Modern homes trap moisture as they have less natural air ventilation and tend to produce more moisture - Laundering, cooking, . By extracting unwanted moisture from the air, dehumidifiers not only improve your living environment, but reduce waste. Damp air takes longer to heat than dry air, so heating costs can also be reduced.

If you frequently smell musty odors or feel damp spots on the floors or walls of your basement, laundry room, or storage area during warm, humid weather, you need a dehumidifier.

The recommended humidity level inside your home during the summer is around 40 to 50 percent, and very humid conditions over an extended period can leave you uncomfortable and adversely affect your home. Musty smells, peeling wallpaper, warped wood, rusting tools, blistered paint and moisture dripping from pipes are signs of excessive humidity. These conditions are most common during spring and summer.

Dehumidifiers remove excess humidity by drawing moist room air over cold refrigerated coils. The moisture in the air condenses into droplets as it passes over the cold surfaces in the dehumidifier and into a container. "Dried" air then returns to the room at approximately its original temperature. For best results, the dehumidifiers should be located in an area closed to outdoor air and where air movement in and out of the unit is not restricted.

How do they work ?

Dehumidifiers and how they work

Heat pump dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers use a heat pump (similar to an air conditioner's heat pump) or chemical adsorbents to remove moisture from the air without cooling the air.

Dehumidifiers use a fan to draw indoor air over a heat exchange coil. The coil is almost freezing. The water in the air condenses on the coil and is drained. A second heat exchange coil reheats the air, which the dehumidifier exhausts into the room.

A heat pump dehumidifier dumps heat lost from the compressor and fan motors into the air. It returns to the indoor air the heat generated by the dehumidifier turning water vapour to liquid.

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