- Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air by condensing the moisture as it passes by on the cold coils of the dehumidifier unit. A simple way to understand this concept is to think of a cold glass of lemonade on a hot and humid day. The surface of the glass is cold due to the cold lemonade inside the glass. When the hot, humid air hits the surface of the glass, the moisture from the air condenses on the outside of the cold glass. This is exactly how a dehumidifier condenses moisture from the air as the air is passed over cooling coils within the unit.
- A fan within the dehumidifier forces or draws air from the room over the cold coils of the dehumidifier. The moisture that forms on the cold coils of the unit drips into a bucket contained in the dehumidifier. The water that collects within this bucket has to be removed manually, or a hose can be connected to the bucket and placed over a drain or a sump pump; gravity will then dispose of the water through the hose into the drain or sump pump. Once the air passes over the cold coils of the unit, it then passes through the hot coil. The air is then heated to its original temperature.
- The dehumidifier should be placed at a spot in your home where the humidity/moisture is the greatest. Freestanding units are usually placed in a crawl space or basement. Whole in-house systems are installed in your home heating/air-conditioning system. Note that stand-alone units come in different capacities and are measured by the amount of moisture they can remove from the air per day.
