Have you noticed signs of high humidity in your home or office? Do the walls and floor feel wet? Can you see condensation building on the interior of windows? Chances are that humidity levels are out of control and you need to consider purchasing dehumidifier maintenance for your existing unit, or purchasing a new dehumidifier to get things back under control.

Living spaces with high humidity can attract the perfect conditions for the development and spread of toxic black mold and mildew. Their spores travel in the air and enter your airways, causing respiratory distress that can develop asthma in young children and infections in older people.

Alongside the spores, high humidity can be the perfect breeding ground for parasites and pests that can wreak havoc on your health. Dust mites live in your mattress, curtains, carpets and rugs; they feed off dead skin cells that are discarded by your body and in an overly humid environment, they can spread like wildfire, adding thousands of new individuals to their colonies in a matter of weeks.

These issues alone are more than enough to make anyone living in a humid environment desperate enough to consider any solution to the problems. Fortunately, modern technology has the answer and the use of a dehumidifier can return your home or workspace back into a comfortable environment that is free from these parasites and molds.

Dehumidifier Maintenance

Modern dehumidifiers come with a host of features that you can expect to assist you in easily returning your living environment to comfortable relative humidity levels. Most brands and machines offer ‘plug and play’ as well as ‘set and forget’ settings that allow you to input your desired settings and then walk away as the unit goes to work.

However, while a dehumidifier may seem like the ideal solution for your humidity woes, there are a few tips on basic dehumidifier maintenance that you should consider and execute on in order to achieve the best operating potential from the unit and give you hours of efficient operation.

Keep it Clean

Over days and weeks of operation, your dehumidifier will attract dust and other particles from the air that will build up around the air-intake and the filter pads. These should be removed from the unit and wiped down with a soft cloth to remove the debris, before rinsing them clean and re-installing into the machine, its an easy part of dehumidifier maintenance.

By undertaking this basic piece of maintenance, you can expect to extend the average operating lifespan of your unit and increase its operating efficiency for years to come as the stress on the unit’s motor and fan system will be kept to a minimum.

The Water Tank

Dehumidifiers remove the moisture from the air and collect it in a water tank that is stored inside the unit. Usually the tank is easily accessible and simple to remove. You should empty the tank daily, depending on your usage, most dehumidifiers come with sensors that detect a full water tank and then automatically shut down until the water tank is emptied.

Check on the water tank daily and if there is any sort of mineral or algae build-up, simply give the tank a wash with some lightly soapy water and then rinse it clean before re-attaching it to the unit.

Compressor Cool-down

One of the most common operating errors found with poor dehumidifier maintenance and a primary cause of premature failure of in a dehumidifier is not allowing enough time for the unit’s compressor unit to cool down before turning the unit on again. If the unit is switched on before this cool down period expires (usually 10 to 15 minutes) then the sudden surge in pressure will cause the compressor to fail.

Fortunately, many modern units come equipped with pressure sensors as a standard feature that will not allow the unit to turn on if the cool down period has not been achieved. This safeguard is fantastic and a lifesaver to avoid accidental operation during the cool down period.

Filter Maintenance

The internal filters of the unit remove harmful bacteria from the air, these filters may become congested with dust over time and require removal from the unit and cleaning. Soak them in some lightly soaped water and then rinse them clean before re-fitting them to your unit.

The Final Word

A dehumidifier can be an excellent means of bringing the humidity in your home back to ideal living conditions, however, they do require a little bit of monitoring and maintenance from time to time. Take care of your unit and it will take care of you, here’s to your good health! We offer a range of dehumidifiers from small to big suitable for all purposes.