Sorry, not sure if this is the right place to ask. My room is rather warm and humid, causing a lot of mildew and a damp musty smell. I was thinking of getting a dehumidifier for my room, but when I read through, the dehumidifier works by condensing the water droplets in the air, and then blowing out warm air. I don't get this part. If it blows out warm air, wouldn't it cause increased humidity?

My next question is, how suitable is the use of a dehumidifier in Malaysia? Of course, in western countries that go through winter, it works like a charm to both dehumidify and to warm the room, but I just want dehumidifying function without warming up the room any further.

I know air conditioning acts as a dehumidifier, but I can't have it on all day, and it doesn't prevent mildew and in fact, contributes to the musty stink when it is turned off.

Does anyone have any solution to this? (Besides dehumidifier crystals)

The proper way is to keep your room clean and have proper air circulation.

Easier said than done. MBR toilet has a good circulation, but still damp. Walk in closet area has poor circulation, so remains moist most of the time. I tried using ventilation fans, but still not achieving good results

Maybe you should state how big is your room and what you have inside. Some photos will be good also.

Dehumidifier is work exactly like aircon. It use cool side to extract the water. Water will be drop down into the container.

The hot air that blow out is your room air. The gas inside the condenser need to be cool down before going back to the evaporator to extract the moisture. So the blow air is actually a dry air.

Since it is blowing hot, that don't suit much in here. Unless you don't mind. But the hot air blowing is not really that hot. I have experience few yrs with handling this panasonic humidifier. A close room like closet wil get warm. I use it in factory store room with require very low humid to control the parts rusty. 1 of the troublesome is you always need to drain out the water from the container. Later I modify it to pipe out like a aircon.

Is your place is near to the jungle or have some water fall enviroment?

You can try the cheap way first. Like get the humid hippo from daiso or supermarket. Put every 1 in the drawer and few in the room. This humid hippo work same as humidifier. But using chemical to absorb. With your usual aircon running, see can it reduce or not.

If the other part of your house got no issue, it could be leaking that causes the problem.

That's the thing. The house was poorly constructed, and try as I might, I cannot identify any issues with leaking. there are no water marks, but mold will grow on one of the walls, and this part is in the area that is poorly ventilated. I installed a ventilation fan, but didn't solve my problem.

Ozak suggested the dehumidifier crystals (humid hippo) but this is not a small area. Room size is about300sqft, so will need a lot of crystals and frequent change. It is also not as effective to remove the damp musty smell.

If I turn it on when I'm out working, and turn it off when I get home, then turn on the air conditioning instead, feels like not so energy efficient. The aircond will take ages to cool the room and use more energy.

Haih...what a dilemma

You need to find out what is behind the wall, top of the wall, and side. If only one wall very likely is the water issue not ventilation

I had a wall like that last time and worse is I had a wardrobe buildin at this wall so I cant even check if the wall is wet or what. Behind the wall is open space and gets the Sun. Probably some leakage from above? I dont know. Never got to find out. This was a condo. Above my unit is a similar bedroom. Where is the water coming from?

All the inside of this wardrobe smells wet and gets mouldy

This post has been edited by idoblu: Mar 8 2015, 07:48 PM

If you already know that this wall have the problem given you the mold and smell, it is much more easy to deal. Get some contractor to waterproof the wall outside. Premier coat and anti mold paint inside the wall. And check again.

On top of the wall is the top floor balcony~retiled and waterproofed

Behind the wall is my neighbour's wall. They have a problem with mildew in the whole room, not just that wall. And I believe once I move in and start using the air cond regularly, I too will have the same problem

Yeah, same here. That wall is exactly where my built in closet is

The wall is back to back with neighbour's wall. Contractor saw before Reno. He also shake head dunno what to do

You should also ask few your neighbor, perhaps few house away, if all having same issue. It might be your's and your back to back neighbor the only family having such issue.

Maybe it is your neighbour's unit that has some kind of leak and it is now extending across the party wall to your side.

