By Mark Wichern, IICRC WRT & ASD Instructor
This is the time of year to have your house or business inspected for water damage, and tested for mold and mold projects before the busy season starts again.
If there are any issues or when issues arise, high-temperature drying methods could be the way to go, saving you thousands of dollars, costly repairs and time out of your home.
Much more cost effective, with high temperature drying methods, it only takes a few days to get in and out of the house, condo unit, etc. usually without tearing anything out. Hardwood floors can also be dried, which saves thousands and thousands of dollars, and is normally done in about a week.
In the water damage restoration industry, anything over 90° ambient conditions is considered high-temperature drying. High temperature dehumidifiers mean that they work in temperatures up to 120°, compared to standard refrigerant dehumidification, which becomes very inefficient above 85°.
Why is high temperature drying important? Every 18 to 20° that we can increase the temperature of the materials that we are drying, we are able to double the rate of evaporation. In other words, we can dry twice as fast with high temperature drying. This also comes with years of experience, trained employees and investing in the right equipment.
The added benefit of high-temp drying is the fact we can dry deeper into materials. Let me explain: hot moves to cold, which increases the vapor pressure in materials as the temperature increases. It is a must to use dehumidifiers that work in higher temperatures, when doubling the materials vapor pressure. If standard dehumidifiers are used then the temperature of the material must remain low, (less than 85 degrees) slowing the entire evaporation process and most likely demolition will be required to remove the wet materials.
High Velocity Air Movers
Air movers come in varied sizes and shapes. The three most popular are the Axial, Centrifugal and the Radial air movers.
The air movers’ job is to help evaporate moisture into the air for the dehumidifiers to remove and to reheat the material from the evaporative cooling.
During testing at our IICRC Training facility, we discovered that at 3000 CFM and at over 1400 FPM, the Phoenix Focus delivers the fastest air and evaporation of all the air movers. This is our air mover of choice!
Radial Air Movers Are Slower Drying
Many of the new air movers are the radial, which are cheaper to purchase and easier for the restoration company to haul and set up. The tradeoff is a dramatic loss in air flow, which results in longer drying times, higher risk of mold growth and larger rental bills for the customer.
While high temperature drying is a preferred method in many cases, most companies do not invest into high temperature dehumidifiers. We can help. Email or call 24-7 to receive a brochure or schedule an appointment and receive a free moisture meter. (850) 835-5677; veritasrestoration.com; lauraw@veritasrestoration.com.
