Dehumidifier help needed before morning

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

Evening all

I hope there are still a few of you around to help me with this one.

I'm currently living in a rented farmhouse, with no central heating, single-glazed metal windows and no loft insulation and already it's bloomin cold and damp. I have a Supawarm dehumidifier which is efficient but blows out cold air due to being a "coil" type, I believe.

I understand from the preparing for winter thread that a Meaco dessicant type would be better as they blow out warm air which sounds just perfect but the DD8L model in their range is £160 and after spending £475 on a TD this week and now OH has pranged my car last night, I could do with saving a few pennies right now.

I have been to my local auction house and they have an Ebac machine coming on auction tomorrow with a suggested value of £15-£20. I know nothing about either of these makes, but the reviews for both suggest good things.

Do I take a gamble and bid on the Ebac and bag a bargain (assuming it works!) or take the plunge with the Meaco?

Any tried and tested opinions much appreciated.

TMD xx

Pink.

Hi TMD,

If you need urgent advice then you are more likely to get it on the In My Home board so I've moved your thread over there, but also left a redirect on the Old Style board so that anyone reading there will also see your thread.

Pink

llandyrnog

To be honest, If the property your living in has solid walls ,old single glazed windows, no central heating, no loft insulation and in your words " Bloomin damp and cold ". I would move !,Why are you spending your money ,and you wll spend a lot of money ! trying to be comfortable when you could find another property that is better insulated and more comfortable to live in. Have you seen the Energy Performance Certificate for the property ?. My guess is that its a really crap rating.

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

Yes, it was the worst rating at G1 :rotfl:, but it is a wonderful building in a beautiful part of the country and funnily enough, the rent is cheap - and no-one else wanted to take it on. We've been here just over a year now and replaced just about everything ourselves as the landlord is a tightwad who is never to be seen!

But we love it ......

Badrick

Was recently looking at the Meaco, £153.49 including delivery and 2 year warranty from HERE.
Also an article on the Meaco site, gives pros and cons of both types.
When to buy a desiccant dehumidifier and when to buy a compressor dehumidifier.
But they would come down on the side of desiccants, seeing as they make em.

southcoastrgi

what are you using for heat then ?

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

Thanks for your reply - I'm really fancying the Meaco, but could do without the extra outlay at the moment. Maybe next month

Mankysteve

Your current dehumidifier won't be cooling the room it will just feel cold when you put hand in the airflow it wicks away moisture from your skin, juts like a desk fan, doesn't actually make things colder it just makes you feel cooler.

In fact as your current dehumidifier is suing electricity it will be making what ever room you've got it in warmer.

I would be looking at what you can with reg for extra insulation. Ie either exterior or interior insulation and either double glazing or secondary glazing.

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

We currently have a real fire in the lounge which is fine and have adopted the OS rule of fleece lining the curtains, fleeces on the sofas, thermals, hot water bottles etc., We also bought a mixture of halogen heaters which is lovely for warming the bedroom and giving off sufficient light to read a book in bed without having lights on, and convectors in other rooms, although we only run them when we get up/go to bed for about an hour, and also put them on if we happen to be doing a job in that room, so each room can be comfortable at that time, but wandering from room to room means you can see your breath.

The dehumidifier does it's job very well as in it does get rid of the moisture, but the drop in temperature in the room is significant. Without it on we have cold rooms with lots of moisture (not good for the chest), With it on we have dry rooms that are VERY cold as it really does produce an arctic blast.

We took measurements of all rooms yesterday, so we're going to be making and putting up some secondary glazing this weekend so that makes a difference.

I've also seen an article about free insulation via the local council so I'm off to speak to the Landlord this next few days to see if he's agreeable to putting his name to paper to confirm he is the owner of the property. Some companies won't do tenanted properties, but this does mention the possibility with perhaps a £199 contribution. The eave space is only about 9 inches higher than the bedroom ceilings - it's such a strange property so I'm not sure how anyone would fit into the gap to be honest.

Hopefully he will acknowledge that we are good tenants who are doing good things to maintain the property and improve it, but I've heard from everyone who knows him that he doesn't like to part with the pennies. We'll see.

TMD x

Lee_T.

Anyone can get free insulation at the moment. I doubt you even have to involve your landlord. I maybe wrong. I'm sure I've read somewhere though that free insulation is coming to an end soon so hurry up!

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

I'll get right on the case then - thanks for the heads up!