Fight Mold By Improving Home Air Flow
Mold in the home isn’t just unsightly – it’s also unhealthy.
While you may know that excess moisture is the primary driver of mold growth,
by improving air circulation in the house, homeowners can effectively combat
mold growth and improve the home’s interior air quality. We at Daystar Cleaning & Restoration recommend the following tips to guard
against mold and maintain a healthier environment in Panama City.
Open Windows
One of the easiest ways to improve home airflow is to open
your windows whenever the weather permits. By opening windows or a door on
opposite sides of the home, you’ll create cross-ventilation to allow fresh air
to flow through the home, carrying excess humidity and moisture out with it. If
there isn’t much of a breeze that day, you can help things out by positioning a
fan in or near a window, pointing inward into the living space, in order to
stimulate cross-ventilation.
Ceiling Fans Can
Prevent Mold Growth And More
Ensuring proper ventilation and airflow is an important step
in preventing mold growth. Simple ceiling fans can help you prevent mold plus
save on energy bills by reducing the load on your heating and cooling system.
Choose the correct type of ceiling fans to install in your living room,
bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Ceiling fans have a switch on the base that
allows the blades to reverse to help disperse warm air down during the winter;
use them all year long.
Use Those Installed
Exhaust Fans
Ceiling fans, bathroom fans, attic fans, and kitchen exhaust
fans are ideal for improving air circulation in the house. In your bathrooms,
hot showers produce a lot of steam that needs to be released out of your home.
Installing bathroom fans or window fans help in venting out excess moisture.
Let the fans run for at least half an hour to completely dry off the bathroom.
The kitchen is another area with high levels of moisture.
The steam that comes out during cooking gets settled up on ceilings, windows, and
tiles. The presence of smoke, dust, and oil further adds to the conducive
environment for mold growth. Make sure that you run the exhaust fan while
cooking so that hot air, smoke, grease, odor, etc. are sent out.
Attic Fans
It’s important to vent the attic space in order to prevent
moisture and mold accumulation. Since an attic room lies directly below the
pitched roof, all the moisture gets accumulated there. Installing ceiling fans
in attic floors and rooms is essential for the proper circulation of fresh air.
A whole-house fan is installed at the center of the house and is often switched
on in the evening to exhaust hot air that accumulates near the roof.
Add A Dehumidifier
Since mold loves humidity, use a dehumidifier to reduce
atmospheric moisture is a great way to stop mold in its tracks. Dehumidifiers
both dry out the air and help circulate it, and are great for targeting certain
areas of the home (such as basements) that tend to have poorer airflow or
increased humidity. In these cases, dehumidifiers are also a more
energy-efficient way of focusing on problem areas versus running your entire
air-conditioning system.
When you discover mold in your pantry, kitchen, or anywhere
in your home, look for a team with the most advanced, specialized equipment to
detect hidden moisture sources. Daystar Cleaning, Inc. is a certified firm of
the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and
Florida State Certified Mold Mitigator. For 24/7 emergency service in Panama
City and Bay County, please contact us.
Comments
Post a Comment