In an attempt to deal with our mold problem that keeps cropping up in the bedroom, I decided to purchase a de-humidifier. So I went over to the brand new hardware store in Fortuna, found the isle that was tagged de-humidifiers, and found several shelfs of humidifiers, but no de-humidifiers. Asking for help, the sales clerk was puzzled and went into the back room.

Shortly he returned, embarrassed to admit that they didn’t even have de-humidifiers listed in their computer. So I figured I would go up to Eureka to the big box store (Target) and found the same scenario. 20 varieties of humidifier products, no de-humidifiers. Next stop Piersons, the big hardware store in Eureka. Same story. At least there the clerk knew where to get them, Sears.

So I drove over to the mall, went to Sears, found the de-humidifiers, which happened to be on sale, and while I was looking at the brochure that explained the differences between the three models they sold, another guy came up looking for the same item, and explained he had the same experience as me in trying to find one. We both wondered why, in a county that has natural built in humidity one would have the need to buy a humidifier, and de-humidifiers were so hard to find. It would be like trying to sell heaters in Phoenix, but not offering air conditioners. So after buying the de-humidifier, I also wanted to get a humidity gauge, only I didn’t know what they were even called. Turns out to measure humidity you need a hygrometer. I found out our bedroom is naturally at around 65% relative humidity. Now with the de-humidifier running while we’re at work, it drops it to about 40%. Pulls about little over a gallon of water out of the air from our bedroom every day.