During the 10 years I’ve lived in Sydney, I’d heard people complain about the cold and dampness of living in houses here, but I’d never personally experienced it. Fast forward to April this year, and I move into a beautiful New York-style loft apartment in Surry Hills and six weeks into my living experience I find this….
We bought this frame brand new when I moved into our house. I was mortified. After consulting Google and showing the picture around in a few group chats, it was clear there was only one solution to this kind of problem: a dehumidifier.
If you’re not familiar with them, they’re electrical appliances that remove moisture from the air, helping to prevent mould. They mostly work by drawing air in, then filtering and cooling it to condense moisture. The moisture is then reheated so warmer, dryer air is released.
Fortunately — as it’s tricky to find good dehumidifers in stock right now what with the rain situation in Sydney — I was invited to trial one: the Mitsubishi Electric EV38HR 38L Dehumidifier ($1499). Admittedly, it is on the higher price end, but, from my experience, I can honestly say it’s worth every penny. Here’s why.
It’s Easy to Set Up
When it arrived, the first question was really ‘Where should we put it?’. We live in a one-bedroom apartment, but we had found mould in both our bedroom and living area, so we wanted to make sure wherever we set it up it would still work effectively in the other room. We settled on the living area and nestled it into a little nook in the corner. We plugged it in, turned it on and adjusted the settings to a low quiet mode, and that was it, we were off!
It Removes (Literally) Litres of Water From the Air
The morning after we set it up, we woke to find the little red light on indicating it was full and needed to be emptied. I was again shocked. It had removed 5.5L of water from the air overnight. I also quickly realised that litre capacity is definitely something you need to look for in a dehumidifier. Our Mitsubishi Electric EV38HR has a tank that can collect up to 5.5L of water per cycle (with up to 38L per day), but many other smaller, cheaper models will only remove around 1L per cycle (and up to 10L per day) meaning you would have to empty it multiple times per day.
No More Mould… and No More Colds?
Six weeks into using the product (including the last two weeks of consistent rain in Sydney), and I can safely say we have not seen anything like the mould we encountered when we first moved in. My photo frames remain clean and mould-free, which is great as they are in our bedroom and the dehumidifier unit is set up in the living room.
And the biggest surprise of all for me was my nasal congestion. For the last few years every morning when I wake up I would sneeze anywhere between 3-7 times (which yes, is extremely annoying for my boyfriend). I had allergy testing done, which didn’t reveal any issues with mould, however since having the dehumidifier I have noticed I barely sneeze at all. Apparently drying out the air in your home keeps allergy triggers like mould, dust and pollen to a minimum. What an added bonus!
So, is spending the money on the Mitsubishi Electric EV38HR 38L dehumidifier worth it? In my opinion, absolutely yes. The forecast is telling us this East Coast rain is not looking to ease anytime soon, and I can confidently say I will sleep more soundly (and sneeze less frequently) knowing my possessions aren’t being covered in a silent blanket of mould.
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