Tag: dehumidifier

Hell and High Water Down Under

Posted on by Alfred Austin

fighting the flooding with trotec dehumidifiers and building dryers

Every year bookmakers up and down the country have a field day with people eager to put their money on the odds of us having a White Christmas. But last year was different. Instead of looking forward to soft, thick snowflakes floating down lazily from the sky most of us were looking forward to one thing only. Less snow.

Last year we were treated to more than our fair share of the heavenly white stuff. But now that the subzero temperatures which turned the snow to ice and the roads to skating rinks have risen the big thaw has started to set in. And as if to make matters worse persistent rain has swollen the rivers and led to unusually high water levels for this time of the year. And that means a high risk of flooding.

We at the Trotec Group have been in the business long enough to know exactly just how bad the consequences of flooding can be. The impact of knowing that your cellar or even the ground floor of your house is submerged or partly under water can hit a man hard and drive him and his family to despair. That’s why we as a company with a professional water damage restoration division are glad that we are able to bring order to the chaos and help out with powerful building dryers and reliable dehumidifiers.

But imagine what it would be like if the situation were even worse?

And in Queensland, Australia it is. What the people of the northeast state are experiencing at the moment is devastating and defies all imagination. Heavy rainfall and high water have led to large-scale flooding, the worst in 50 years, which is currently affecting the lives of over 200,000 people. The area, which is staggeringly the size of both France and Germany put together, has been partly evacuated to save the residents from further calamity and even more dangers. Dangers in the form of a shortage of clean water, flood-related diseases and poisonous water snakes and hungry crocodiles. Already three people have been killed by snakes bites and countless others attacked by marauding reptiles, which like the displaced human population and countless poor animals, are often on the lookout for higher ground where they are, for the time being at least, safe from the floods. As a result the Australian authorities have issued warnings to the marooned victims not to enter the water – which because of the battle that help organizations and rescue services are having reaching them is almost impossible.

Go here to see an interactive map and an image gallery of the flooding in Queensland

Luckily for us the situation in our part of the world is less dramatic. But for those unfortunate souls who are, or soon will be, affected help is at hand. We have the know-how, the experience and the equipment to provide them with everything they need to dry out their buildings and restore their cellars and houses to their previous state. We may not know all that much about Australian wildlife, but we do know a lot about building dryers and water damage restoration.

And Rolf Harris. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, Tie Me Kangaroo Down…

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Play It Again, Sam!

Posted on by Alfred Austin

Protect Your Prized Piano with climate control by Trotec

A piano – be it an upright piano or a grand piano, a Steinway or a Yamaha – is often the most prized possession and most highly-valued musical instrument in hundreds of thousands if not millions of homes and households. Pianos, and piano music, are extremely popular all over the world. Which other instrument, apart from perhaps an exquisitely-tuned violin, is able to capture the hearts of those listening and strike the chords that touch the soul and move and uplift the listener to higher spheres, or drag them down – deep, deep, down – into the darker realms of despondency, grief and gloom?

So why then do so many people who own such a beautiful instrument not look after their valuable possessions the way they ought to?

Wood is full of life. It has a history, a story to tell and it still lives on long after the wood that has been hand-picked by experienced and dedicated piano makers has been crafted into a fine musical instrument. Wood, as we all know, reacts very strongly to its surrounding conditions. It can contract and expand – and even crack and tear apart – depending on how moist or dry the air that surrounds it is. That’s why it is so important that you spend enough time selecting the right place for such a skillfully mastered instrument. And it’s not just the acoustics you should be focusing on – on the contrary, the right place for your piano is the room, chamber or parlour where the relative humidity and the temperature are evenly balanced and within certain limits. Strongly fluctuating temperatures or humidity levels that are too high or too low can not only put your piano out of tune, they can literally ruin your masterpiece making costly repairs necessary or even rendering it worthless.

So what can be done to ensure that the relative humidity remains within certain limits and the temperature does not drop below or exceed certain thresholds?

Dehumidifiers are highly sophisticated and highly effective pieces of equipment which are designed to monitor and regulate the relative humidity in your home, workplace or office so as to provide you with just the right amount of humidity that you need. Depending on their size and the application which they have been built for, dehumidifiers can extract up to 20 litres of moisture from the surrounding air in just one single day. This means that they are easily able to reduce high moisture levels that could otherwise cause the wood of your piano to swell up or split and maintain a desired indoor climate with a relative humidity that lies ideally between 50 and 65%.

