Mold and Humidity in Your Taipei Apartment: The Setup That Actually Works

By Updated

How to prevent mold in Taiwan apartment life: real humidity numbers, which dehumidifier to buy and what it costs to run, AC cleaning, closets, and who pays.

Why your apartment gets moldy so fast

If you want to prevent mold in Taiwan apartment life, you have to fight the air itself. According to the Central Weather Administration's 1991 to 2020 averages, Taipei's relative humidity never drops below about 70% in any month: it peaks at 78% in February, sits around 75 to 77% from November to June, and only dips to about 71% in July. Taipei also gets rain on roughly 163 days a year. Mold grows happily above about 70%, so left alone, almost every Taipei apartment will grow it.

Foreigners on Forumosa describe the same shock: walls that "sweat", a door magnet that rusted within two months, a pillow that went moldy against the window wall. The fix is boring but works: a decent dehumidifier, a few cheap habits, and knowing what is your problem and what is your landlord's.

If you are still choosing a place, read our viewing guide on how to check an apartment for leaks, mold and typhoon risk before you rent. This guide is for people already living here.

People walking with umbrellas into Ximending on a rainy afternoon in Taipei

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Your target: 50 to 60% indoors

Buy a hygrometer first: a Xiaomi Mijia Bluetooth one costs about NT$190 on PChome. Put it in your bedroom, away from the window. Aim for 50 to 60%. Below 60%, mold struggles; going much below 50% just wastes electricity.

The best dehumidifier in Taiwan for your space

A dehumidifier (除濕機) is the single most useful thing you will buy here. Ignore the tiny NT$1,000 "dehumidifiers" on Shopee: those are Peltier units that remove a cupful a day and make no real difference. A Forumosa user put it bluntly: under about NT$3,000 to 4,000 you will not get a compressor, and without a compressor you will not beat Taipei air.

Read the label

What it costs (PChome prices, October 2026, approximate)

Costco and momo carry the same brands at similar prices, with discounts before the plum rain season (梅雨) in May and June.

Compressor or desiccant? Almost everything sold here is compressor, and that is right. Desiccant (zeolite) units only win in real cold, which Taipei rarely gets, and they use more electricity.

A white Sharp dehumidifier standing on a tiled floor in a Taiwanese home

Photo: Dinkun Chen via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where to put it and when to run it

Electricity cost: a 12L grade 1 unit draws roughly 4 to 5 kWh a day if it runs flat out. On auto at 55%, most one-bedroom apartments use around 1.5 to 3 kWh a day. At Taipower's average residential rate of roughly NT$3.8 per kWh in 2026, that is about NT$150 to 350 a month, and up to about NT$500 in a soaking wet month. Our guide to utility bills in Taiwan explains how the tiered rates work.

Your air conditioner: dry mode and mold

Most rentals have split AC units, and their dry mode (除濕, usually a water drop icon) removes a lot of moisture. One Forumosa resident keeps their room under 60% with the AC alone. In summer, AC plus a bedroom dehumidifier is plenty.

The catch is that the AC itself grows mold. If you see black specks on the louvers or the blower wheel inside the vent, or the air smells musty when it starts, it needs cleaning.

On Forumosa, one tenant's landlord "cleaned" the AC by wiping the filter, then quoted NT$3,000 plus for a real clean at the tenant's expense. Landlords differ: some pay, some split 50/50, some refuse. Ask in writing.

Closets, bathrooms, shoes and beds

Closets: keep doors open a crack, leave a hand's width between clothes and the wall, and drop in disposable moisture absorbers (除濕盒). Refill packs from brands like 妙管家 or 克潮靈 cost around NT$50 to 60 for three at PX Mart, Carrefour or PChome. When the bag is full of water, change it.

Bathroom: run the exhaust fan for at least an hour after showering (or leave it on), squeegee the walls and floor, and leave the door open afterward. Wash bath mats weekly.

Shoes and leather: dry wet shoes before they go in the cabinet, keep a 除濕盒 in there, and wipe leather bags and belts every few weeks in spring.

Futons and mattresses: a mattress on the floor or a solid platform molds underneath. Use a slatted base or breathable mat, stand it up every few weeks, and keep the bed off the exterior wall.

Surface mold vs 壁癌

These are two different problems and they have different owners.

Grey and black mold spots spreading across a white wall corner

Photo: שי אבידן via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cleaning mold safely

For grout, tiles and silicone, use household bleach (漂白水) diluted roughly 1 part to 10 to 15 parts water, or a ready-made mold gel (除霉膠) from Watsons or PX Mart for silicone lines. Wear gloves, open the window, run the fan, and rinse with clean water afterward.

Never mix bleach with acidic cleaners, including toilet cleaners containing hydrochloric acid (鹽酸) or vinegar: the mix releases chlorine gas. On painted walls, wipe gently, dry the area, then fix the humidity, or the spores come back.

Who pays: landlord or tenant

The Ministry of the Interior's mandatory terms for residential leases (住宅租賃定型化契約應記載事項) say the landlord is responsible for repairing the home and its fixtures, unless the contract says otherwise or the damage is the tenant's fault. In practice:

If the landlord's repair is needed, message them with photos and a reasonable deadline. Under the same rules, if they do not repair it in time, you may repair it yourself and ask for reimbursement or deduct the cost from rent. Keep everything in writing.

For your deposit (capped at two months' rent), the defense is evidence. Photograph every wall, corner, closet and AC vent at move-in and attach them to the property condition record (租賃標的現況確認書). Our guide to a normal Taipei rental contract explains the clauses to look for.

Our exact setup to prevent mold in Taiwan apartment living

For a typical 8 to 12 ping studio or one-bedroom, this is what we recommend:

Do this from your first month and you will not be the one on Forumosa asking why your pillow is green. For storm season, see what typhoon days in Taiwan actually look like.

When the mold is already there, or you're ready to move

Two ways we can help, depending on where you are:

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