Problem with humidity, how to solve it...

[Ciocco]

Hello,

we came back Hua Hin after two years we was missing to return home.

Never in the past 7 years we experienced problems with humidity.

This time we found one mattress and a few pillows deeply damaged by mould... so much we have to replace it.

 

Unfortunately we live here just one month per year, and i would like to find a solution to this unexpected problem...

 

I went to Home Pro and similar shops looking for a dehumidifier but i didnt found anything... asking it look like here they do not use it having plenty of air con...

Do you know if this kind of machines are available here or not...

 

Because to fix the problem we thought to leave the room air con switched on with dry mode... but in one year it will probably cost more than to change a new mattress again...

 

Any suggestion to fix this problem...

sorry for the grammar but on this keyboard al commas, accents and so on didnt works...

Thank you,

Ciocco

 

[Guest]

Some solutions 

1) Rent the place while you are not there

2) Sun dry the pillows and mattress 

    Place at least the pillows inside a plastic bag
    Place a box with silica gel inside the bag and seal it airtight 
3) Make sure that there is air ventilation when you are not using the apartment
    Some windows open or similar.
   If you use fan, or dehumidifier, there is always a fire risk.
 

[xtrnuno41]

It's weird you just have 1 matress and some pillows moulded. Dont know if they are in same room aswell, if they are you can focus on that room. I assume if you leave you put all doors open of any room.

As you never had the problem, something must have changed in your house or at your house.

a) There is not enough ventilation in your house. Are all ventilation shafts open, not blocked by snake (hahaha) or something? First you had probably just enough air flow, but now you dont.

Maybe somehow there is a water leakage and makes the air more moist.

c) something in surrounding has changed and blocks ventilation now. Like another building and windblow doesnt get to your house now.

Your walls are sucking up now water from ground, you checked the walls for moist? See if you can find traces of more wet atmosphere.

 

As you said aircon running will cost for 2 years and besides what if aircon has electrical failure and starts to burn?

Electrical device running unattended for longer period dont seems wise.

You do have in EU moisteaters, just mechanical/chemical, they absorb the moist. Dont know about Thailand and how much you will need then for a 1-2 year period?  And looks like you already knew and coudnt find in Thailand.

You could put more ventilation shafts in your house to get more draft.

 

 Or your matress and pillows were already more wet when you left and created then the mould, when you were gone, so then it is just maybe one time event?

 

Btw probably your keyboard setting has changed and you have to put it back to international. you can do it in the right corner of your taskbar. You see a keyboardapp and can change there. It can happen just like that somehow. I know.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

I would have used small extraction fans that's on timers. They don't use much energy and are used to extract humid air from bathrooms. The only problem is that it may take some alterations to get them installed. If you don't go that route get dehumidifiers and put then on time switches. Put your pillows and mattress inside plastic bags and but some cheap rice and seal them air tight.

[JSixpack]

What they said but I'll add this:

 

Spray things down with a mist of white vinegar before you leave.

Put things in bags with charcoal briquettes wrapped in a piece of newspaper, partly open if possible.

[Ciocco]

Thank you everyone for the answers,

to share opinions often give easy solutions who you are not thinking about...

 

It is true, 2 years ago just before to leave we noticed a roof problem and we repair it as well as possible... this is probably the difference in air circulation, first also too much air can pass for sure .

 

Plastic sealing is a good idea, we will do for sure, looking for silica gel also.

 

Usually we leaved all door closed being a two storey town house, leave it open could make difference... i hope.

[taichiplanet]

air cons do dehumidify, whether you want to leave you electricity on is another thing.

 

there are disposable dehumidifiers made by Farecent (from Home Pro) but they only last about a month or 2 depending on the humidity. link is for pic to know what to look for

http://farcent.en.taiwantrade.com/product/dehumidifier-disposable-carbon-224027.html

 

Daiso stores also have a version plus also packets of gel to put in drawers

http://www.daisoglobal.com/store/list/?c_id=C0023

[Torrens54]

Old saying, "You don't know what you've got until it's gone."

Reckon we'll all be very glad when it is back and running. 

[migrant]

I was told about a dehumidifier available in Thailand that extracts the moisture from the air and filters it into drinkable water.

 

Will see if I can find the info and post

[sirocco]

Hello,

I live in Hua Hin, but throughout the year, and in all my sideboards or cabinets, I put humidifidateur boxes that I change every 2 or 3 months.
3 = 99 b Hom Pro. It's effective.