If, on the other hand, the air in the room is not too moist but far too dry, then you need to be able to rely on a humidifier to prevent you the wood of you piano from cracking to the point that it is beyond repair. A humidifier increases the moisture in the air, but only as much as you would like and enough to create a pleasant indoor climate and an overall sense of well-being.

The right temperature also plays a vital role regarding the position of your piano. Make sure that it is not too close to any heat sources like a radiator for example, and that your room thermostat is set to between 15 C and 24 C. You will also need to provide for some form of insulation if you have underfloor heating and be careful to keep it away from cold spots and draughts.

There are some people who say that a piano is as sensitive as a human being. They think that you should never keep your piano in a climate which you yourself would not feel comfortable in. You may of course not wish to leave anything to chance and therefore decide to use a piece of professional measuring equipment to check that the temperature and the relative humidity are at the right levels. A thermohygrometer is such a professional, high-precision device. It is practically two devices rolled into one. And it is robust, reliable and very reasonably priced.

Perhaps not quite as valuable as your average piano, but it does do its job just as well.

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The sweet smell of summer

Posted on by Elena Kramer

dehumidifiers to help you get rid of the musty smell in your laundry roomAutumn is here at last. You need only look at the calendar – or out of the window. So make the most of the last sunbeams. The days are getting shorter and shorter – and the weather isn’t going to get any better!

During the darker autumn and winter months, we all miss the warmth, the vibrant colours and the very unique smell that we all associate with summer. Freshly mown grass, sun lotion or the smell of fresh laundry can all evoke that summer feeling and light up any gloomy autumn day. But clothes which can no longer hang out to dry in the sunshine and have to be dried in a damp laundry room can often develop a lingering musty smell. No matter what detergent you use, a moist indoor climate is bound to frustrate any effort to maintain a “fresh summer breeze” throughout the long winter months. Laundry rooms in particular are prone to such problems because of the extra humidity which comes from the washing machines and spin dryers. This can quickly result in damp clothes, ugly stains on walls and an unpleasant musty smell. These early signs call for immediate action, because this can easily lead to mould forming, especially in smaller rooms with insufficient ventilation. A dehumidifier can help you to control the indoor climate and create the conditions you want while working against high levels of humidity and preventing mould and that particularly pungent smell that goes with it.

Comfort air dehumidifiers like the TTK 70S and the TTK 75S, for example, are ideal for everyday use: the ultra compact devices fit in any nook or corner and are able to maintain constantly low levels of humidity in just about any room. At the same time, the built-in air filter makes sure that the air in the room is clean and free of  dust, pollen and pet hairs – which is a relief, and not only for allergy sufferers!

And because winter is already well on its way, TROTEC has three campaigns with bargain-priced dehumidifiers in store for you…

So it’s goodbye summer, roll on winter!  And a perfect indoor climate all year round – with air conditioners, humidifiers and dehumidifiers from Trotec. The company that cares.

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Prepare yourself and your cellar – the worst is yet to come

Posted on by Alfred Austin

TROTEC dehumidifiers - the solution after floodings and heavy rainfalls

The effects of climate change that we experienced in 2010 are cause for grave concern – the images ingrained in our memories of ravaged regions and lost souls still leave us shocked, shaken and helpless. The devastating heat wave in Russia, the horrifying floods in Pakistan or just recently the tsunami in Indonesia– these are probably among the most severe weather catastrophes which happened within the last year.

There are still those who say that these catastrophes cannot be linked to the change in climate and that mankind has had little or nothing to do with global warming and the effect climate change has had, and is having, on our planet. But those who believe that climate change is responsible for the effects we are witnessing by far outnumber the sceptics.

But what can we do? Some changes already seem to be irreversible. And the fruits of what we are succeeding in changing or stopping will only become evident in years, if not decades, to come.

Well, we can start by accepting that there will be many more such situations and catastrophes in the near future and that we quickly need to take some necessary steps and precautions in order to prevent the worst from happening. At this very moment there is a massive project underway in – or to put it more precisely under Mexico City – to build a 62-kilometre long tunnel 150 metres below the city’s surface with just one aim in mind: to protect the 20 million-strong metropolis against flooding and high water.

Mexico City is especially at risk because the mega city is built on a dried out lake and is gradually sinking further and further into the sandy substrate. The city itself is also surrounded by a ridge of high mountains which makes it extremely difficult – and costly – to pump the waste water out of the city and away from its inhabitants.

