Dehumidifier vs Fan: Which One Is Better?

If you want to eliminate moisture from your house effectively, dehumidifiers are a better choice. While fans may take up less space and provide you fresh air, it will eliminate moisture and may make dampness problems worse if you are living in homes with air conditioning.

To keep your house in good condition, air circulation is crucial.

Stagnant air, particularly if damp, can’t only cause damage to the structure of your home, but also it can make your living space uncomfortable.

Commercial fans and dehumidifiers are excellent for better air circulation, yet every piece of equipment works in various ways.

What Should You Know about Dehumidifiers?

A dehumidifier can be the best equipment to reduce the humidity levels of damp and cool spaces.

It can be placed within a room. Air will be circulated as it takes moist air, passes it over the evaporator coil followed by condenser coils and releases it, dehumidified in the room. Since condenser coils make heat, warmth will be released in the room.

Oftentimes, commercial dehumidifiers are employed in water damage restoration equipment with an air mover for removing excess moisture from affected space.

These collect water that’s being eliminated from the air in either the collection bucket or drain water through the hose to the outside space, which will keep it from entering the atmosphere.

Pros and Cons of Dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers are used for years in commercial and residential properties. They’ve become a famous way to eliminate moisture from basements and homes. Dehumidifier units work through taking water from the air.

It provides you peace of mind that water in air is being removed from your house rather than just circulated or masked around.

Another good feature with dehumidifiers is the fact you could control the humidity level in your home. Some units have a built-in humidistat that monitors the level of air moisture and runs the dehumidifier until it reached the preset limit level. It means you may have 70 percent, 50 percent or any humidity level you like to suit your preferences.

Even if dehumidifiers look like a complicated unit, they’re a bit low maintenance. They’ll require general cleaning as well as upkeep around twice yearly, yet mainly you may just leave them to get on with the work.

Dehumidifiers differ from the fan in a way that they don’t have to empty away from the water. It may be collected in the bucket, which is emptied or removed manually or the pump system will push the water out to the drain or through the hose.

It also means you have to set it in a place with access to the drain point or be prepared to empty buckets fairly on a regular basis, which is a difficulty if you will go on a vacation.

Dehumidifiers may also be louder than fans. While you may get silent units, it’s something you should take note if you want to dehumidify your bedroom or some quiet living space.

More often, dehumidifiers may take up a lot of space compared to fans. Bathroom dehumidifiers versus vent fans may end up using the floor space in smaller rooms.

What Should You Know about Fans?

Fans don’t have many effects on humidity levels, yet they do make lots of circulation. Blades rotate at a high speed, which forces air to move away from the unit. Thus, it can make a cooling effect. The units may be placed in a room or in the window that enables fresh air from the outside to be blown inside the house.

The air mover is a type of fan that once used with dehumidifiers, it can be an effective drying tool, particularly in water damage restoration. Air mover forces air at high velocities to push up the excess water from the carpets and floors in the air.

Then, dehumidifiers eliminate the moisture, which helps dry the area easily and minimize the risk of any possible damages in the future.

Pros and Cons of Fans

Fans can be used for ventilating homes for more than five decades and they’re a cheaper way to ensure that the air in your house, basement or crawl space is well-circulated and fresh. Also, fans are easy to install. They are fitted in vents and windows that push the air from outside your house where it’s circulated around. It works well and may be added on outside walls.

Users of dehumidifiers must empty the unit’s water collection bucket on a regular basis or it’d need to be linked up to the drain so water may be pumped away. Fans do not need this kind of regular installation or upkeep.

If your concern is dampness in your house, fans would go some way to fix it. The reason behind it is that while you might have drier air pushed in from the outside, the fan will not remove the moisture from the air as dehumidifiers do. Therefore, if you have a bad damp problem, fans will not cut it.

Fans can be clogged as well. As the system is a moving part, anything that may cause this part to be blocked or clogged may cause fans to be overworked that may burn out its motor.

One of the downsides of fans is that it’ll make the moisture problem worse once you live in hot areas and use air conditioning for cooling your home.

If you’re using fans to push warmer air from the outside like in a crawl space, your room’s indoor air will be cool because of the air conditioning system. It means you’ll have hot air from the outside hitting much cooler air inside. It will cause condensation and might make damp problems worse.

The Bottom Line

Fans and dehumidifiers are good for making air circulation, yet they work in various ways. They eliminate excess moisture level from the air while the fans move air at high speed with little effects on humidity. If you know what you really need, you can make the best choice for your situation.