Tag: Moisture

5 Summertime Mold Prevention Tips

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summertime mold prevention tips

Texas summer is in full swing which means the temperature and humidity is incredibly high. During these months, mold can be an unwanted visitor, creeping up around the walls of your kitchen, bathroom and areas prone to moisture. Mold is a fungus that is attracted to damp areas and reproduces by making spores. If it is not taken care of earlier, it can be difficult to remove in addition to causing health problems for you and your family. If you’re not sure how to take measures to prevent mold from infesting your home, don’t worry. The experts at RestoPros are here to help you and give you some summertime mold prevention tips!

Maintain Your Home’s Humidity

Where there is moisture build up, there is potential for mold. During the summer months, mold has a higher chance of growing inside your home because of any excess humidity. Here are some ways you can control the humidity in your home:

  • Use your air conditioner on hot days to keep the temperature a little lower. The ideal temperature for mold to grow is above 77 degrees Fahrenheit, so try to keep your indoor temperature a little lower than that. In addition to providing cooling, the AC in your home also removes humidity. Keeping it on will ensure your indoor temperature and humidity doesn’t provide an ideal environment for mold growth.
  • Keep the humidity in your home under 50 percent by using a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier absorbs water vapor and condenses it internally.
  • Keep your AC ducts clean and moisture free by regularly checking for any leaks.
  • Use the exhaust fan in your bathroom after a shower to prevent any moisture build up.
  • Invest in a hygrometer that measures your home’s humidity.

Cleanliness is Important

You’ll be surprised how simply keeping your home clean by using these techniques can prevent mold growth.

  • Clean out your air filters as they are the first line of defense keeping out mold spores from coming into your home.
  • Frequently dust and vacuum your home to get rid of any microscopic mold spores.
  • Clean out your refrigerator and remove any foods that are spoiling. Use DIY mold cleaning products to clean out your kitchen, bathroom and other areas prone to mold. DIY cleaning products are a good alternative to other mold cleaning products containing bleach (which is toxic and a health risk). You can make one by simply mixing vinegar or baking soda with water.

Fix Any Leaks

This might sound like a stretch, but if a leaky shower, roof or faucet goes unnoticed for a long period of time, it might lead to the growth of mold and even water damage. Make sure you take care of the leaks in your home before they turn into costly problems.

  • Fix any leaks in your pipes or in damp areas such as bathtubs and sinks. Frequently clean these areas with non-toxic, mold cleaning products.
  • Consider getting a leak detector. These gadgets have sensors that detect unnecessary moisture in appliances such as your dishwasher, water heater and refrigerator. If there is any moisture where there shouldn’t be, you get an alert on your phone.
  • When it rains, make sure your windows are sealed shut properly to prevent any leaks.
  • Make sure the shingles on your roof are functioning properly so water isn’t seeping through. Sometimes, even if your shingles are perfectly fine, water might leak in. This usually happens when there are obstructions in your gutters and downspouts and water that is meant to be drained, goes into the opposite direction and as a result, infiltrates your home. In short, make sure your downspouts and gutters are clear of debris.

Don’t Leave Out Your Wet Clothes

Whether you pull your clothes out of the washer or take them off after coming from the pool, make sure to dry them immediately. Leaving them out in a damp pile can create a damp, stuffy environment which is optimal for mold growth. Mold starts to spread 24 to 48 hours in excessively damp areas, so act fast and take a minute to put your clothes in the dryer.  If you want to air dry your clothes, dry them on a clothesline outside.

Do Your Research

Being an informed homeowner is one of the best ways you can prevent not only mold growth but any other costly problems in your home. Read up a little beforehand about the science behind mold, summertime mold prevention tips and what you should do if mold infests your home. This way you will be prepared to calmly handle any issues instead of flying into a panic.

If you have any questions or concerns about mold testing, mold remediation or water damage restoration, don’t hesitate to contact RestoPros. Our dedicated team of professionals will equip you with effective strategies and solutions to keep your home mold-free and stress-free!

Moisture Vaporators and Water Collection

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We live on a planet where two-thirds of the surface of the world is covered by water.  But there are a few places on the surface of this world where there is, practically, no water.  The air itself is so dry that all containers need to be air sealed to prevent the water from evaporating rapidly.  Air, even in deserts, carries trace amounts of water in it.  The drier the air, the more readily it picks up water (which has a few interesting factors such as promoting cooling through evaporation).