If nothing is done, and the heavy rainfalls during the wet season continue on such a colossal scale, then the city will literally sink in its own water. And this is what the TEO (Túnel Emisor Oriente) is designed to prevent. The tunnel will conduct the water masses away from the city in a depth of 150 metres to the lower-lying federal capital Hidalgo where they will then be processed by gigantic sewage plants which have been upgraded for exactly this purpose. The tunnel will soon be able to propel 150 m³ water per second to the nether regions, perhaps even as soon as 2012. There is even a German company from Baden-Württemberg involved in this mammoth project, which once again goes to show how highly German technology is regarded all over the globe.

So Mexico City is – for the time being at least – safe, thankfully. But where does that leave the rest of us? Our often antiquated and overburdened drainage systems are unable to cope with the downpours we have been experiencing. And you can hardly rely on sandbags and backflow flaps to stop the floods that ensue when the sewers run over, the dykes give and the rivers burst their banks. Better then to make sure that your washing machines, tumble dryers and any other possessions which you value highly are on a pedestal or other elevated place should the floods swamp your cellar. And if your cellar does one day get submerged in water you can always rely on us to dry it out again.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best…

Our professional building dryers and dehumidifiers offer a whole range of solutions for dehumidification regardless of the scale. Take advantage of our super special offers which are currently running for new and second-hand dehumidifiers – and make sure you’re well prepared for the wet season!

TROTEC – we won’t leave you standing in the rain!

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Trust Trotec to come up with yet another Super Special Offer!

Posted on by Tim Austin

super special offer on dehumidifier TTK 140 S

If there’s one thing that experience has taught us here at TROTEC, it’s that autumn holds a whole host of new challenges in store for many of our clients: the wet, stormy weather, the endless downpours, heavy, driving rain and the accompanying freak flash floods and high water stretch them and their abilities to the limit. And you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would admit to actually liking being constantly caught in heavy showers or hailstorms only to be greeted by a damp climate when they finally arrive home sopping wet and frozen through.

Which is why our dehumidifiers are in such big demand at this time of the year. The dehumidifiers from Trotec are ideal when it comes to providing immediate aid after water damage, to help dry pumped out cellars, to combat high levels of moisture in production sites or storerooms and warehouses or to quite simply regulate the relative humidity in your home. It doesn’t matter where you put them – the slim, sophisticated dehumidifiers cut a fine figure whatever the application, wherever they are.

So to make sure that you are well prepared we have prepared a super campaign that will help you through the wet weather!

The TTK 140 S is an extremely versatile, high-quality, power-packing dehumidifier which you can now buy at a sensational knock-down price. And because we don’t believe in special offers which create the impression that you are saving by buying a low-priced electrical or domestic appliance whereas in fact you are compromising on service and quality, what you get at TROTEC is the real deal – a truly efficient and reliable mobile dehumidifier at a truly attractive price.

Interested in the TTK 140 S? Come and visit our shop to save up to 50% on new products and get used models at cut-price!

Don’t let the rain sodden season dampen your spirits. Bring down moisture levels to where you want them and create your own individual indoor climate wherever you are.

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Yet another TROTEC waiting game: Special discounts on dehumidifiers!

Posted on by Elena Kramer

Three campaigns for special-priced dehumidifiers

This is going to make the alert customer jump for joy: It’s time for the Trotec waiting game again! For where else can you save as much money buying premium brand products right off the shelf? This time the spotlight is on…the dehumidifiers TTK 70 S and TTK 75 S!

Kick-off is October 13th at the stroke of midnight, going on for 40 days as usual. This means that for the very quick among you there’s the chance to get up to 40% early-bird discount on our dehumidifiers TTK 70 S and TTK 75 S. Because the countdown is on: every day that you hesitate, you’ll miss 1% of the discount. Who places his order nice and early therefore saves most. And always keep in mind: This offer is only valid while stocks last! Or, as we say here: It’s the early bird that catches the – er- dehumidifier!

You think this is it? Well, far from it…We’ve got two more special offers in store for you.

Find out more about our 3 custom-made campaigns for bargain-priced dehumidifiers!

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Mould and how to prevent it – 5 golden rules for tenants

Posted on by Tim Austin

How to prevent mould

For many home-owners and tenants living in apartments or flats there is one sight which causes them great discomfort and fills them with utter disgust – mould. Yet mould is not only unsightly, it can quickly become dangerous and trigger allergic reactions or make a house’s or flat’s occupants very ill. All the more reason then to prevent mould from occurring in the first place and to find out more about what causes mould and what can be done to combat it.

