Mold Risk Index Integration

Features

Calculate the risk of mold in a not heated confined space, like an unventilated crawl space, only taking the temperature and humidity in count.

Here you normally have colder temperatures (in my part of the world) than inside your house most time of the year, and no surfaces that is much colder than the air inside. This means you can allow a higher humidity without the risk of mold. This integration can also be used for a not heated garage or attic for example.

For spaces that are heated and where the risk of mold is close to cold surfaces (like in a bathroom) you should use the "Mold Indicator". The formulas for the "Mold Risk Index” is inspired by a forum thread in a Swedish house building forum at byggahus.se. Which in turn are originating (among others) from a publication by Hannu Viitanen named "Factors affecting mould growth on kiln dried wood". Search the net and you will find the publication

The risk of mold according to these formulas looks like this:

Installation

HACS

Install via HACS (Home Assistant Community Store)

1. Go to HACS -> Integrations -> "+ Explore & Download Repos", or click the badge if you have My Home Assistant activated:
   
2. Find "Mold Risk Index".
3. Open the search result and click "Download this Repository with HACS".

Manual

1. Using your tool of choice open the directory (folder) for your HA configuration (where you find configuration.yaml).
2. If you do not have a custom_components directory (folder) there, you need to create it.
3. In the custom_components directory (folder) create a new folder called mold_risk_index.
4. Download all the files from this repository.
5. Place the files you downloaded in the mold_risk_index directory you created.
6. Restart Home Assistant

Configuration

1. In the Home Assistant UI go to "Configuration" -> "Integrations" and click "+" and search for "Mold Risk Index", or click the badge if you have My Home Assistant activated:
   
2. Choose a name for the sensors.
3. Choose a temperature and a humidity sensor to use for the calculations.

If you want to add more sensors, just go through the configuration steps again.

Usage

Use the Limit sensor to set the level on a dehumidifier, or compare it with the actual humidity and start a dehumidifier when the humidity is getting close the limit.

The Risk Index sensor can be used for tracking historical data.

• At level 1 mold will start grow after 8 weeks or more.
• At level 2 mold will start grow in 4 to 8 weeks.
• At level 3 mold will start grow in less than 4 weeks.

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