Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dehumidifier

Cheap "Dry Box" For Camera Gear?

justcorbly — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:57:25 -0800

Are there cheap alternatives for the large and elaborate "dry boxes" I see listed for use as dehumidified storage cabinets for lenses and other camera gear? I've built up a little collection, live where the summer humidity is often high, and do not run my AC 24/7. My first thought is that this is basically an airtight box with a bunch of dessicant inside. Can't really be that simple, though.

My basement smells of decaying fruit. Help!

mygothlaundry — Thu, 07 May 2009 07:56:36 -0800

My basement smells like rotting fruit. What is causing it and, since I'm thinking it needs dehumidifying, any dehumidifier tips or recommendations? I moved into my 1966 house in October. The basement is finished; i.e., it's not really a basement, it functions more as the first floor of the house - 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a laundry room. The house is built into a hill, so the basement level is completely underground on one side and half underground on the other two sides. The people who owned my house before me were enthusiastic if not completely skillful remodelers and they turned the basement into living space - it has concrete floors painted blue, a couple of windows, one room composed completely of glass doors and, well, it's hard to describe. There is not a lot of ventilation - a couple of sliding glass doors, one window.

All would be well except that there is this terrible sort of rotting fruit smell down there. If I leave all the windows and doors open the smell goes away for a while or at least recedes, but I can't leave them open while I'm sleeping or at work. It went away after I mopped the entire floor with pine sol, too, but then it came back.

We've had a lot of rain recently and it's very bad at the moment. I mean it smells like someone has been making pruno or something down there; like a still, like a giant heap of rotting fruit. Has anyone ever encountered this before? What could be causing it? Is it something scary, like black mold? It doesn't smell like mold and there's no visible mold or mildew anywhere.

I'm going to go buy a dehumidifier and see if that works. I know nothing about dehumidifiers, which brings me to the second part of this question: do I need one or two? It's about 800 square feet total. What should I be looking for? How often will I have to empty it (them)? And, should I be looking for any specific brands?

Mold and Mildew Prevention

jedicus — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:31:48 -0800

What is the better mold & mildew prophylaxis: a steam cleaner, a dehumidifier, or something else? My wife and I live in a ~900 square foot apartment. A few weeks after moving in we noticed an unpleasant musty smell. We quickly narrowed it down to the living room window unit, which had obvious mold growing on it. We cleaned the parts we could get to with bleach and installed new filters on it and the other window unit. The smell was better for a few days.

The problem is, the smell has returned, and lately it's been getting worse, but we haven't seen any visible mold. The apartment has always been fairly humid, and we think that may be an issue. Given limited funds, would we be better off investing in a steam cleaner for the carpet, a dehumidifier, or something else?

moldy mouldering mold

Post-it Goat — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:14:29 -0800

Will a dehumidifier work for my mold problem? The size charts say a 25 pint one (~$150) would be fine for my square footage, but would one be able to cover the bathroom, living room and bedroom considering they are separate rooms? Would the air flow be good enough, or should I get some of the much smaller (seems like less well-reviewed too) dehumidifiers that go for $50-$70 on Amazon and put one in each room? I've been in my (~600-700 sq feet) apartment for about a month, and already there are traces of mold growing on the ceilings in the bathroom and living room. I've also noticed a lot of condensation on the windows, especially when I run the heaters. The bathroom has a vent that I cleaned tons of mold out of, but even so it does not seem to work very well.

Complicating factors: I have a fish tank that evaporates quite a bit of water, and the bathroom has no wall outlet so ideally I would just get one dehumidifier and put it in the bedroom or something.

Thanks for any advice or shared experiences!

Begone, basement humidity!

Gordion Knott — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 06:54:46 -0800

Are you experienced . . . with buying dehumidifiers? I'm on the lookout for a dehumidifier to dry out a reasonably damp finished basement, with some mold but no standing water. The small amount of heat pumped out of the dehumidifier is actually a plus in my case -- it will get rid of the basement's continuous chill.

-Brand and model recommendations?
-Does it make sense to buy a dehumidifier with more umph than I need, for the sake of greater efficiency? (For example, buying a 1,000 sq. ft rated dehumidifier for my 500 sq. ft. basement).
-Other valuable tips?

Out damn humidity, out!

NotMyselfRightNow — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:00:30 -0800

Questions about dehumidifiers. I live in a 600-700sf garden-level apartment in Boston. The apartment stays cool on its own because it's half below ground, but the humidity is higher than I would like (and probably much higher than my books would!). I've been thinking of purchasing the Maytag 45 pint dehumidifier, because my local Home Depot carries it, epinions has good reviews of it, and it's Energy Star qualified. Does anyone have experience with this model?

Also, what kind of results can I expect? Do I need a larger/bigger model for an apartment this size, or is this one okay? What can I expect it to do to my electricity bills?

Any experiences/advice is much appreciated!