Is it cheaper to use a dehumidifier: 1) to heat my house? 2) to dry my clothes?

Owain_Moneysaver

shiphen wrote: »

Thinking this through, this means that when the air in a room becomes extremely dry, the moisture (i.e. water) in a wall can be 'sucked' through a wall down the humidity gradient. And when it arrives at the surface of the wall as it evaporates, it COOLS down the surface of the wall down.

On the other hand, a dry wall will have better insulating properties than a damp wall.

I don't think this is going to be a problem unless you have very damp exterior and run the dehumidifier excessively. In most cases inside air is damper than outside because of breathing, clothes drying etc.

shiphen

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

In most cases inside air is damper than outside because of breathing, clothes drying etc.

It seems that to use the dehumidifier to get cloths properly cupboard dry you need to get it down to 50% RH or less. This is WAY less than the Relative Humidity of external climate.

I've had the new device + weather station for about a week. So far it's really struggling get the RH much below 55% due to relatively damp air being blasted into my house by the wind.

I'm still trying to work out if drying with a dehumidifier is a good idea or not, FINANCIALLY. You can get cloths slightly dry very easily just by running your central heating at say 18 or 19 degrees C.

However to get cupboard dry is much harder. Clothes either need to be put close to a radiator or near a dehumidifier. Possibly if the room is well sealed the dehumidifier (esp in laundry mode) will dry clothes in the entire room. But my instincts are that it would be better to use a cover over the air dryer.

Any my problem is that I am finding it hard to find such a thing for my 'winged' air dryer... :^(

thegentleway

Why don't you replace your dryer with a vented one?

teddysmum

shiphen wrote: »

USING A COVER TO AIR DRY
I don't want to waste energy drying the rooms in my house down to 50% RH (which is probably impossible in this weather in any case!), so using a cover with my dehumidifier would seem to be much more sensible!

However I am keen to find a cover that fits properly due to the obvious fire risk.

Our oil filled radiator has a sticker warning ,'do not cover' and I'm fairly sure that our air/con dehumidifier had the same.


I am only aware of covers for electrically heated airers , like those sold by Lakeland , and not for use with appliances needing free circulation of air. The latter could suck the cover fabric so it covers the inwards vent, cause overheating and fire.

shiphen

thegentleway wrote: »

Why don't you replace your dryer with a vented one?

Not really an option. Rented property. The tumble dryer would have to vent directly into my kitchen which would be far worse!

shiphen

teddysmum wrote: »

Our oil filled radiator has a sticker warning ,'do not cover' and I'm fairly sure that our air/con dehumidifier had the same.


I am only aware of covers for electrically heated airers , like those sold by Lakeland , and not for use with appliances needing free circulation of air. The latter could suck the cover fabric so it covers the inwards vent, cause overheating and fire.

I shall be at home and able to keep an eye on things.
I agree that if you were stupid about it that there would be a fire risk. This is a risk I am fully prepared to take.

Smiley_Dan

http://edavies.me.uk/2013/12/dehumifiers/

teddysmum

shiphen wrote: »

I shall be at home and able to keep an eye on things.
I agree that if you were stupid about it that there would be a fire risk. This is a risk I am fully prepared to take.

Your landlord would not agree about the risk.


Also, would you watch the dryer all the time? I doubt that, as cycles are very long..