Dehumidifier or an air purifier for the baby room?

[addictedtofitness]

Hello !!

 

I'm new to this forum .  I got married to my high school sweetheart when I turned 18 and life has  been pretty tough but love has helped us sail through . I'm struggling with obesity and happened to come across this forum .

 

Well coming to the point .. I am decorating the baby room to welcome our second child . We kinda moved from the suburbs to the city sometime back and there is mold and lot of dust piling up every other day in our apartment .I am fed up of vacuuming and moreover we have been reading of reports of autism linked to pollution in cities etc .; So we are considering using either a dehumidifier or an air purifier .

 

A neighbor suggested we use this one from IQ air http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/iqair-gc-air-purifiers.html?itemId=203 but honestly we cannot afford to spend $1200 on an air purifier

 

Any suggestion/recommendations are welcome ..

[MissoulaSquatch]

I used to have a slightly similar situation..with unwanted mold..I can't remember the exact model we bought (it was my parents) but it was fairly effective and more around the $200 range.

http://www.lowes.com/Heating-Cooling/Humidifiers-Dehumidifiers/Dehumidifiers/_/N-1z0wmr2/pl?cm_cr=Humidifiers+%26+Dehumidifiers-_-Web+Activity-_-Hums+and+Dehum+TF+%5Bage+revamp-_-SC_Humidifiers++Dehumidifiers_TopFlexible_Area-_-10691060_1_Shop+All+Dehumidifiers#!&N%5B%5D=1z0wjfd&N%5B%5D=1z0wmr2

These should give you a good start.

Just a few tips though, make sure you are regularly emptying it or it will stop working.  Also, depending on where you live, you may not want to run one of these in the winter..extremely dry air isn't people or baby friendly (and there's relatively little humidity in the air in the winter to begin with).

I would recommend, if you have not done so already, mixing a capful or two of bleach in a bucket with several gallons of hot water and then scrubbing any areas that have mold.  It may also be worth having the place inspected, your landlord should take full responsibility for this.  I'm sure someone with more knowledge of property/rental agreements could chime in and help further.

[iliovasilema]

- A dehumidifier's primary function is to eliminate excessive moisture from the air and bring down a room's humidity levels. While this device does not clear or filter air, it does help remove allergens, like mold and dust mites, which thrive in a moist or humid environment. With a humidity level less than 50%, these sources of allergies and asthma wither and die. However, maintaining dehumidifiers requires cleaning all its coils and buckets periodically, and also checking these coils for frost, to improve efficiency. If they have plates, they should be washed once a week.

 

- An air purifier circulates air through a filter which removes air borne pollutants, like dust or smoke particles, and even pollen, which a dehumidifier cannot. An purifier may prevent mold build-up as it removes the spores from the air. Air purifiers can be maintained by replacing the filter every 6 months. However, because it cannot control humidity levels in a house, excessive moisture can cause mold to return. So it means while dehumidifier requires regular clean-up, air purifier does not control the in-house humidity even though it prevents mold build-up.

 

Now to the electric bill (in long term). A basic small dehumidifier using 250W per hour and if we run it 12 hours/day, it will cost around 20 bucks per month. Meanwhile, the air purifier, I take example from Clair BF2025 which can remove up to 0.1 microns dust and particles that I'm using now, is taking only 4W per hour, so even I leave it on for 24/7, it costs only around $1 monthly. Very economically.

 

Plus it's not expensive (I find $160 is very reasonable). You can find more information on its website here: www.go-clair.com

[addictedtofitness]

I used to have a slightly similar situation..with unwanted mold..I can't remember the exact model we bought (it was my parents) but it was fairly effective and more around the $200 range.

http://www.lowes.com/Heating-Cooling/Humidifiers-Dehumidifiers/Dehumidifiers/_/N-1z0wmr2/pl?cm_cr=Humidifiers+%26+Dehumidifiers-_-Web+Activity-_-Hums+and+Dehum+TF+%5Bage+revamp-_-SC_Humidifiers++Dehumidifiers_TopFlexible_Area-_-10691060_1_Shop+All+Dehumidifiers#!&N%5B%5D=1z0wjfd&N%5B%5D=1z0wmr2

These should give you a good start.

Just a few tips though, make sure you are regularly emptying it or it will stop working.  Also, depending on where you live, you may not want to run one of these in the winter..extremely dry air isn't people or baby friendly (and there's relatively little humidity in the air in the winter to begin with).

I would recommend, if you have not done so already, mixing a capful or two of bleach in a bucket with several gallons of hot water and then scrubbing any areas that have mold.  It may also be worth having the place inspected, your landlord should take full responsibility for this.  I'm sure someone with more knowledge of property/rental agreements could chime in and help further.

 

Thanks for the suggestion . This was one of the tried and tested methods I always used for mold. Its effective but its time consuming and has to be done periodically . I am pregnant and lack the energy to do something like that. My landlord is always out of town and when we tried to explain the situation over the phone he dismissed it telling us that its a common problem everywhere and he cannot do anything about it .

 

I checked the dehumidifiers . Guess cleaning these things will be a hassle .dismantling,cleaning the coils and fan blades etc looks like a lot of trouble. I'm seriously considering a mid range air purifier since they are relatively easier to maintain and can be used in winter as well .

[addictedtofitness]

- A dehumidifier's primary function is to eliminate excessive moisture from the air and bring down a room's humidity levels. While this device does not clear or filter air, it does help remove allergens.........................................................................................

Plus it's not expensive (I find $160 is very reasonable). You can find more information on its website here: www.go-clair.com

 

Hmm. Thanks for the elaborate information.After some research online even I feel dehumidifiers aren't a good option. I just checked the website of the Clair air purifier you recommended. I liked the design but I'm a bit skeptical since it looks quite small in size . Is it really effective ?What about the filters?Do I have to replace it every 3 or 4 months . I have heard most of the air purifiers which fall under the $200 range require periodic change of filters and eventually the maintenance/filter cost makes it a lot more expensive in the long run...

[SweetSugar]

My pediatrician told me to get a humidifier for my baby's room from getting sick, so I don't think getting a dehumifier would be the best option. Hope this helps

[SweetSugar]

To keep him from getting sick*