Damp/Mildew

[ginge]

Hello

I am moving to Singapore from the UK and have been advised not to bring hanging art or books because of the risk of damage from damp from the high humidity. The obvious way around this is to run air-con 24 hours a day, which I don't want to do - don't want to live and work in air-con conditions.

I thought the solution might be to buy dehumidifiers for my condo and run those 24/7. Does anyone have any experience of this problem, or can anyone make any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Bubbs]

Yes Ginge, you'll find that pics and books will get mould spots on them if you don't run the a/c. Also any stored toys or shoes or anything, esp if you store them outside or in a cupboard next to an outside wall will soon be covered in the stuff.

The worst thing is not the mould itself but the smell. It is a problem here and I don't know what to advise you as I didn't use dehumidifiers.

They'll set you back a bit, as they're electrical and not cheap to run.

My advice is if you've got split aircon to keep your clothes in a room which has it running most of the time and not to bring expensive pics or books unless you're prepared to keep them in the aircon.

However, if you chose a flat that's high floor and you can keep the windows wide open to get a really good breeze, perhaps it will help, though the problem is the moisture laden air of outside, so it would still be the same air, just faster at getting to your stuff. Would living on the East Coast, near the sea, increase or decrease the humidity? I'd say it would be more, but I'm not sure.

Bubbs.

[Cam]

I've been advised to air the rooms frequently. And any furniture prone to mould should be put in the sunlight now and again.

How many books are you bringing? Maybe store the more expensive ones in a dry box, like the ones you get for cameras.

As for the art - does the damp mailnly get at the rear of the canvas? If thats the case maybe place moisture absorbers there.