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Jun 6, 2018

Your best buys for keeping your house dry in summer?

We're going to likely be house sitting for family in Tokyo this summer - at least for a couple of weeks - which means that we're not going to be here in Niigata and able to be emptying our dehumidifiers constantly. Do you have any amazing products (even better if you have Amazon links for me!) that don't need you to be physically present to draw that moisture out of the air? The last thing I want is to come back to a sticky, sweaty, moldy house! Thanks in advance!

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genkidesu

genkidesu

Love to travel, interested in J-beauty products and consider myself a convenience store snack aficionado. Navigating the ever-present challenges of expat life, particularly about my TCK's (third culture kids).

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7 Answers

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  • Heath320

    Heath320

    on Jun 20

    We use a disposable dehumidifier. They have always lasted us 2 weeks to a month. I would put them out right when you leave and it should help a lot. We only had mold problems when we forgot to change it for awhile. I will put a link to what I am talking about but we buy it at our local stores and not in bulk. https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B006LECQNI/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B006LECQNI&pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_p=2699433929173063805&pf_rd_r=5K0TM2KZM3TPCTEQAE0Z&pd_rd_wg=aV8W4&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=FWTme&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=dde284ab-7422-11e8-b90d-0116d1ce182d

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  • hellonihon

    hellonihon

    on Jun 6

    I know that this isn't a practical option for your ENTIRE household, but for especially precious things that are sensitive to humidity, I always stock up on silica gel packets. Depending on the brand, you can get like 20 satchels of them at the 100 yen store. Just toss those in with whatever you want to protect and they'll be safe. The packets change color when they're "full" and you can pop them in the toaster oven to refresh them and use them again.

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  • genkidesu

    genkidesu

    on Jun 7

    @hellonihon for that price it's definitely something i'm going to test out! thank you for the heads up - i'll check daiso the next time i'm there!

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  • helloalissa

    helloalissa

    on Jun 11

    Not a product, but I remembered it wasn't as bad as I expected when I left my old Leopalace for a month. Just closed everything up, unplugged everything, nothing in the tiny fridge - left open to air out, switched off the breakers, and locked up. As soon as I got back, I opened up the one window and left the door open to air it out (as was my standard practice when I went out during the day), but it was cooler than I expected inside. You might be okay for just a couple weeks, depending on how damp it gets inside if everything is closed up.

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  • PaulNoEsPablo

    PaulNoEsPablo

    on Jun 15

    I have somewhat the same issue with a house in Tokyo, often not occupied in summer. I'm installing air-conditioners with web-enabled thermostats that I can monitor from anywhere. These are very common now and very reliable, as far as I can tell. Dehumidifiers are typically like air-conditioners that don't cool a space, because they put the extracted heat back into the space. So if it's hot out, you can run the AC unit to dehumidify the space and you can monitor the temperature, and perhaps the humidity with some units, from anywhere you have web access.

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  • JapanRamen

    JapanRamen

    on Jun 15

    Rather than buying something, I just use the "dry" function of my air conditioner since it's already there. I also tell myself it's better for the environment and for my bills too. I love Japan for so many things, but the humidity definitely isn't one. :(

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  • genkidesu

    genkidesu

    on Jun 20

    @Heath320 thank you so much! That is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for but just didn't know exactly what they were called/where to find them. I'll see if I can find that brand or something similar at some of my local homegoods/hardware stores!

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