Dehumidifier question

[Jo]

Hi,

We have been advised to get a dehumidifier for our 3-4 bed Victorian house. The make quoted to us by the 'Damp Man' was a Delonghi (no model given). Has anybody got any experiences of this brand or recommend an alternative ?

Thanks, John

[Andrew Gabriel]

Would you like to explain the problem? There's very little trust in this group in "Damp men" ;-) Whilst dehumidifiers can have their role, you are need to be careful about using them in a Victorian house because they can do serious damage to the timber too, and there are usually less risky and more effective ways to solve most damp problems.

[Jo]

The problem is in two rooms - both with 3 cold outside walls. The kitchen extension has suffered severe condensation problems. Humidity in this room was fairly high. The other problem room is our daughter's bedroom - again a similar problem -

3 outside walls, very cold (but she hates to have the heating on in her room). Again, humidity in this room is high.

Jo

[Stuart Noble]

See what she thinks about cork wall tiles. Gives you a massive notice board and was very effective when I did it in my son's room 30 years ago

[mail]

Jo There are two problems - associated with each other. One is your production of water vapour as a house hold - the other is the poor U values (insulation) of the walls. Attack both and you could solve the problem. Read up on the causes of condensation and cut out or minimise your production of water vapour (eg trickle vents in windows, lids on saucepans, no hanging of washing in bathroom to dry, tumble drier vented outside, sleep with window open such as to allow vapour (1.5 L per person) out etc etc Consider internal insulation on walls eg Kinspan A dehumidifier will not solve the problem unelss you seal yourselves in - better to cure the cause than the symptom chris

[meow2222]

Dehumidifier sounds like the best option in this case. Be sure to get a humidistatic one, as overdrying by an uncontrolled one can end up causing timber damage.

Make is immaterial, though I never recommend Amcor.

NT