One of the biggest causes of mould is the difference in temperature between the cold outside walls of a building and the heated rooms inside. That’s why the best form of insulation is insulation which is applied to the outside of the building. As a home-owner you can do something about it: you can carry out modernisation work and fix exterior cladding to the outside walls – as a tenant you can’t. This is why we have compiled a list with 5 golden rules designed to help those who in such cases cannot help themselves simply because they are living in rented accommodation and therefore unable to take the necessary steps that would make mould less of an issue and more a thing of the past.

Rule No. 1:

Do not put any furniture up against outside walls or the corners of outside walls.

If you are unable to follow this rule, because you are pushed for space and wouldn’t know what to do with certain pieces of furniture, then try to make sure that there is at least 10cm between the outside wall and the piece of furniture in question.

Rule No. 2:
The rooms in your flat have to be evenly heated.

This includes bedrooms which many people insist on not heating, because they believe that they will then be able to sleep better when they go to bed. This may be the case, but turning the central heating right off is going to give mould the chance it needs.

Rule No. 3:
Open the windows at least twice a day.

And when we say open, we mean open. Not just a crack, but wide open for about 5 to 10 minutes. This gives the air enough time to circulate. The stale, used air goes out and the fresh, hopefully clean air comes in.

Rule No. 4 :
Make sure that bathrooms are aired properly after a hot shower or hot bath.

This is sometimes much harder than you might first think: some windows are simply too small to be adequate and some bathrooms have no windows at all. In such cases a dehumidifier is just the right device. It extracts the moisture out of the air and creates just the right indoor climate.

Rule No. 5:
The relative humidity of a room should not be higher than 65- 70%.

It can be a little higher – along the walls, for example, where it can be as high as 80%, but this is an exception. If you’re looking for a way to measure the relative humidity, try one of our thermohygrometers. They are designed to do just that.

Oh, and by the way… If you are having an earnest problem with mould in your flat, then you are generally entitled to hold back some of the rent. This is, however, a sword which can cut both ways: landlords often try to turn the tables on tenants by claiming that the mould is a result of gross negligence on the part of the tenant who has not been airing the flat adequately.

Do you have or have you had problems with mould in your apartment or flat? Write to us and tell us about it. Or let us in on your secret if you have any other useful tips or golden rules which you would like to share with your fellow readers. We would love to hear from you.

TROTEC. For a better world.

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High humidity levels in Asia: Apple iphone owners left out in the rain

Posted on by Tim Austin

high humidity levels

It is not uncommon for humidity levels in Asia to reach 95%. Too much for the Apple iphone according to an article in the South China Morning Post. The phone’s onboard moisture sensors, so called Liquid Submersion Indicators (LSIs), react extremely sensitively to such conditions and switch the cult objet d’art off. Thousands of customers have already been affected.

But worse is still to come: Apple’s one-year warranty expires in case of damage caused by moisture – the company assumes that their cult smartphone has then either been dropped into a swimming pool or left out in the rain. And the warranty clauses are carefully worded with regard to temperature and relative humidity operating and storage ranges, leaving nothing to chance. This development obviously does not go down well with the Apple enthusiasts whose world suddenly goes pear-shaped when their company refuses to accept any responsibility. To date there is no sign that the iphone users can expect either compensation or sympathy from the company giant.

And Asia is much closer than you think. The relative humidity in bathrooms can also reach very high levels, especially when somebody is having a hot bath or shower. And how many smartphone owners, people who like listening to mp3 files or who want to be sure that they don’t miss a call, take their prized possessions into the bathroom with them? But it is exactly these environments that can present a grave problem – not only to your iphone but also your health. Mould thrives on high levels of moisture and as we pointed out in our blog last week: Mould can be a killer. This is why we at Trotec recommend using dehumidifiers to extract excess moisture from the air, especially in bathrooms, windowless rooms or cellars where high levels of moisture can often be compared to a time bomb ticking over and waiting to go off.

The time has come for you to take responsibility into your own hands and create your own dry zone – before it is too late. Check the relative humidity in your home, flat or apartment with one of the many moisture meters from Trotec and bring down moisture levels in bathrooms, basements, cellars and cubby-holes with one of our state-of-the-art, low-priced iphones – sorry, mobile dehumidifiers.

