De-Humidifiers

[Ann McCallum]

Hello,

Does anyone have any good suggestions for removing humidity from the air in a stone home? Any de-humidifiers on the market recommended?

Thanks,

Ann

[filippos]

Make sure you have good ventilation - easy in summer but less so in winter. In winter make sure you use a form of heating that produces dry heat, i.e. electric heaters, central heating, infra-red panels and avoid gas heaters as they generate a lot of water. Put extractors in areas that are likely to be steamy e.g. bathrooms and kitchens.

Most air conditioners have a dehumidifying setting that you can run or, in extreme cases, buy a dehumidifier.

Filippos.

P.S. "... in extreme cases, buy a dehumidifier." Perhaps I should have read the question more carefully. No, I can't suggest a good dehumidifier but you'll get good advice from Lavouta Bros (if you're in Xania region). Speak to:

Giannis ("Call me John") Drakakakis
Lavouta Central Heating
Gogoni 74
Corner of Zymvrakakidon
Xania

Tel: 28210 72043 6974 050 533

Giannis speaks good English, is very helpful and never tries to sell the most expensive item in the shop.

[Ann McCallum]

How do you put extractors in stone homes?

[filippos]

We don't have extractors but when we had a somba installed they drilled/cut a hole through the 50cm thick stone outside wall for the chimney and a hole for an extractor won't be any bigger and is likely to be smaller.

Also, although I don't know if they are available here, it may be possible to fit a window mounted extractor. A disadvantage of those is that they normally need fitting to a fixed pane of glass or a non-opening window.

filippos.

[jeansy]

We have an old stone built house and in the winter we had a few problems, as said before ventilation is the most important for cupboards and wardrobes we use the small plastic type of humidifier with the granules in, replacements we buy large packs of the granules available in carrefour etc and a replacement filter for an oven extractor fan and cut out pieces to place on top of granules which will save you an arm and a leg copared to replacement of original.

Also we bought a de-longhi dehumidifier for 70 eu from carrefour which using it's own tank pulls 8.5 ltrs per 24 hr or you can attach a hose (provided ) which increases output to 100 ltrs per 24 hr.

Our house has now remained damp free also the electric did not seem to be much more than usual.

[Ann McCallum]

Thanks so much for your responses. I really appreciate it. I have a stone home as well and am trying to control the humidity.

I am not quite sure I understand what you do for the cupboards and the wardrobes.

Question about the dehumidifier .... how long is the hose? where does the hose drain (outside?) I really like that idea....

Do you have ventilation in your home?

Thanks again,

Ann

[Kilkis]

Thanks so much for your responses. I really appreciate it. I have a stone home as well and am trying to control the humidity.

I am not quite sure I understand what you do for the cupboards and the wardrobes.

Question about the dehumidifier .... how long is the hose? where does the hose drain (outside?) I really like that idea....

Do you have ventilation in your home?

Thanks again,

Ann

I think you will find that, typically, the hose on the de-humidifier exits low down on the case. This means you need a hole to the outside at the same height or lower or possibly run it to a floor drain inside. The ones I have seen don't have a pump so they will not pump the water out if you route the hose higher; they rely on gravity. The length of the hose you need depends on where you want to locate the de-humidifier and where you can provide a route outside. You could route it into an outside drain but the amount of water is pretty small so it could just run off onto the garden/path. If you can't use the hose, simply enter the container periodically.

To reduce humidity in cupboards people usually use hygroscopic crystals. These are basically the same as the little bags that you sometimes get inside the packaging of electronic equipment. Obviously the crystals become saturated after a time, which may be quite short if the humidity is high especially when it is hot. The higher the temperature the more water can be held in 1 cum of air. You should be able to get crystals that can be baked in the oven to drive off the absorbed water so that they can be re-used. Many many years ago you could buy a biscuit barrel with a small can of crystals in the lid. The idea was that it absorbed any moisture in the barrel and so stopped the biscuits going soft. Periodically you could detach the can and bake it to re-energise it.

Most double-glazing units fitted in the UK have ventilation slots built into them. These exist in Greece but they don't seem to be all that common. Opening doors/windows seems to be the only solution to good ventilation. We have an open fireplace so the chimney gives some permanent ventilation.

Warwick

[filippos]

Do you have ventilation in your home? Ann

We have a restored stone house with excellent ventilation called "doors" and "windows" - or, at least gaps under / around - and have never had any serious damp problem with the fabric of the building even in an internal bathroom with no window and no extractor.

A couple of years ago we built a concrete frame apartment (adjacent to the house so there's no difference in location) and have had persistent condensation problems despite leaving the bathroom window open almost permanently (and other windows periodically) and always using the hood extractor when cooking. Mould has appeared on kitchen and bathroom walls at ceiling level, a couple of small patches elsewhere and, although we can't see it, there's obviously damp behind the fitted kitchen cupboards.

We've spent the winter in the apartment so the house has had minimal heating (CH set to come on at 5C) and there's no sign of a problem anywhere but the new building is a different story.

Filippos.

P.S. We discovered a great product for getting rid of the mould. Spray it on affected areas and the mould disappears within five minutes with no rubbing (rather like the old TV ads for cleaning floors with 'Flash'; just wipe off excess spray to stop it running down the wall. If I'd been told about it and not seen it in action I'd have been very sceptical. It seems to be an excellent inhibitor, too.

The stuff's called "Micosteryl 1", recommended to us by the Xania paint shop "Kambakos". If anyone needs to know where the shop is e-mail me and I'll send a little map. (Brilliant shop for decorating products and advice).

[Ann McCallum]

Hello again,

I can't thank you all enough for all your help. As you may have noticed this humidity is a real problem for me and I am looking for a permanent solution. Leaving doors and windows open isn't always an option for me. I was surfing the net and noticed this ventilation technology http://www.humidex.ca/products_apt-160.htm
It is a system that is wall mounted and vents to the outside (no water to empty). It is available in Canada (I am Canadian) and it can be shipped. It requires a hole (6inches/15cm diameter) to be made in the wall but I understand that can be done for a wood stove therefore, I am assuming the same can be done for this unit.
My question is do they sell this type of product at any store in Hania? Perhaps at Giannis ("Call me John") Drakakakis
Lavouta Central Heating
Gogoni 74
Corner of Zymvrakakidon
Xania

Tel: 28210 72043 6974 050 533

Thanks,

Ann

[filippos]

My question is do they sell this type of product at any store in Hania? Perhaps at Giannis ("Call me John") Drakakakis
Lavouta Central Heating

If anyone in Crete knows the answer I'd think it would be Lavouta.

Filippos.

P.S. You're right, of course, it's not always practical to leave doors and windows open. It might help if you can leave a window open with the shutters closed, depending on the type of shutter.

[filippos]

To reduce humidity in cupboards people usually use hygroscopic crystals. Warwick

1. Where does one obtain the crystals (and containers)?

2. Our problem seems to be that the problem is behind the cupboards rather than within so I don't think the crystals will work. Is there any solution you know of for that, apart from still more ventilation?

filippos.

[Ann McCallum]

Thank you for the tips. I contacted John at Lavouta Central Heating and he installed my humidex system. Great service and a great price. Does he install wood-burning stoves?

Thanks,

ann

[filippos]

Does he install wood-burning stoves?

Not so far as I know but they're very simple to install. Many Greeks who have them take them out for the summer and put them back again Sept/Oct time. Ours was put in by a local builder for the simple reason I didn't have the tools to cut a hole through 50cm of stone wall.

I'd think anywhere that sells them would be able to either install one for you or recommend someone locally. They're readily available. For example, a small place like Kalyves has at least six places selling them.

Filippos.