This brings us back to the title of this blog.  40 years ago, STAR WARS debuted in theaters.  Amidst the galactic civil war, we’re introduced to a farmer on a desert world.  His job is to pull water from dry air using an apparatus called a moisture vaporator for use in drinking and growing crops on the arid world.

How a Moisture Vaporator Works

The short answer is pressure and temperature.  Moisture vaporators in STAR WARS would function similarly to an air conditioner or dehumidifier here on Earth.  You see, dehumidifiers contain many of the same parts you find in an air conditioner.  As heat is being transferred between through the unit, the pressure and temperature changes affect how much water the air around it can hold.  Water from the air condenses on the piping and flows into a drip pan.  This is part of why it’s important to get your HVAC system inspected regularly, as it helps you stop mold before it starts of the water has failed to evaporate after condensing.

For a moisture farm, a similar powered system could be used to pull water from dry air.  You would need a more powerful compressor to cool the air in that heat and you would need a better refrigerant than any that we currently use to get the temperature and pressure differences, but it’s theoretically possible.

Still, what if you wanted to farm moisture from a dry climate but don’t have the infrastructure for high-powered weather vanes?  Physical construction can work to your advantage here.  In fact, a team at MIT did just that using a metal organic framework to capture water from the air and collect it during the cool desert nights.

Ideal Humidity

We should point out that, while you don’t need to farm moisture at home, it’s important to regulate the humidity of your home to prevent mold growth.  It can also help you save money in the form of cooling during the summer by helping to improve evaporation using dry air.

Buying a hygrometer, dehumidifier, and a humidifier are all useful tactics for controlling the humidity of your home.  But what’s the ideal humidity level?  45% is best.  Decreasing humidity will save you money on cooling costs and make it unlikely that you’ll have a problem with mold, but reducing humidity too far will have a negative impact on you as well.  Low humidity will mean added heating costs in the winter and will lead to dry skin, lips, and a possible sore throat when you wake up in the morning.

Pushing humidity to far above 45%, while it will improve heating costs in the winter, increases the risk of mold and mildew growth.  So be cautious when adjusting humidity throughout your home.

How and Why to Control Home Humidity

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How and Why to Control Home HumidityIf you’ve read any of our other articles on home protection, mold remediation, and water damage you’ll know that high humidity is mold’s best friend.  Mold, mildew, and fungus all require heavy humidity from rain, standing water, or just steam from a shower or cooking to start replicating and spreading throughout your home.  Water damage can even originate from a high-humidity environment as temperature differences force water to condense on surfaces and stain or erode the surface.

But regulating the humidity in your home is a little more important than just preventing water and mold damage.  Climate, energy efficiency, and health are all affected by the internal humidity of your home.  If you don’t have a smart thermostat that includes one, purchasing a hygrometer to measure relative humidity is a useful tool, especially during the rainy season.,

Temperature and Humidity

Did you know that the weather feels warmer or cooler based on humidity?  The drier the air is, the cooler the room feels.  How cold a room feels can be up to 5 degrees of difference simply by adjusting the relative humidity of the room.

One of the many systems the human body uses to regulate heat is by cooling off through sweat.  Everything on earth is coated with a thin layer of moisture.  Fans help to cool us off by circulating air across skin.  As fresh air moves into contact with a surface, water is evaporated off of that surface using heat energy to shift into the air.  As it does this, heat is taken from the surface.  When the air is dry and humidity is low, water evaporates easily, migrating into the air.  When the air is already saturated with water, and humidity is high, there’s no way for water to evaporate.  In a high humidity environment, everything feels warm and muggy because evaporation is prevented.

This is part of why high humidity makes it so easy for mold and mildew to grow on surfaces.  Water won’t evaporate and there’s plenty of water-rich real estate for mold to move into.  At the same time, now you know why circulating air with a fan helps to mitigate mold and mildew: by aiding evaporation.

In short, keep the air dry in the summer to avoid mold-growth, decrease the relative temperature in your home, and save on cooling costs.

Ideal Humidity

Buying a hygrometer, dehumidifier, and a humidifier are all useful tactics for controlling the humidity of your home.  But what’s the ideal humidity level?  45% is best.  Decreasing humidity will save you money on cooling costs and make it unlikely that you’ll have a problem with mold, but reducing humidity too far will have a negative impact on you as well.  Low humidity will mean added heating costs in the winter and will lead to dry skin, lips, and a possible sore throat when you wake up in the morning.

Pushing humidity to far above 45%, while it will improve heating costs in the winter, increases the risk of mold and mildew growth.  So be cautious when adjusting humidity throughout your home.

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