Be aware that a dehumidifier consumes around 600W. You leave it on for 8 hours a day, that is 4.8kWh extra consumption per day.

It can help reduce the humidity in the room, but not a cheap way to do it.

My purpose asking in this thread's, I thought only 30- 60% humidity + comfortable temperature, I think highest's ~28 degrees Celcius, so I'm considering using Dehumidifier + Air Cond simultaneously on= Good Quality Sleep.




i) So, I have the same question as TS anyone knows what happens to humidity after the air's heated & blows out of the Dehumidifier( No one answered yet)?

ii) I thought humidity's fixed and negatively correlated to temperature, so what the hell happened after it's heated back and blowed out of the Dehumidifier, anyone knows?

iii) Ozak, how hot is Dehumidifier, as hot as current computer GPU, say GTX 660 when on full load, as hot as oven or how many % compared to them?

This post has been edited by Diiimn: May 29 2017, 04:54 AM

i am planning to get a dehumidifier myself. i learned that there are two types of system. one uses a compressor with a refrigerant gas and works pretty much like a mini-aircon but instead of cool air, it put out a bit of heat. like maybe 1ºC more than your room temperature. this type of dehumidifier removes more moisture than the dessicant type

the other type of dehumidifier uses dessicant wheel that absorbs the moisture and to get rid of the moisture, a blower blows air thru a heating element to dry it. I assume this type would create more heat. these type are also much cheaper but consume more electricity

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 29 2017, 08:08 AM

Just use the aircon will do. Put to dry mode and you will get the lower humidity.

Get a hygrometer to check the room humidity.

iii) The Dehumidifier that I experience is for the industrial use and cold weather country. (it is from japan) Probably around 30-35c.

Why you want a dehumidifier ?

Aircon will do the job.

true....but cheaper to run dehumidifier.
i just think think only. in the end, i wont buy

Not cheap yor.

Cost about same as aircon. And consume 250w over.

Unless your home near jungle or waterfall area which have high humid. And your wood or thing have mold frequent.

yeah that is what holding me back. compressor type cost 1k plus
plus its so heavy to carry around. then have to remove the water etc....

if i turn on my aircon in my living room and open all the room doors, it does reduces humidity to 40% to 50% in my rooms.

dilemma.....

like i said i probably wont buy one in the end...

This post has been edited by idoblu: May 29 2017, 08:52 AM

Air cond with dry mode = dehumidifier..

40-50% ok ma.

My area normal evening like 60-70%. Aircon time 40-45%. Depend temperature setting.

I use various methods to counter humidity problems at home.

These are the tools I have currently.
1) Aircond
2) Hygrometer
3) Tesco/Giant dehumidifier salt or thirsty hippo.
4) Large quantity of loose packed reusable silica gel desiccants (Cheaper to buy in bulk and repacking)
5) Surgical mask or muslin cloth to repack desiccant crystals into smaller packs.
6) Air tight storage container or plastic storage box.
7) 500ml Hydrogen Peroxide 35% and dilute it to 3% or 6% into a spray bottle.

To counter humid feel, I set aircond to dry mode to lower the humidity to 50-60% then switch back to cool or auto.
To store sensitive electronics like camera or ext HDD etc, I put them into airtight container with a thirsty hippo and packs of silica desiccant crystals. The thirsty hippo and desiccant crystals can last very very long in airtight condition.
To store non electronics like cables, paper documents, I just placed some packs of desiccant crystals into the filling cabinet or plastic storage box.
To prevent moulding/mildew in open area, I spray Hydrogen peroxide 3% at mildew prone area such as bathroom. Hydrogen peroxide is safe and non toxic.
When silica desiccants change colour from dark blue to pink colour, you can reuse again by drying them in the convection/microwave oven, frying pan or air fryer.

I would love to have a dedicated electric dehumidifier for my store room but it's kind of pricey and cumbersome to use. So, still kiv in wishlist.