What if your dehumidifier stinks so bad? This article explains how to remove bad smell from your dehumidifier.
Generally, A dehumidifier helps to get rid of bad odors from the room, basements, etc. But, What if it is the source of the bad smell? It should not happen normally. But, In a few cases, this thing may happen with you. It can be very annoying.
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What Causes a Dehumidifier Stinks?
There may be various reasons that work behind the bad smell inside your dehumidifier. But, Before that, you should know what actually causes bad odors. It is actually the mold that causes these nasty smells. Molds grows in darkness if there are the following things exist. These are-
- Moisture
- High Temperature
- Dust, Dirt and other organic materials.
In your home, sunlight barely can enter directly like outside. Moisture exists for various reasons. Dust, Dirty, and other organic materials will exist in large numbers or lower. So, In your home, all of these things exist that can create molds. If molds grow in excessive amounts, there will be bad smell. As a dehumidifier removes the humidity from your home air by blowing the humid air through itself, molds may grow inside it. If you don’t clean the dehumidifier regularly or it has some internal issues, it may stink very badly.
Basically, A dirty water tank, coil and metal parts, dirty grilles, and fan blades can cause your dehumidifier stinks.
What to Do If a Dehumidifier Spreads Filthy Smell?
If you are one of them who is experiencing bad smell coming from dehumidifier, you can do these things.
1. Clean Inside the Dehumidifier Properly
The first and most important thing is keeping your dehumidifier neat and clean as much as possible if it stinks. But, Doing it in the wrong way won’t help that much. So, You must follow these steps while cleaning the dehumidifier. Before cleaning, make sure you have unplugged the dehumidifier.
a. Clean Water Collection Tank
The most smelly part of a dehumidifier might be your water collection tank. Before cleaning it, you must empty itself. Some dehumidifiers can drain itself. But, some can’t. Whatever it is you always should check and clean a water tank with soap and warm water or you can use any disinfectant. You should clean it properly because mold grows up quickly in a water tank. That causes a bad smell.
b. Rinse the Air Filter
If the air filter becomes dirty, it may make your room air very unhealthy. You can use a sponge and soapy water to clean it. Make sure to dry it completely before reusing it.
c. Clean the Coil
You should be careful when you try to clean coil or any metal parts of a dehumidifier. Don’t use any chemical without being so sure. You can spray vinegar water solution and then take a coil cleaning brush and clean very carefully.
Please be sure that you should dry the coils and metal parts completely before using it again. So, I suggest you give a whole day to dry it.
d. Clean Fan Blades and Grilles
You also should look at the grilles and fan blades of the dehumidifier. Your hard work can be ruined if you don’t clean these properly.
2. Replace Air Filter
Although most portable dehumidifiers come with a reusable air filter, you still may need to replace it. After re-using so many times, it may not be useable anymore. And also it may become smelly and cleaning won’t work well. So, You should consider buying a new air filter.
If you want to know more about cleaning, read: How to Clean Dehumidifier Properly
3. Make Sure Dehumidifier is in the Proper Place
You can’t just place the dehumidifier wherever you want. Of course, you can. But, It may not be appropriate. However, When you place dehumidifier, make sure there is minimum 6/7 inch gap between the wall and dehumidifier. It is to ensure that dehumidifier can easily accept and release the air. If any thing hampers this operation, it may end up creating problems like bad smell.
4. Use Proper Dehumidifier
There are many types of dehumidifier based on many things. Before purchasing one, you should make sure you are buying the right one. So, To avoid unexpected dehumidifier issues like bad smell or any other problems, make sure you know well which dehumidifier type you need.
Basically, these are somethings you can consider if you want to remove the filthy smell from a dehumidifier or want to avoid the smell problem in the future.