Condensation/ mould... dehumidifier advice?

[DeathMetalMum]

I found some mould on the back panel of a chest of drawers today also inside the back panel. I thought I was quite good at both heating and ventilating the house but obviously not. There is no mould on any of the walls just the chest of drawers but it was against a cool outside wall. I try and open windows daily, run extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen, don't dry washing on the radiators already. We used to live in a flat that had terrible damp and thought I had learnt from past mistakes but obviously not.

I'm thinking the only solution must be a dehumidifier?? Does anyone have any recommendations for one under £100 are any at that price even worthwhile?

Ours was less than £100 and yes yes yes it is SO worthwhile, makes a huge difference.

The only thing I would say though is your problem might be more air circulation in that area rather than general humidity, if that's the only spot in your house with mould/ condensation.

Can you put the dresser somewhere else or try moving it away from the wall a bit, to see if that fixes things first?

Ours is a blyss Wdh 1012ea model and we've had it for about a year with no issues.

We are ignoring all instructions about the room size recommendations as we basically bought the biggest thing we could manage / had room for and just hoped it would somehow make a difference to our whole top floor. It does, and I can even dry a bit of winter washing inside again. I preach about dehumidifiers now

We suffer from this in one bedroom only. I think the problem is lack of air circulation as Giraffes says. Not found a solution for it other than not to put furniture up against that one particular wall. We had to replace the back panel on the chest of drawers as the mould kept growing back.

we have the same problem in our extension and the dehumidifier, although excellent- doesn't help with mildew behind the bookcase as it's an airflow problem

is it on an outside wall?
then moving the chest away an inch might help.

I have a meaco dd8l. Tis fab, meant to do a 3 bed house.

Yes it's an outside wall, it's also the coldest room in the house. There was a big A2 packet of half used wall stickers in a plastic cover behind the cupboard I wondered if that had affected the ventilation as the furniture next to it is mould free.

We also do have some condensation on the windows in the morning most day's at the moment but I do wipe them down and open to air most days too.

Thanks for the recommendations just going to have a look at them now.

http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/cd10l/electriq-cd10l-dehumidifier
We recently bought this one and it's made an amazing difference! It will dry two clothes airers full of washing overnight and we haven't had to wipe down the condensation from Windows since we've had it.

Dehumidifiers are fab pieces of kit, but for them to work effectively, you will also need to make sure there is adequate airflow.

If it is a piece of furniture that it wouldn't be a crime to modify, you can cut holes into the back panel to improve air circulation inside and move it away from the wall slightly.

Are dehumidifiers expensive to run? Also how often would I need to run it and for how many hours a day or week? I have a damp wardrobe, and yup it's the recurring theme of

• cold side of the house, North facing wall
• double built in wardrobe in the corner of the room. The other 2 wardrobes on the same wal, don't have the same problem

Daisy chain - mine ran day and night for about three days but then it just turns on to sample the air every half hour and only dehumidifies if the humidity is too high.

Hi huffle thanks for that, sounds great. I am going to check out the John Lewis website.

Sorry to sound clueless but as my damp problem is in the wardrobe do I just put it in there for a few days, periodically over the winter, when the damp is most noticeable? I suppose I need to get a small one to put on the floor inside it. Actually I could also leave the doors open for ventilation

daisychain01 is your wardrobe built straight onto the wall? If so you could stick on some polystyrene insulating sheets on the outside wall- worked for us in the previous house

Hi Gatekeeper, the wardrobe is one of 3 built all the way along the wall in our bedroom. Strangely although they are all on an outside wall, it's the one on the end corner that gets dampness and musty smell.

Will definitely look into the polystyrene sheets thank you!