anyone run a home dehumidifier?

[steveo3002]

Dont turn it off, its not drawing power while the humidity is where you have set it at.

i was sort of hoping a few hrs over night on the cheaper elec would show a benefit , not sure i want to pay for it on during the day

 

[Shox Dr]

i was sort of hoping a few hrs over night on the cheaper elec would show a benefit , not sure i want to pay for it on during the day

Good Idea, a mate Ive leant one to does the same. He uses a timer.

 

[steveo3002]

Good Idea, a mate Ive leant one to does the same. He uses a timer.

hows he getting on with it ? impressed or no?

idealy id have it on 4-5 hrs over night and if i could help dry a bit of washing and have less misted up windows id be happy

if it needs to run 24 hrs a day then i might as well spend the £ on heat as the house isnt dripping wet with mould problems

 

[Shox Dr]

hows he getting on with it ? impressed or no?

idealy id have it on 4-5 hrs over night and if i could help dry a bit of washing and have less misted up windows id be happy

if it needs to run 24 hrs a day then i might as well spend the £ on heat as the house isnt dripping wet with mould problems

He was like yourself. Since I convinced him to leave it on, he has commented on how much warmer the house feels (he doesnt heat it) and how fast it dries his clothes.
Id say he was impressed, though its unlikely he would admit it.

 

[Erie Fred]

If you could rig a way to easily catch the water (small tubing leading to a large tank)
you might be able to offset toilet fill water usage.
A small payback.

 

[Shox Dr]

If you could rig a way to easily catch the water (small tubing leading to a large tank)
you might be able to offset toilet fill water usage.
A small payback.

It's perfect for the Iron, and washing off the car.

Very good in the Ultrasonic cleaner

 

[Shox Dr]

hows he getting on with it ? impressed or no?

idealy id have it on 4-5 hrs over night and if i could help dry a bit of washing and have less misted up windows id be happy

if it needs to run 24 hrs a day then i might as well spend the £ on heat as the house isnt dripping wet with mould problems

He complained at first as he saw an increase it leccy use. but that soon returned to almost pre-use once the set point was reached.

 

[brightspark]

i was sort of hoping a few hrs over night on the cheaper elec would show a benefit , not sure i want to pay for it on during the day

you can run it each night and turn off in the day if you want. buy a cheap humidity clock tells you what it is in the house we have one . if your windows are well sweating leave it on to get rid we use a karcher window vack if it gets bad

 

[voipio]

so lets say i get one and run it , whole house is dry and a good humidity level , as soon as its turned off and a change of air in the house will i be back to square one ?

It's not necessarily a case of back to square one immediately. It depends on various factors. The humidity of the external air is one. The buffering effect of moisture absorbing materials is another. Cardboard boxes, and wall plaster, will typically have given up at least some of their absorbed moisture, if the dehumidifier has been on for some time. When the dehumidifier is switched off, those materials will tend to slow the rate at which the humidity of the space will increase, because they will re-absorb some of the incoming moisture.

 

[Erie Fred]

It's not necessarily a case of back to square one immediately. It depends on various factors. The humidity of the external air is one. The buffering effect of moisture absorbing materials is another. Cardboard boxes, and wall plaster, will typically have given up at least some of their absorbed moisture, if the dehumidifier has been on for some time. When the dehumidifier is switched off, those materials will tend to slow the rate at which the humidity of the space will increase, because they will re-absorb some of the incoming moisture.

...or large brown fuzzy dogs......several of 'em....

 

[Keithmac]

My wife is on about buying a decent electric one for our 3 bedroom house.

What's best make to buy?, or is that a "how long is a piece of string" question?.

 

[brightspark]

My wife is on about buying a decent electric one for our 3 bedroom house.

What's best make to buy?, or is that a "how long is a piece of string" question?.

ebac are the most expensive and quiet running you can get a cheaper one that works just as good but a bit noisy one of mine was cheap and still running after 35 years use bought an ebac and it was knacked after 8 years

 

[MattF]

I have Meaco's.

 

[MattF]

hows he getting on with it ? impressed or no?

idealy id have it on 4-5 hrs over night and if i could help dry a bit of washing and have less misted up windows id be happy

if it needs to run 24 hrs a day then i might as well spend the £ on heat as the house isnt dripping wet with mould problems

Swings & roundabouts. If it's turned off for ¾ of the day, it'll likely be working longer, so negating any saving. Just leave it switched on 24/7.

 

[MattF]

They now market both desiccant and compressor types - in various sizes. Their quality must have improved as I have several old DD8L machines (which had either failed or never worked properly). Mostly an easy fix, but I never go on holiday unless I leave two running…..

I have compressor types. Arete's. Display seems to be the weak point on those. One has 1 segment down, & the other shows a very dim segment or two when the container full indicator is on, instead of blanking the display completely.

Could send them back for repair, else have a ganders myself, but they're not enough of an issue to warrant the hassle, currently.

Other than those slight issues, good units.

 

[Trevorleach]

I reckon 6 to 8 hours to dry two washing machine loads of clothes, on the clothes airer in a small room.
Normal clothes drier will take at least 2 hours and can only dry a limited amount at one time.

 

[Trevorleach]

They now market both desiccant and compressor types - in various sizes. Their quality must have improved as I have several old DD8L machines (which had either failed or never worked properly). Mostly an easy fix, but I never go on holiday unless I leave two running…..

Basically, the desiccant type may be repairable. Expensive to return to base. Compressor types usually last until they lose their gas and are virtually scrap, I believe (unless one had a high-vacuum pump and a source of the appropriate refrigerant). There are better and ‘less better suppliers. Price is likely a good measure of reliability/warranty.

90%(?) of properties likely do not need a dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers are usually purchased to solve a problem - often (I might suggest) a problem caused by the occupier (unless rented from some private landlords - such as student accommodation).

We have two meaco DD8L, one is at loeast 6 years old maybe more, and lives on a boat, always works, other is at home for drying out my car or the washing, again always works.

 

[minimutly]

Mine would use 375W - they are the desiccant type. The heat, in a confined space, would considerably speed up the drying process. The heat pump tumble dryer consumes around 400W (when the pump is operating and about 200W without). Most definitely much cheaper to run than any other type of tumble dryer.

Guessing here, you are referring to current @ 230 volts? My ‘fridge consumes about 90W when running - but doesn’t run continuously of course.

How expensive are these heat pump tumble driers?

 

[minimutly]

I’ve no idea of current prices. Suggest you look for yourself in the white goods retailers or on the internet.

I kind of expected that...

 

[mrsbruce]

A friend of mine looked into idea of a heat pump tumble dryer, as her old tumble dryer is getting past it. After a bit of number crunching, and a spreadsheet, she calculated that the initial purchase cost, compared to power usage, drying time and efficiency (she does all her mil’s washing, so quick turnover is a necessity), and concluded that it would take way too many years to ‘break even’.

Her solution was to keep her old td, but now uses it sparingly, as she has just bought a new, top quality dehumidifier. She is keeping notes on the best combination of drying methods for economy and efficiency. I expect to be sent a paper on her workings early next year.