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Allergy sufferers beware – 3 out of 4 GPs get it wrong

Posted on by Tim Austin

According to the leading allergy portal myallergo.de, 3 out of 4 GPs are failing to diagnose that it is an allergy that is plaguing their patients and not a just a common cold when the people who visit their surgeries complain about symptoms which if not scrutinised carefully could easily be linked to influenza-liked illnesses, the collective term for colds, flu and similar infections.

But were these GPs to dig deeper, they would soon discover that contrary to common colds whose symptoms normally subside after 7 to 10 days at the latest, what they often have on their hands is an allergic reaction which can generally last a lot longer and often recurs within a very short period. Here it would perhaps pay for doctors to listen a little more intently to their patients’ woes – and for the patients to open up and even quiz their GPs on certain points instead of just swallowing the medicine.

But once the doctors – or the patients themselves – have got it right and pinpointed the source of their suffering, then action must be taken to not only relieve the symptoms, which the sufferers themselves are understandably acutely interested in easing, but more importantly still to eliminate the actual cause.

People who react to pollen, pet hairs and house dust can protect themselves and their home by using a dehumidifier, or in the winter months a Used B400 humidifier plus two free SecoSan Stick 10., to clean the ambient air. Not only do both types of appliances regulate the relative humidity in the rooms in which they have been installed, more importantly still for allergy sufferers perhaps they are all equipped with efficient, easy-to-remove and easy-to-clean air filters which effectively filter airborne particles like pollen, pet hairs and house dust out of the air thereby nipping the cause of the allergy in the bud. This would make these appliances a more than sound investment as they do not only improve the quality of life, they also save money that is often ploughed into often unnecessary medication.

So don’t wait for your GP to get it right – or wrong – buy a humidifier or dehumidifier today and make life that much more livable.

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A tale of little big helpers and mighty machines – adsorption dryers in the TTR series

Posted on by Tim Austin

What might at first sight look very much like it has something to do with a fairytale or tale of fantasy is in fact a very down-to-earth entry on a selection of extremely versatile and efficient pieces of equipment – adsorption dryers from Trotec.

The adsorption dryers in the TTR series come in all shapes and sizes – and a variety of different designs too. They range from the shiny, steel-plated, compact TTR 160 and the similarly-sized and similarly low-priced TTR 250 to the extremely powerful six-foot plus models, the TTR 8000 or TTR 9500, each of which is able to turnover a massive 8,000 or 9,500 cubic metres of processed air in only one hour respectively.

The adsorption dryers in the TTR series are designed especially for industrial use. One of their many outstanding strong points is their ability to reduce the relative humidity both quickly and reliably and then effectively keeping it down to values as remarkably low as 10 or even only 5 percent!

Such exceptionally low relative humidity values would make a person feel extremely uncomfortable to say the least, but they are needed in many fields in the pharmaceutical and the food industry where it is essential that the products are manufactured and stored in cool and dry environments.

compact TTR adsorption dryers
TTR-dehumidifiers – compact adsorption dryers such as these are installed when water has been used to extinguish a house fire. This is one of the first steps that are taken. It is carried out by fire and water damage restoring experts to prevent hydrochloric acid dew from forming in order to protect the rest of your furniture and possessions against further damage. The dryers are also used as a precautionary measure to stop mould or corrosion from occurring in industrial scenarios. The big little helpers do not hold back with regard to performance and are able to dry up to 90 kg in only 24 hours. And that’s not all: the TTR-Series also comprises Ex-protected models for special use in Ex-protected areas.

Adsorption drying units of the TTR series
And there’s the jumbo-sized TTR drying units for use in jumbo-sized ship holds to combat corrosion or to ensure that unheated rooms like those found in pump stations remain dry and free of damage caused by excess moisture.. Models like these are packed with cutting-edge technology and come complete with know-how acquired as a result of years of experience in the field of industrial and commercial drying and dehumidification – and the feedback that constantly occurs between the individual divisions of the Trotec Group.

And last but by no means least there are our Ex-protected models – units designed especially for drying processes in Ex-protected areas. These models carry all the hallmarks of the other units in the TTR-Series with the exception that they are additionally equipped with special safety features so that they can be used in high-risk areas, like bunkers, for example.

Buy your TTR adsorption dryer at our online shop…

You would rather hire than buy? Then go to straight to TKL, the name in dispatch hiring…

Find out more about adsorption dryers here…

As we said at the outset – it’s not about a fairytale, although the prices are, well, fairly fantastic and hard to believe!

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