The Dynamic Duo of Air Movers and Dehumidifiers

5/8/2020 (Permalink)

Our signature green air mover and dehumidifier at work.

Like the superhero Batman, who was armed with a utility belt with gadgets to fight crime, every SERVPRO crew chief and technician is armed with a formidable arsenal of air movers, dehumidifiers and the science behind them, to thwart the perils associated with water damage.  The science of water damage mitigation is called psychometrics. 

• Psychometrics is the scientific relationship between temperature, humidity and air flow.

Understanding the aforementioned relationships allows the SERVPRO team to dry materials quicker and more thoroughly.

When materials such as flooring, walls and ceilings are wet the SERVPRO crew will extract any standing water because the most effective means of drying is removal of the water.  Once the standing water is extracted and areas where trapped water could be located have been opened, the dynamic duo of air movers and dehumidifiers comes into play.

The Air Mover is engineered to create high volume air flow across a wet surface increasing the rate of evaporation which is the process of turning a liquid into a gas.  The air mover alone is not enough, in order to be most effective, adequate temperature and proper dehumidification are required.  The higher the temperature the more moisture molecules the air can hold.  This accelerates evaporation. 

The Dehumidifier is a piece of drying equipment that pulls the moisture created by evaporation out of the air and collects it so it cannot re-evaporate.  Dehumidification also lowers vapor pressure and reduces the relative humidity which allows the wet materials to dry quicker.  Vapor pressure is the force exerted by water vapor (humidity) in the environment.  The area with the greatest amount of moisture will have the highest vapor pressure and it will seek equilibrium or balance.  The danger with this is that moisture created due to water damage in one area will spread and cause secondary damage in adjoining areas if not mitigated properly. 

The SERVPRO team uses the science of psychometrics along with the dynamic duo of air movers and dehumidification to quickly and effectively dry your structure and get you on the road to recovery; making it “Like it never even happened.”