Portable Air Conditioners: The Moldy Truth

Mold is not a welcome guest in your home. It appears on spoiled fruit or on forgotten items in your refrigerator and you cannot wait to get rid of it. You are right to want to get rid of mold. When exposed to mold, people can start displaying a multitude of symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, sinus congestion, itchy eyes and skin, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath, and fatigue. If a person is continuous exposed to mold these symptoms can worsen and even lead to more sever sinus ailments, headaches, intestinal conditions and liver damage.

Mold tends to grow in places with lots of moisture, on paper products and on various other materials like dust and insulation. It can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, heating, and air conditioning systems. Mold in the air outside can even attach to clothing, shoes, bags and your pets and be carried indoors. It can also enter your home because of improper construction like poorly sealed windows or poor drainage in the landscaping or below-ground rooms.

To control mold growth in your home you should try to keep humidity between forty and sixty percent. You should fix leaky roofs, windows and pipes as soon as possible. Cleaning and drying everything thoroughly after a flood is crucial. There should be ample ventilation in the shower, laundry and cooking areas to keep mold from building up. What if you do not want to just control mold though? What if you want to prevent it? Here are some steps you can take to make sure mold does not make any unwelcome appearances in your home:

Dehumidify: As mentioned before, mold thrives in places with a lot of moisture. If the humidity is high in your home you should dehumidify. Dehumidifying your home not only prevents mold, it also keeps the humidity at an optimal level for your health. Excess mold spores are prevented from being releases into the air. The moistest room in your home is the bathroom so make sure you have a dehumidifier there if not anywhere else. You should empty the water tray daily and clean the unit weekly so that it does not collect and feed mold organisms instead of preventing them.

Bake your House: You are probably wondering what that means. Well, mold cannot survive in temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. During and after a rainy season, if you happen to be away for a weekend you should close all the door and windows in your home and turn the heat above 100 degrees. This will get rid of all of the mold that is currently residing in your home. Do not forget to remove your plants and pets before baking though!

Repair Water Leaks: This has been mentioned before but it cannot be said enough. Any leaks or flooding should be dealt with as soon as possible. Fix the source of the leak or flood and then thoroughly dry out the area. If a wall made with drywall is infected, you will need to remove the drywall, disinfect the area, dry it and replace it with new drywall. You should also look for poor drainage and water pooling outside of your home because a high concentration of mold spores around a building can find its way inside.

Sunshine: Let the sunshine in! Mold prefers damp and dark environments. Letting sunshine into your home by opening blinds and windows counters the build-up of mold. The UV rays from the sun will kill most mold species as well.

To prevent any symptoms from mold exposure you should maintain your good health. Make sure your immune system is functioning well. Keep up a healthy diet, regular exercise, get adequate rest and sleep and avoid emotional and physical extremes. After all, the most important part of this whole mold dilemma is you!