Use of a dehumidifier…

Tygermoth

Hi everyone,

I am starting to fear for my electric bill so needed to pick someone’s brains re a dehumidifier. We have just purchased the EcoAir DD122 MK5 Desiccant Classic Dehumidifier as we have damp on the bedroom wall and condensation on the windows of the house. The bungalow, which we rent has metal single pane glass windows, rather nasty damp plaster (we have no curtain rails up because when we tried too site one lumps of plaster just fell off the wall) has inadequate heating and a leak that has been going on under the kitchen floor for years - before we rented the house - which the landlord has only just fixed.

Afew weekends ago I moved the bed out to do some cleaning and discovered green/black mould over the back of the headboard, bedside tables, skirting board and on the underside of the mattress. There are only two of us in the house. The washing is done outside in an outhouse as is the tumble drying. The cooker hood is used every time we use the hob. We even replaced the filter and had it serviced to try and reduce the moisture going in to the rest of the house (open plan). The Bathroom is in an old brick lean too at the back of the house and we shut two doors to the main house and open all the windows when we bath or shower.

Despite all this we seem to have a shocking amount of damp gathering on windows and walls. My personal opinion is as the house is so dark as it sits in a wooded recess cut into a hillside so even if you throw all the windows and doors wide open… the air just stands still… the moisture included. There is just no air flow. (we looked at installing a PIV at our cost but the LL said no)

Now to my point.

I have been running the dehumidifier non stop day and night for a week and a half. Its pulling down 2lts of water every three/ four hours or so. We have had it on the intelligent mode so it will run ‘til it reaches normal humidity then switch on and of as required. Although the house is much fresher, the smell of damp has greatly decreased and the tacky feeling on everything has vanished it seems not to have reached a level where the dehumidifier has switched off. Is this normal? How long would you expect one to run before getting on top of the humidity?


I appreciate this is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ questions but I was hoping that anyone with a rather damp 2 bed house could advise as I am thinking of reducing its running time or my electric bill might equal the national debt.

p.s I ordered a humidity meter to come with the dehumidifier but it arrived damaged so we are awaiting a replacement which we have been advised may take a little while.

HappyMJ

As you say how long is a piece of string. Could be on for 4 hours every day forever and never get on top of it. As long as you're feeling the difference and it's removing the majority of the excess moisture from the air then that should be good enough.

I didn't think they were that expensive to run. They add a small amount of heat to the air too so it'll reduce your heating bills marginally.

I would have guessed at around 50p/day.

Tygermoth

Thank you for the reply HappyMJ,


I am happy to run it off and on for a few hours a day even several to maintain its good work... but currently after a week it still needs to churn away nonstop. day and night, night and day....


I am beginning to hate its constant drone (Its an awesome bit of kit and very quiet, to be fair) but as we live in the middle of nowhere with very little ambient noise its rather apparent.


I know, I know. I am being impatient.

HappyMJ

Tygermoth wrote: »

Thank you for the reply HappyMJ,


I am happy to run it off and on for a few hours a day even several to maintain its good work... but currently after a week it still needs to churn away nonstop. day and night, night and day....


I am beginning to hate its constant drone (Its an awesome bit of kit and very quiet, to be fair) but as we live in the middle of nowhere with very little ambient noise its rather apparent.


I know, I know. I am being impatient.

If it needs to be on a lot I'd leave it on whilst you are out.

Not sure what to do at night though. I have too much noise here so don't really hear it unless I listen for it. Maybe move it into a room far away from your bedrooms so you can't hear it as much.

benjus

I have the same dehumidifier. At 12p per KWh it would cost about £1.66 per day to run at full power all the time, and about 86p per day to run on the lower setting. The manual does say that it will typically need to run on high power for numerous days when first used to get the humidity down to a better level - after that the lower setting will be enough most of the time.

Tygermoth

Hi Benjus,


Thank you for your reply - I appreciated the daily running costs, it put my mind at rest a bit as its running constantly - 24 hours a day currently.


I read the manual and it advised putting in laundry mode for the first few days. I must have miss interpreted that to mean it was enough to bring most cases under control.. then I left it a few more days in laundry but chickened out as it then goes on to say do not overuse the laundry mode for everyday use. As its doing a great job I didn't want to kill it!


After using on the high setting for so long (with great results and loads n loads of water collected) I was expecting it to move over to maintenance not long after. It just must mean the house is a damp trap and it might take a dogs age to clear. but I am happy to pay £30 per month (now that I have an idea that's what the cost is likely to be) for a while to dry the place out and control that horrible horrible damp smell... that gets into everything. Ugh.

So thank you!

stator

Two litres every 3-4 hours is massive. You have significant leak somewhere.

Most are designed to remove 10L of water per day, and yours quotes 6L per day. Since you are removing that much every day it won't ever 'beat' the humidity and turn off.

Normal damp problems you would expect in an old house may generate 1-2 litres per day.
I would look to try and solve the source of the water leak

Tygermoth

Hi Stator,


There was a leak under the kitchen floor (that was going on for years before we moved in)


Hopefully its lifting all that water and it will eventually reach a normal ratio.

trotter09

As has been said, that's an awful lot of water. If the underfloor leak has been fixed for some time, moisture should have naturally evaporated away during the summer. If the 10+L per day continues for any length of time it would suggest there's still a source of water. Investigation with a damp meter may be a good idea.

Too late now I know, but having just researched dehumidifiers, you might have been better buying a compressor type as the are cheaper to run if you have a heavy-duty damp problem.

However, I hope your damp problem is temporary.

Tygermoth

Hi Trotter09,


The leak has only just been fixed.


Apparently its been going on for ages (we know the prev tenants) When the leak finally surfaced ruining the flooring the LL had the cheek to try and blame us. He spouted that our dishwasher was obviously leaking and that's what the problem was. He the promptly stated we would have to pay for the damage.

I looked at him and said I would be amazed if that was the case as its not been plumbed in, or used since we moved in as there is still no working socket... if you remember, because you pointed out it was broken on the day we moved in ... you were going to repair it...?


He went a bit red.

trotter09

Ah, OK, so with any luck after a few weeks of drying out one hopes it'll settle down to a litre or two per day. We've just bought an EcoAir D122 Simple (almost same as yours but simpler) and it does about a litre a day. Our house is not damp, so that's just from cooking, baths, etc.