How often to use a dehumidifier?

taurusgb

After a roof leak over Christmas I have finally given in to my desires and bought a dehumidifier. We have ocassional mould problems in one small corner of a bedroom wall and get quite a lot of condensation in some rooms despite airing rooms every day and having double glazing and wall insulation. We are not sealed up tight with no airflow as all windows have trickle vents.

anyway, now I have one, once I get on top of drying out the damp from the roof leak, how often should I use it and how long for? Be very interested in how others use theirs.


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Mojisola

We have a hygrometer. When the humidity levels in the house are high, we switch on the dehumidifier.

taurusgb

Mojisola wrote: »

We have a hygrometer. When the humidity levels in the house are high, we switch on the dehumidifier.

Thank you. Can I ask where you place this? Is it in one room (hall maybe?) Or do you move it from room to room? I'm anxious to get the best use from our dehumidifier but not go broke in the process. Not too expensive to run per hour but don't want to turn it on if not needed.

Mojisola

Ours is in a central part of the house but if you have a problem in particular rooms, you could move it around and get a feel for what the levels usually are in different areas.

The air inside a house can be drier than the outside air (particularly with the weather we've had in the last couple of months). Can you close the vents in your windows if it's damp outside?

taurusgb

Mojisola wrote: »

Ours is in a central part of the house but if you have a problem in particular rooms, you could move it around and get a feel for what the levels usually are in different areas.

The air inside a house can be drier than the outside air (particularly with the weather we've had in the last couple of months). Can you close the vents in your windows if it's damp outside?

Yes the vents can be closed, thought I was doing right thing letting fresh air in, but of course if it is damp outside..............awww I am such an idiot! Thank you!

nashly

We have same problem. Our monitor is in the hall at the top of the stairs and when it says humidity is 65 or over we stick the dehumidifier on. Recently it has been on most days, all day, being turned off at night and it has made a huge difference with no condensation on the windows in the morning. We have a electric monitor that shows the amount of electricity being used in monetary terms and the dehumidifier is costing about 35p a day to run.

GHB

We have Economy 7 electric so run our dehumidifier overnight every night during winter and it keeps the windows completely clear. If we don't have it on for any reason we have misted up windows so it's well worth the 10 pence or so it costs every night. The worst problem we have with it is the constant, fairly loud humming noise it makes.

ondup

I have Economy 7 so only put my dehumidifier on at night (using a timer), if drying clothes indoors in the front room, or if there is a little condensation on the windows 1st thing in the bedroom, which I wipe off immediately.

My local council provided free cavity wall insulation last year, so, so far it's really helped keep my north facing bedroom warmer and thereby a lot less condensation. I use to get condensation on the skirting board on the outside bedroom wall, and even behind pictures on outside walls, so couldn't have any furniture close to outside walls. Was forced to use the dehumidifier a lot more then and still had the above mentioned damp issues, but I'm hopeful that those damp issues are history, as my place is definitely feeling warmer and yet I'm actually setting my storage heaters at a lower setting at the moment.

We've had a mild winter so far (here in the southeast), although we did have the strong winds last month, but my double glazed windows and door, kept me cozy and warm inside. I have a thermometer card/s (again free from Hampshire county council, Insulate Hampshire scheme) in every room and adjust my storage heater settings, according to the reading on the card. So I turn my heating up or down for the card to read "just right/ideal" between 65 and 70F or 18 and 21C. A little while back I felt warm and cozy, but the reading on the card said it had become too hot at 24C, so I turned it down and put on socks and a jumper! Feels like it's saving me money, while not skimping on heating.

Not sure where I heard it, but I think the energy companies are going to put up Economy 7 in April, they obviously don't like the fact that a lot of us put all our electricity appliances on as economy 7 comes on. Mean lot, that was the whole point of economy 7, so we are not using electricity when it's most needed during the day. Sorry I've gone off the topic of dehumidifiers, but as my electricity use is connected with the use of my dehumidifier, then it kind of just flowed from one electricity saving method to the next.

Good luck with reducing condensation and staying warm.

ondup

Just did a quick internet search and the Guardian 31/10/13 reported

"UK customers on Economy 7 night-time electricity tariffs face 35% rise in bills."

So that means prices went up in Nov 2013, which will have a huge impact on my bill in Feb 2014. Real cheek as they charge us more for day time electric, than regular users, so we are getting stung both ways now.

I'd like to be able to switch over to regular electricity in the summer months and back again to Economy 7 for the winter months, but they won't let you switch back and forth, as they have to change the meter each time. However I'm going to do it this year, once I no longer needs the storage heaters on. I just won't tell them that I'll shall ask to go back to Economy 7 six months later. Why because I'd like to use the washing machine, shower, have baths etc without having to plan everything the night before or worry about the higher price day rate I have to pay if I want to use the electric shower or put the washing on, because it's sunny outside. Economy 7 really restricts are energy usage, so it really does seem harsh to increase prices so that we hardly save. Because I have storage heaters I have to use Economy 7 in the winter months, so it's not like I really have a choice.

ADM34

I live in a bungalow, apparently they are notorious for condensation issues due to the reduced surface area in the property?

Soon after I moved in (Aug 2010) I bought a dehumidifier and a Hygrometer. I believe the ideal humidity is between 45% and 55% - my bedroom was around 80% on first installation :shocked:

Initially, I ran the dehumidifier for most of the day every day for approx. 6 months. This brought the levels down to around a constant 45% .

I now only run it if humidity levels rise above 55%, generally once a week for two or three hours.

I don't have Economy 7 or a Smartmeter, so cannot comment on the useage costs, but at least my clothes are all dry and warm again !:j

Hope this helps.

Matthew_Pollock

We have an Economy 7 tariff, so it makes sense to run a dehumidifier at night.

Which dehumidifier models allow programming so that they come on, same time, every night?
If you have a dehumidifier which works like this, and works well, I'd be keen to know the brand and model number.