winter months as opposed to the more humid summers. Negating static electricity is very important if you work around flammables and/or sensitive electronics as all it takes is a little spark for everything to end up in flames or broken. ASHRAE 2016 study.

While the benefits of dehumidifiers are plain as day, a question most people have is “how much does it cost to run?” and rightfully so. Not all dehumidifiers are created equal so each one will very on how much energy it takes to keep the humidity at your desired level. Thankfully, there are many tools we can use to help figure this out. By using devices like a P3 Kill-A-Watt you are able to see how much electricity a device is using in a given set of time. To take things a step further, TP-Link offers their Kasa Smart power strip to let you not only monitor the electrical usage of multiple items but also turn them on and off whenever you want, wherever you want. Tools like these can help you be more conscious about how much electricity you’re using and save you money in the long run. As for what dehumidifier you should get, newer, higher end brands absorb more water from the air while also using less electricity and may also include a few added ease of life features such as a larger water storage tank or a pump to help with water movement. More modestly priced units don’t fall to far behind offering a similar absorption rate without all the excess features.

While a dehumidifier may seem like a waste of space, the benefits they provide are plentiful. Maybe it’s time to dust off the one in the basement or pick a new one up to help you and your family stay healthy at home.

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