Dehumidifiers

trotter09

Thanks for the suggestions. The Drimaster looks good if you have a damp property and don't mind having a hole through the wall to the outside to cure it. No doubt right for some.

Thanks too for the heads up about the Which? recommendation of the Meaco. I had thought of paying for the Which? report until I saw they only tested compressor-type dehumidifiers. Again, looks like an excellent machine if you had a perennially damp, large property - which isn't really us.

The comments have nevertheless been most valuable and strengthen our conclusion that for us wanting something quiet for reducing window condensation on cold winter nights, the EcoAir ECO DD122 Desiccant Simple looks like a good match to our requirements.

changed_username

Yes, I would recommend a desiccant unit for UK weather.

Desiccant dehumidifiers are more efficient than compressor units in UK temperatures and they can operate at lower temperatures as well.

Filters do indeed have to be cleaned regularly especially if using an anti-bacterial filter and/or ioniser. But once you see how much dust these appliances pull in you'll be shocked at how much dust you are breathing in!!

Anyhow if drying laundry indoors get a dehumidifier with a Laundry Mode. These typically heat up the surrounding air by up to 12C so you could potentially turn your heating down as well.

I find a timer handy as well as you can set the thing to run for a certain tie when you go out (to work for example).

Dehumidifiers automatically turn off when the water tank is full so you don't need to worry about spillage.

Try to get one that is economical. I have a great infographic for my site but I don't want to post it here as it has my sites name on it but basically it shows the relationship between efficiency and noise.

A loose rule is that the more efficient a unit is the more decibels it creates.

How big is the area that you want a dehumidifier for?

and does anyone in your property have respiratory problems such as asthma or hay fever?

poppellerant

Mocha61 wrote: »

We have an Ebac which we bought over 12 years ago, its still working and keeps moisture out of the air, would definitely recommend it.

Ebac's quality obviously isn't quite what it was then. I've had my Ebac 2650e fixed twice now, each time it went bang. It has since started rattling, so I took it apart to see if the fan needed oiling - when I inspected the PCB, the soldering was extremely poor and some of the components look like they've overheated. But it still runs quietly now (since I fixed the fan rattle), so it'll do until it pops again.

zolablue25 wrote: »

I have Which? membership and recently bought their Best Buy a Meaco 20L Low Energy Platinum Dehumidifier 20 Litre. Its not cheap at £229 but it is very good from both a Which? point of view and a user's.

The low energy claim comes from being a compressor type dehumidifier. Desiccants are supposed to be better for the UK weather, but the heaters inside them mean that they use more electric when running.

I'm kind of researching now, because I'm not expecting much more life from my 5 year old Ebac. I'm trying to work out which is easier on my electric bill. 1) A compressor dehumidifier which is less effective in the cooler UK weather but costs less when running. 2) A desiccant dehumidifier which is more effective in the cooler weather, quieter, but costs more when running.

benjus

I just bought an EcoAir DD112 Classic desiccant dehumidifier. Mainly for drying clothes indoors, although I thought the ioniser might be useful in the hay fever season.

Initial impressions are good - it's compact, quiet and seems to accumulate a fair bit of water, even in conditions that are not noticeably damp.

shopbot

I've got a Meaco 10L Home Dehumidifier. It's been a good buy and does the job very well. The laundry mode is excellent.

The only thing I don't like about it is the noise. It's described on their website as quiet. I realise this is subjective but I can't get to sleep if it's in my bedroom. I turn it off if it's in the same room when I want to make a phone call. It also gets noisier as the the tanks fills up.

Next time I'll buy a desiccant model.

mary4kids

I recently bought a meaco 20l low energy dehumidifier too. It is great. It gets full every day considering it has a huge 2l tank! The smell in our house is gone and wood lice that was keep appearing disappeared. When I used to mop kitchen and dining room, it used to take 3-4 hours for it to dry. Now it dries so quick that by the time I finish mopping kitche, the dining room is dry. You can adjust your humidifier level too. Ours is set at 50 % and as soon as it reaches 50, it switches off automaticly and starts again when level starts going up. You can set it upto 35%. We put ours at our landing and keep all doors open. Bought it from maplin by the way.

Mister_A

Poppellerant said:

I'm kind of researching now, because I'm not expecting much more life from my 5 year old Ebac. I'm trying to work out which is easier on my electric bill. 1) A compressor dehumidifier which is less effective in the cooler UK weather but costs less when running. 2) A desiccant dehumidifier which is more effective in the cooler weather, quieter, but costs more when running.

