If your home has high levels of moisture within the air, this can cause problems for you and your home. High levels of moisture can result in an increase in molds, which can damage your health. A device called a dehumidifier (or luftbefeuchter in Germany as I found out) can help to reduce the levels of moisture in the air.
However, if you are constantly needing to run a dehumidifier, you may need to get your home checked for structural issues. Alternatively, if you are looking for a new home, discovering any potential or existing mold problems is very important.
When buying a new home, you should be aware of any smells within the home. Smells are always a good sign that there is a mold problem within the home. Even if you can smell bleach, this may be a sign that the current owners are trying to remove mold using the combination of bleach and water.
Molds will often create a musty smells in the home, especially in bathrooms and basements, where humidity levels are generally high.
A university in America is currently building a new system which would allow you to monitor the air quality in a specified area of your town. Although you could only get a report for the outside air quality, you could get some sort of idea of what it’s like inside the houses. Generally if the air quality outside is poor then this can often spread into the houses in the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, this system is still within testing, plus it would require sensors in all areas of the city to monitor the air quality. Alternatively, while you are house hunting, you could get a thermo-hygrometer to monitor the air quality.
If you currently have a problem with high moisture levels in your home, a dehumidifier is one way to combat it. However, if the problem isn’t controlled then the mold spores can spread around the home and cause damage to your property. Resolving issues caused by molds can be costly, and if they are not looked at quickly, they can cause damage to your health.
It’s odd, as I was researching for this article, I found lots of foreign equivalents. It’s slightly odd how the Mexican translation of dehumidifiers humidificadores, and the French word, humidificateurs, can be very similar, however, the German translation, luftbefeuchter, is totally different.
Tags: air quality, appliances, dehumidifiers, Health, home