[Saan]

When I lived in North Queensland, which has very high humidity, I would turn on electric blankets in the spare bedrooms. This solved the problem of mouldy mattresses.

[chiang mai]

Many air conditioners have a built in dehumidifier setting, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the units in our house, which is seven years old, have that setting. Perhaps take a look and see?

[khwaibah]

Homepro does have them. Go to HP that knows what your after.

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating-Venting-Cooling-Air-Quality-Dehumidifiers/N-5yc1vZc4l8

[mike324]

Your house gets hot and humid with no air flow hence the mold grows. I saw an advertisement from SCG company where they have a fan which can be installed on the 1st floor wall, and also a ceiling fan installed on the 2nd Floor ceiling. This creates an air flow that circulates the air, and on the roof tiles there is an exit vent for the air.

 

You could find similar things at Homepro and Thaiwatsadu (but not the special designed roof vent, but you can still buy those ugly circular roof vents seen on factories). Just install a timer on the fan that turns it on in the afternoons for a couple hours. That would be the cheapest, safe, and most effective way. 

 

Dehumidifier machine isn't a good idea especially if you are not going to be home. It requires you to empty the water from the machine, it works by removing the water from the air, the tank gets filled fast in humid climates like in Thailand, it runs very warm because it is essentially blow dry hot air out - so if you are not home, there is a safety aspect of it.

 

Another not so cheap option is to turn on the AC remotely (electricity is the not cheap part). You can buy a IR transmitter that you control remotely over a phone app (apple / andriod version). I used one by the company Broadlink model RM Mini 3. It works very well. http://www.lazada.co.th/broadlink-rm-mini-black-bean-ir-ios-android-7096175.html costs only 850 baht. The app takes some effort to setup only because their manual is very bad.

 

They also have a Broadlink  e-Air sensor, its basically a temperature sensor and you can link this to the IR Transmitter, so if humidity / temperature reaches a certain level, AC can be turned on/off automatically. I never used this device before so I can't say how well it works.

 

 

[joeyg]

Spent a lot of time living in tropical or sub tropical climates.  Never heard of a problem like this unless the bedding was not very clean to start with.  Every 3 months or so I take a hand towel soaked in straight bleach, waring rubber gloves and give all the bedding a quick wipe down.

 

It dries out over the coarse of the day and you really can't even smell bleach residue when I make the bed up at night.  In your case I'd do a heavier application and let it sun dry like some other BMs said.  Also wipe I it down sometime with a quick application of hydrogen peroxide.  Don't mix the two it produces some kind of poison.

 

Also on hot dry days I will spray everything down with a light coating of white vinegar and a light dusting of baking soda.  Work it into the bedding a little.  I am pretty much a "clean freak."  Hope that helps.

[Guest]

At one place I rented, we had electric heater rods inside wooden clothes cabinets. 

Those used only few watts of electricity and never got really hot. The rods heated air on the bottom of the cabinet. Heated air rise up and created airflow. This prevented mould growth inside the cabinets. 

 

 

[joeyg]

It would be nice to manage the problem without electricity and other equipment.  We have offices and beds in our India location.  We are regularly gone for up to 6 months under extremely humid conditions in West Bengal, right on the banks of the Ganges.

 

While there we treat the bedding as described above.  Have never had a problem.  One guys white clothes got a little moldy that he used to was by hand.  Washed out pretty easy.

[Ciocco]

Thanks to everyone.

We are leaving again, so that on our next coming back we will seee if the problem will be solved or not.

 

We seal all the items with cellophane and a few large carbon pieces.

Also we arrange to have a few air circulation, more than first for sure.

Changing one of the bedroom window to leave it little open, the kind of window with adjustable glass strips like in the kitchen, having air moving between ground floor and upstair rooms.

We dont dare to leave any electric switched on, too many risks...

 

We will see if enough,

hope so.

 

See you on next year,

Ciocco

[autanic]

The best way to solve mould is White Vinegar.  Get a bucket fill half of it with White Vinegar. The fill the other half with around 2kg of table salt. Top up with water. Put near or around the problem.

As you house/flat gets hotter the mixture evaporates into the air. Salt water and vinegar kill spores, so they cannot reproduce.

 

Its an old wives tale that works far better than a dehumidifier.