You use a dehumidifier to limit mold growth, cut down dust-mite allergens, protect your home’s structure, boost day-to-day comfort, and even trim your cooling bill.
If you’re in need of commercial or industrial dehumidifiers, be sure to check out our dehumidifier unit range and reach out to our team for expert repair, servicing, and maintenance solutions.
Reasons to Use a Dehumidifier
1. Keep mold and mildew in check
Mold spores start colonizing once indoor relative humidity (RH) stays above 60 percent. A dehumidifier holds the room at the recommended 30 – 50 percent RH, blocking that growth before it takes hold and preventing musty odors and health-irritating mycotoxins.
2. Reduce dust mites and allergy triggers
Dust-mite populations fall sharply when RH drops below 50 percent. By drying the air, you remove the moisture these microscopic pests need to survive, which means fewer sneezes, wheezes, and itchy eyes for you and your family.
3. Protect wood, paint, and electronics
Excess moisture warps floorboards, swells door frames, peels paint and accelerates rust or corrosion on metal parts. Maintaining mid-range RH prevents that slow structural damage, saving you the cost and hassle of premature repairs.
4. Improve everyday comfort
Humid air slows the evaporation of sweat, making a room feel several degrees warmer than the thermostat shows. Lowering humidity by just 10 percent can make the air feel 3 – 5 °F (about 1.5 – 3 °C) cooler, so you feel fresher without cranking up the air-conditioning.
5. Trim energy use
Because drier air feels cooler, you can raise the AC’s set point and still stay comfortable. Studies on mixed HVAC–dehumidifier setups show cooling-energy savings of roughly 5 – 10 percent over a humid environment kept at the same comfort level. Over a long, hot season, that translates into noticeable reductions on your utility bill.
What is the Best Way to Use a Dehumidifier?
The best way to use a dehumidifier is to place it in the damp room’s center, set the target humidity to 40 – 50 percent, run it on “auto,” keep doors and windows shut, route the condensate to a drain (or empty the tank daily), and clean the air filter every month.
1. Check the starting humidity
What you do: Use an inexpensive hygrometer (around $10) to see whether your room’s relative humidity (RH) is above 55 percent.
Why it matters: Knowing the baseline tells you if the unit must run constantly or only during peak humidity, preventing wasted energy.
2. Size the unit correctly
What you do: Choose a 30-pint (≈14 L/day) model for 200 – 500 sq ft, or a 50-pint (≈24 L/day) model for 500 – 1 000 sq ft.
Why it matters: An undersized unit will run nonstop yet still leave the air damp, while an oversized one short-cycles and consumes more power than necessary.
3. Place it where air can circulate
What you do: Position the machine near the room’s center or at least 6 in (15 cm) from walls and furniture.
Why it matters: Unblocked airflow lets moist air reach the coils evenly, boosting moisture-extraction efficiency by up to 15 percent.
4. Shut doors and windows
What you do: Close the room before switching the unit on.
Why it matters: Preventing outdoor moisture from re-entering helps you reach the 40 – 50 percent RH target faster and keeps the compressor from overworking.
5. Set the target RH to 40 – 50 percent and choose “Auto”
What you do: Dial in the exact RH on the control panel and enable the automatic mode.
Why it matters: This range halts mold and dust mites without over-drying the air, and “Auto” cycles the compressor only when needed to save electricity.
6. Arrange drainage
What you do: Attach a hose to a floor drain, sink, or condensate pump; if you rely on the bucket, empty it once it’s half full.
Why it matters: Continuous drainage keeps the unit running without shut offs, letting it remove its full rated moisture each day.
7. Clean the filter every 30 days
What you do: Slide out the mesh filter, rinse it, let it dry, and replace.
Why it matters: A clear filter maintains steady airflow clogged filters can cut extraction capacity by about 20 percent.
8. Inspect coils seasonally
What you do: Unplug the unit, remove the grille, and vacuum dust from the evaporator and condenser fins.
Why it matters: Dust-free coils exchange heat more efficiently, lowering energy use and extending compressor life.
9. Monitor and adjust
What you do: Recheck RH weekly; if readings stay below 40 percent, raise the set point by 5 percent.
Why it matters: Avoiding needless runtime trims electricity costs every 5 percent increase in the target RH can save roughly 3% in energy.
Follow these nine steps and your dehumidifier will keep the room comfortably dry, mold-free, and energy-efficient without extra fuss.
When to Use a Dehumidifier, Summer or Winter?
Use your dehumidifier in summer, because warm air holds much more moisture than cold air, so indoor humidity spikes fastest then.
Reason to Use a Dehumidifier in Summer
Everyday activities showers, cooking, even breathing add roughly the same absolute amount of moisture year-round, but in summer that moisture has “room” to stay suspended instead of condensing. As it builds up, indoor relative humidity (RH) shoots past the 55 % comfort ceiling, so you actually feel the heaviness and see mold-risk readings on a hygrometer.
The Clausius-Clapeyron relationship shows that saturation vapor pressure rises exponentially with temperature; at 30 °C (86 °F) air can hold about 30 g of water per kilogram, while at 15 °C (59 °F) it holds only ~13 g / kg. Because summer air’s capacity is more than double, it absorbs moisture quickly and keeps it airborne, driving RH into the mold-friendly 60 %+ zone exactly where a dehumidifier is designed to pull it back down.
When Should You Not Use a Dehumidifier?
You should not run a dehumidifier when the room’s relative humidity is already below 30 percent, the temperature sits under the unit’s safe operating range (about 60 °F / 16 °C for most compressor models), outdoor air is drier than your indoor air and you can ventilate instead, or the dampness comes from an unrepaired leak that needs fixing first.