Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by a012 on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @02:11AM
(#18448130)
Dehumidifiers are expensive in power consumption, I don't know which model is more effectively. I'm living in SEA, and get humidity level to 50% 24/7 in my studio equally to double my monthly electricity bill.
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by Cthulhu_ on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @03:43AM
(#18448464)
I don't know if these are effective, but in my country we have passive dehumidifiers which are basically containers with a load of salt or something like that which draws the moisture out of the air. Good enough to keep caravans in storage mold free. Probably not good enough for e.g. living rooms or actually moist locations, but maybe it scales up. Of course, you'd then need a lot of salt or whatever the stuff is.
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by majewsky on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @05:14AM
(#18448807)
I used the passive variant that you explained in my previous apartment and while it may be effective at keeping humidity down, it's not very effective in bringing a high humidity down. I got an electric dehumidifier and it's drastically more efficient. It pulls over two liters of water per day out of the air if the air is sufficiently humid. I've since moved, so I don't use it routinely anymore, but I still have it and occasionally use it to speed up the drying of clothes on a drying rack.
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by a012 on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @08:10AM
(#18449557)
My dehumidifier draws 4l per 8 hours.
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by detritus on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @10:50AM
(#18450752)
May I ask what model it is, please?
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by sokoloff on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @06:59AM
(#18449210)
Likely anhydrous calcium chloride.
The problem is, once the calcium chloride has absorbed the moisture from the air and is saturated, you have to take it out and dry it to make it effective again. That might be cheaper (in terms of energy) than refrigerant phase-change dehumidification, but it's a lot more labor intensive.
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by Thlom on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @05:22AM
(#18448844)
A house should be able to dehumidify on it's own by natural air flow. Maybe it's different in more humid areas?
Re:Build a do-it-yourself home air purifier for about $25
by briandear on Wednesday November 14, 2018 @11:16AM
(#18450967)
Vastly more different. A place like Houston is going to have “sealed” houses far more frequently than Scottsdale for instance. Sealed meaning the air conditioner will keep the indoor environment manageable. I remember as a kid my grandmother would use that god-forsaken attic fan in lieu of her window-unit air-conditioners and it was pretty much the zenith of misery in a Houston summer.
Natural airflow with the outside at 90% relative humidity isn’t going to do a thing other than make the interior occupants ornery.
The natural airflow design of Apple Park for example, that works incredibly well, but that same design in Houston or New Orleans would be catastrophically ridiculous.
The mould is still there but the dry air stops it from growing and sporing which is what makes you stick. If humidity creeps up the mould will grow again. Be aware that mould is virtually everywhere and is only harmful if there is enough of it around sporing or if you touch it.