I have an Ecoair desiccant and a Mitsubishi refrigerant. I’ve run quite a few tests on both dehumidifiers using an inline power monitor and measuring the water extraction quantities. On average the Mitsubishi sucked out more moisture per kilowatt-hour than the Ecoair could manage making it in my book the cheaper appliance to run.

savemoney

I have a Mitsubishi dehumidifier and I am a light sleepy and its round outside our bedroom door around 4 feet away and its very quite doesn't keep me awake at all

The ecoair model EcoAir DD122spec according to amazon is

• Built in Ioniser
• Silver filter traps air borne particles and kills bacteria on contact
• Easy to use electronics control panel with 2, 4 and 8 Hour Timer
• No noisy compressor with desiccant technology
• Quiet at 34dBA
• 2 Litres tank capacity with optional continuous drainage
• Anti drip mechanism prevent water drips when tank removed
• Powerful extraction of up to 7 Litres/day (20C/RH60%)
• Operating temperature 1 to 40 degree Celsius
• Tilt over protection and automatic water full shut down
• Lightweight at only 6 Kg

The Mistubshi I have MJ-E14CG-E1



Water extraction up to 14 Litres /day Suitable for up to 4 bedroomed homes Ultra Quiet - just 37dBA LCD display including real time humidity level Full auto 'Easy Dehumidify' mode Adjustable Humidistat control 50-70% Photo-catalytic washable Anti-Bacterial Filter Powered swing Louvre Auto restart after power failure Child Lock Hot Gas Defrost (see our Glossary for what this means) Multi speed fan 3.8 Litre Water tank with full alarm Continuous drainage facility 1-9 hour on or off timer Auto restart after power failure CFC Free Refrigerant: R407 Weight: 11.7 kg Power/Amp 260W/1.2A Dimensions 38wx18dx57h cm 24 month warranty

The Ecoair uses 580 watts which is quite hight the Mitsubishi uses 260w although costs a lot more to buy and as said can extract more water 7 Litres/day (20C/RH60%) compared with Mitsubishi 14 Litres /day

The Meaco 20 seems good gets a Which rating

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaco-Dehumidifier-Digital-Display-Warranty/dp/B00HO963A6/ref=sr_1_2?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1445850450&sr=8-2&keywords=meaco

benjus

savemoney wrote: »

I have a Mitsubishi dehumidifier and I am a light sleepy and its round outside our bedroom door around 4 feet away and its very quite doesn't keep me awake at all

The ecoair model EcoAir DD122spec according to amazon is

• Built in Ioniser
• Silver filter traps air borne particles and kills bacteria on contact
• Easy to use electronics control panel with 2, 4 and 8 Hour Timer
• No noisy compressor with desiccant technology
• Quiet at 34dBA
• 2 Litres tank capacity with optional continuous drainage
• Anti drip mechanism prevent water drips when tank removed
• Powerful extraction of up to 7 Litres/day (20C/RH60%)
• Operating temperature 1 to 40 degree Celsius
• Tilt over protection and automatic water full shut down
• Lightweight at only 6 Kg

The Mistubshi I have MJ-E14CG-E1



Water extraction up to 14 Litres /day Suitable for up to 4 bedroomed homes Ultra Quiet - just 37dBA LCD display including real time humidity level Full auto 'Easy Dehumidify' mode Adjustable Humidistat control 50-70% Photo-catalytic washable Anti-Bacterial Filter Powered swing Louvre Auto restart after power failure Child Lock Hot Gas Defrost (see our Glossary for what this means) Multi speed fan 3.8 Litre Water tank with full alarm Continuous drainage facility 1-9 hour on or off timer Auto restart after power failure CFC Free Refrigerant: R407 Weight: 11.7 kg Power/Amp 260W/1.2A Dimensions 38wx18dx57h cm 24 month warranty

The Ecoair uses 580 watts which is quite hight the Mitsubishi uses 260w although costs a lot more to buy and as said can extract more water 7 Litres/day (20C/RH60%) compared with Mitsubishi 14 Litres /day

The Meaco 20 seems good gets a Which rating

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaco-Dehumidifier-Digital-Display-Warranty/dp/B00HO963A6/ref=sr_1_2?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1445850450&sr=8-2&keywords=meaco

The Ecoair uses 580W on its highest setting, but I've found that for general use the lower setting is fine, which consumes about half of the power used on the high setting. The high setting is useful for drying laundry quickly.

I suspect the Mitsubishi's "up to 14 litres per day" is quoted at something like 30C and the performance in UK temperatures will not match that.

Still, it does look like a nice model.

trotter09

We bought the EcoAir ECO DD122 Desiccant Simple for £130 from Amazon with free delivery.

It's rated at 34dB - the quietest we could find - but it's noisier than we expected: it's like a fan heater (which basically it is). There's an occasional click or creak - not sure if it's a heating and cooling noise or a mechanical thing. No way could that be in our bedroom, but ten yards away along the hall round a right angle corner the noise is just about inaudible at night.

Our house is not damp, so we didn't need anything "industrial" hence we went for this basic model.

So far it works well. On the lower fan setting and with the dial set to a RH of around 60, it removed about 1 litre last night - steam from cooking and a bath - and we had no condensation on the windows. It does not give off any smell at all.

However, the proper test will come when we get some really cold weather - that's when the windows have in the past streamed water.