How Basement Dehumidifiers Can Prevent Damage
Basement dehumidifiers can be one of the most important tools you have in overcoming a common and persistent problem, which is the presence of damp in areas which are beneath the level of the ground. This area is especially susceptible to damp, and to potentially damaging structural problems which are caused as a result of it, yet it can become a usable area of your home with a bit of ingenuity and the right equipment. Regulating the temperature and controlling the humidity are fundamental in allowing this to happen.
There are several risks associated with having damp in any area of your home, both to the structure of the property and the health of people who live there. Structural difficulties will be likely if the foundations of the property are built from wood or another material which is easily affected by moisture, and this will obviously be even more of a threat if you live in a region with a predominately wet climate. Health risks will only be a potential problem if you regularly use the basement for leisure activities or work. If you do, you will definitely need a dehumidifier solution.
The main considerations when you are looking at dehumidifiers for basement use will be economy of use and ease of maintenance. How cheaply such a unit can be run will depend entirely on the needs of the specific basement which you will need to treat, but ease of maintenance will be something you can plan no matter what the state of your basement installation. If you are going to be using the basement as an extra room in your house, it will need to be properly lined in the first place. The dehumidifier can then be fitted in a place where maintenance will be as easy as possible.
You can even use some brands of basement dehumidifiers to carry out more than one task at any given time, and this could be useful if you have people in your home who suffer from dust allergies or some types of breathing difficulties. You can combine the dehumidifier with an air purifier, or a unit which ionizes the air to provide more negative ions. If you have a basement which is located in a climate which undergoes great change, it may also be useful to have a unit which can switch from being a dehumidifier to actually being a humidifier.
It is always important to run dehumidifiers for basement use as economically and efficiently as possible, whether the use is only needed occasionally, or every day. If the basement is only used occasionally, it may still be necessary to turn the dehumidifier on at other times to prevent moisture causing permanent damage. This may not even use any more power, because the setting which you need to use when the unit is on during regular use may be a lower one. Regular use will always be easier to control, and you will find the optimum setting largely through trial and error.
Choosing from the wide range of basement dehumidifiers which are now available is not necessarily easy, especially when you consider that many of the multi-purpose dehumidifiers will also be usable in a basement. A lot will depend on your usage pattern, as some dehumidifiers are best when they are left on a low setting for a long period of time, while others are powerful enough to use efficiently in short bursts. Make use of the reviews which are easily found on the Internet, both from professional testers of this type of equipment, and users who have actually purchased their basement dehumidifiers.
Written by Marc Knox
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