Humidity questions

[bobbym247]

Dear all,

I am really new to this humidity thing in Hong Kong and the nasty effects it can have around the house, such as mold and smell in clothes and around the house in general.

Can someone please offer some tips on how to combat humidity?

For example, should I be buying one of those dehumidifier machines from Fortress, which range from like HKD 2,000 to 3,000? If yes, which brand and specs are good? I saw one the other day called Delonghi...is that brand any good?

Or should I opt for those small non-electronic dehumidifiers, the ones where you peel off the silver top, which contain those white color substance?

Please help...I'm a single guy living by myself without any clue how to combat humidity. I didn't even know about it, until someone told me why the walls in my apartment sometime get wet and when it tries can turn into mold...yuck

Thanks all...muucho gracias

[Raccon]

Got a few threads about it but here are some comments:

- Forget about non-electric dehumidifiers / chemicals, they get used up too quickly
- keep your wardrobe doors open, then
- run your air-con in dehumidifier mode or
- buy a portable dehumidifer

If mold has developed get rid of it, it can pose a health hazard.

[jgl]

There are a slew of threads on this topic already. Try a search with "dehumidifier" or "humidity" as keywords.

In a nutshell: It largely depends on where you live. Some apartments have humidity problems, some do not.

If you have humidity problems, get dehumidifier. The little boxes with the peel-off tops are pretty useless. Which dehumidifier? Try this: http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/thread72273.html. Or keep your AC on.

[ReverendJay]

I have a Delonghi, seems to do the job just fine.

[carang]

we use a combination of the two. we have little hanging things for inside the wardrobes. the stuff inside them turn to gel when they're used up. lately, we've been going through quite a lot of them. we had a real problem with the clothes smelling and these things have put a stop to it (almost immediately).

we use dehumidifiers around the larger spaces of the house.

[Katiedot]

I do both too. The little things you peel the foil off last for a couple of months and you can put them in corners (drawers etc) where the air circulation isn't so good. And I run a dehumidifier too.

[PDLM]

I have both too - a cheapish Rowenta dehumidifier and some tubs and sachets in closed drawers and cupboards. I use one tub as the "canary in the coal mine" just in the room to warn me if the dehumidifier isn't doing its job.

[carang]

i used to have the tubs in the wardrobe, but they didn't seem to do the job properly and in drawers, they were just too big... the little sachets are fantastic!

[Boris]

Cheapest scientific method in NON July type weather.

Buy a fan, open a window, run the fan.
Mold spores do not like moving air ( not talking gale force or breezy, just moving air ) and this will show a dramatic effect. Open the wardrobe doors and the drawers, a bit. Keep the bathroom door open.

The recent, longer than normal, cold spell had the effect of cooling the buildings down and when the heat came back our downstairs building passage looked as if it had been hosed down. Had our windows open, fans on - no mold. Best have net curtains to stop the bugs being uninvited guests.

In July - different scenario I grant you. Need the dry setting on the aircon. Cool and dry. Widows shut. Save money, save the planet where you can.

[dropdedfwed]

your theory is good in theory Boris, but what about the moisture in b/w layers of clothes, where the air does not move?

also, a fan runs on only a few watts less than the 150watts a dehumidifier runs on (which can be 1/20 the power of a split a/c). for a efficiencey per watt performance i back the dehumidifiers.