My closet is behind the AC unit in my house, and right now during the summer it gets hot in my closet and the back wall sweats and causes dampness through the room.
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Install a plastic barrier between the wall and the insulation. If the home is not on a concrete slab, put a plastic barrier under the home and weigh it down with bricks. Lastly, make sure that there is enough venting in the roof.
This is normally caused by too much humidity in your home. Your A/C could be short cycling and not dehumidifying your home. You should check the setting on your thermostat and see if it is set too low. This will make your A/C run constantly. Also check the condensation lines on your A/C to see if they are clogged. If they are clogged this doesn't allow your humidity collector on the evaporator to drain outside of your home.
You will need to remove the paneling in your closet and install a layer of plastic and replace the layer of insulation. Put the paneling back up in the closet. Also make sure to check your A/C unit for evaporator drainage problems.
Its not plastic you need to install, but a vapor shield. It is similar to plastic but there is a huge difference in how it works. if this is not corrected, you will be getting mold. Until it gets fixed, stop using the AC unless absolutely necessary and use fans and get a dehumidifier.
Check your condensation lines on your AC to make sure they are removing the condensation to the outside of the house. How old is the AC unit? It may need maintenance to make sure it is working properly. If this is the only unit in the house it may be overworked for the area it covers and a larger unit is needed or another unit elsewhere in the house.
You do not say if you own the house or if you are renting but if the latter is true then you should discuss this problem with the landlord before making any changes to the structure of the house. The landlord should be responsible for fixing this problem.
Your first consideration should be to remove this moisture as quickly as possible (most likely your clothes are also damp and may also have mildew) and keep it from building up again until the AC is dealt with and that can only be done with a dehumidifier.
A dehumidifier can be bought at most big box stores (Walmart, Target, Lowe's, Home Depot, and more or on line at Amazon or others). The cost will will start at about $130 and go up to thousands so check out several before you buy.
Here is a link that explains about how a dehumidifier works and also a link showing several models for sale.
www.consumerreports.org/
www.homedepot.com/
mobile homes are famous for these humidity problems, it's the soda can effect: you have a metal structure with little insulation, and vast temperature differences between the outside and inside
www.huduser.gov/
Before you go to too much trouble and a lot more expense, try this simple solution.
Purchase some of the generic "dryZair" containers from the dollar tree.
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