Mold needs moisture to thrive. So, using a fan makes it harder for fungus to grow in your home. However, you must realize that they are not the perfect solution. They are not powerful enough to dry out very damp areas and won't do much good if your mold problem is severe.
Try to pick windows away from moldy debris piles outdoors. Use exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom. If you use a portable fan, put it in a window or door blowing out. Never point fans at moldy surfaces—that will spread the mold.
"If there's some mold in the shower or elsewhere in the bathroom that seems to reappear, increasing ventilation (running a fan or opening a window after every shower) and cleaning more frequently will usually prevent mold from recurring, or at least keep the mold to a minimum," according to the EPA website.
Another major step to prevent mold growth in your home is to make sure you are properly ventilating your home. Ventilation helps prevent humid air from getting trapped indoors and wreaking havoc with mold growth. Good airflow can help cut back on moisture and will dry wet areas of your home more quickly.
If the fan is set to the ON position daily, your home will be unable to rid itself of humidity. This, unfortunately, results in dust mites and mold growth. The EPA suggests an indoor humidity level for your home to be between 30%-50%. These levels prevent dust mite and mold breeding from occurring.
There are countless articles online suggesting to dry the damp and wet areas in our homes with fans, but that's a huge mistake. If those spots have black mold on them, by turning the fan on, we're just spreading the spores even more quickly.
It won't necessarily make the air in a space dryer, but it can contribute to a room's reduced humidity levels. This would be the case if you were to run a fan with the windows open. The fan would push the humid air inside your room out the window and allow the outdoor air, which may be dryer, inside.
Extreme temperatures do not kill mold, but they can deactivate them. Even when temperatures drop below freezing, mold spores don't die; they simply become dormant and will begin to multiply and grow again as soon as the temperature rises.
The short answer? Yes. 'Ventilation is key to preventing mould growth,' says Jordan Chance, product manager at PlumbNation. 'Make sure to leave bathroom windows open for at least 10 minutes after showering and bathing in order to clear excess moisture from the atmosphere.
The best air purifiers for mold are those that utilize True HEPA filters. HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air, and these filters are highly effective at capturing microscopic particles such as mold spores found in the air.
Cleaning vinegar, which contains 6% acetic acid, is the best type for killing mold. White vinegar containing 5% acidity will also work just fine.
Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery.
To Prevent Mold Growth in Your Home
Keep humidity levels in your home as low as you can—no higher than 50%–all day long. An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the level low. You can buy a meter to check your home's humidity at a home improvement store.
The Health Risks of Sleeping in a Room with Mould
If you're sleeping in a room with mould, you could be breathing in mycotoxins (toxic chemicals present in the spores of certain mould types) throughout the night.
If you seriously want to avoid mold in your home then avoid rooms cooling completely. Experts recommend that the ideal temperature for living rooms is 20°C, 23°C for the bathroom and children's rooms, and 16C for the bedroom and kitchen.
Spraying bleach on surfaces can actually contribute to the spread and growth of mold, especially on porous surfaces. You should never try to clean mold off walls. The catch is bleach does have its place when eliminating mold on impermeable surfaces like glass, metal, treated wood, and plastic.
Mold stays “dormant” in the air or on surfaces even when there's no excess moisture to help it grow. If the humidity in a room increases, mold will start growing in patches on walls, clothes, and more. So, to answer your question, dehumidifiers do NOT kill mold, but they do prevent it by reducing humidity.
High levels of humidity or dampness in the home leads to black mould growth on walls and ceilings. Depending on the moisture involved, bedroom mould often begins in the corners of the room, where condensation is collected as it tries to exit the home. Poor ventilation is usually the cause.
We have prepared a list of negative impacts for What Happens If You Keep Your Thermostat Too Cold: Mold Growth- The colder you keep your home, the colder the walls, ceiling, floors, windows and more will be. Water vapor that gets into these porous materials is the ideal place for mold to grow.
The bottom line is that molds are everywhere – they're indoors and outdoors, and it doesn't take much to encourage them to grow. Usually, warm and humid conditions (like those inside your home when you turn off the air conditioning or heat) is where mold spores can thrive.
Mold grows faster in the summer months. However, winter doesn't always mean we are in the clear. Mold loves the dark spaces in our homes. Although it does not grow at temperatures below freezing, mold can survive in dormancy and await the coming spring.
Fans are great when you can open the windows to a dry (and preferably warm) day and let the sun and the wind aid your fans. Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air but do little to circulate it. They work best in enclosed systems. A room, sealed against the rain, will benefit far more from a dehumidifier than a fan.
Side Effects of Sleeping With a Fan On. Sleeping with a fan on is fairly harmless for most people, but some may find it uncomfortable. This is especially true for people with sensitive airways. View Source and those who prefer a totally quiet sleep environment.
However, experts are advising against leaving the fan on overnight. Apparently it can increase asthma symptoms, and trigger allergens. Fans circulate air, but they also spread dust mites, spores, pollen, and other allergens around the room.