TIPS TO PREVENT MOISTURE AND DEHUMIDIFY INDOORS (UPDATE 2020)

Moisture prevention and dehumidification are the issues that Hong Kong people have always been concerned about. As Hong Kong locates in the humid area, whenever Spring comes, the humid environment not only makes us difficult to breathe, the floor and walls continue to have condensation. Are there any building materials that can deal with the problems?

The humid weather is very harmful to floors, wallpaper, ceramic tiles, etc. If there are serious problems in the building materials, large-scale repair is inevitable.  Therefore, in order to avoid this kind of major household tragedy, we need to put into consideration of moisture protection from material selection to renovation.

Remove the moisture in the air

There are two popular kinds of moisture-proof wall building materials in the market, they are diatomite and breathable Ecocarat tiles.

1.Diatomite

There are many micropores in diatomite. The “capillary action” of micropores can absorb water vapor. When it is dried, it will release the stored moisture to adjust the humidity. Generally speaking, the room is maintained at a comfortable 60% humidity. The plastering method is used to put the diatomite on wall, and it can also be used as a characteristic wall.

2.Breathable Ecocarat tiles

Breathable tiles are ceramic tiles. Because of the “capillary action” produced by the micropores, it can regulate the humidity. According to the product description, if one side of the bathroom wall is covered with the breathable tiles, the humidity can be reduced to 40-50%, which plays a great role in dehumidifying the wet toilet.

Prevent moisture to avoid affecting the furniture

1.Eco-board

There is decorative surface on top of the wooded board and then press together to form a Eco-board. Because it completely seals the wood part with the finish, it greatly reduces the chance have moisture and mould in the wood board.

2.Wooden door

There are number of points to pay attention to when buying wooden door. As the top or bottom of the wooden door does not affect the visual effect, many wooden doors are not sealed on both sides in order to save costs. This makes the wooden door prone to absorb moisture. If the moisture go into the structure interior, it will cause the wooden door to deform and burst, and cannot be restored to its original state. Therefore, if you live in a humid area, it is recommended to choose a wooden door with edge banding, so that the door will not be easily eroded by moisture, which helps to extend the life of the door.

The edge banding is made of solid wood. The durability and stability of solid wood edge banding are excellent. In addition, the use of varnish to paint the edge of the wooden door also has the effect of edge sealing and moisture resistance.

Reduce air humidity

1.Dehumidifier

Dehumidifiers are electrical appliances that are designed to reduce air humidity. When choosing, you should buy a dehumidifier with the appropriate amount of dehumidification according to the size of your home.

When purchasing the dehumidifier, don’t just look at the dehumidification amount introduced by the manufacturer, because the manufacturer conducts the dehumidification test in a relatively high-humidity and relatively high-temperature manufacturer environment “, which in turn improves the results of dehumidification. Customers should pay attention to the energy label on the product, which indicates that the dehumidification capacity tested in a standard environment.

2.Air conditioner

Many people use air conditioner as dehumidifier. However, the dry mode that comes with many air conditioners on the market just makes you feel dry by continuously lowering the temperature. It is not a real dehumidifier. 

Using dry mode greatly increases the power consumption of the air conditioner as it depends on cooling and needs a large temperature difference. It required the air conditioner to run strongly. If the dehumidification capacity of the air conditioner itself is not strong, it is better to use the “air-conditioning mode”, because the temperature drop can also make people feel drier and cooler.

Avoid condensation

Condensation water occurs when the cooled surface comes into contact with warm air, the moisture in the air will fall on the cooled surface to condense and form water droplets.

1.Underfloor heating system

Underfloor heating system is rarely used in Hong Kong, but they are generally installed in the cold areas such as Japan. The underfloor heating system not only warms the floor, but also dehumidify, which can effectively improve the floor condensation problem.

When the floor temperature is lower than air, moisture will gather on the floor and form condensation. After installing the underfloor heating system, the ground temperature is slightly higher than the indoor air temperature, so the water will not condense.

The inverter automatic temperature control underfloor heating system can detect the temperature and automatically adjust the temperature released by the underfloor heating in different areas. It can effectively solve the condensation problem at home locally but not heating up all the floors.

The content and pictures of this article are provided and uploaded by the author. It does not represent the opinion of the company. If there are any copyright issues, please contact us.

This article was originally published on HKDecoman.

HKDecoman, now going global as Deco-Man, is a Hong Kong-based renovation platform which provides professional consultancy services and pioneers in the development of A.I. homeowner-engineer matching. We aim at educating the public about the art of home renovation, and have our eyes on transforming the traditional renovation industry, bringing standardisation, transparency, convenience and automation to the business.