Damp/mould problem - Which Dehumidifier??

happy2bhere

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read.

I've got a damp and mould problem that seems to be affecting the whole house. It's not a huge problem atm, but I don't want it getting any worse! The house is insulated as much as possible (it's an old property, so options are limited) and I do all the sensible things like keeping windows open slightly (although I've just read that hats counter productive in rainy weather), don't dry washing on radiators etc.

Think it's time to buy a dehumidifier, but which one?! I haven't a clue tbh. I could do with something that lives on the landing and removes moisture from the whole house, but these sound expensive! Plus running costs, ugh.

Any advice, suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

dominoman

I bought this one and it is fantastic. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000BP81DW?

For full house you may need a bigger one, but this works for us. It easily can remove 5 litres of water a day from the air.

This one has variable settings, so it clicks on and off when the house gets humid enough. Only downside is it hums quite loud, so it isn't something you'd want in the bedroom.

Whatever you do don't get one of the dessicant type ones. They are just nowhere near as effective.

stator

If you don't mind noisey then just buy any of the full size dehumidifiers, they start at around £100.

Features to look out for are:
Where it has a humidity sensor that allows you to set it to turn off after the humidity reachers a certain level. Or you can just leave it running if you don't care about that.
Whether it has a continuous drain plug, this allows you to attach a hose pipe and drip the water into a bucket or sink instead of the build in tank.
Whether it's a compressor or dessicant type. Compressors are noisey but effective and cheap.

Grenage

Do you have an extractor fan in the bathroom, and kitchen if you do plenty of pan-boiling? You say that you don't dry clothes on radiators, but do you dry them in house? Check for leaks, they might only be slow.

Dehumidifiers are an expensive way to solve a problem that needn't exist.

Hermia

I have this one and love it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/EcoAir-DC12-Compact-Portable-Dehumidifier/dp/B00HT8DC7Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452700081&sr=8-1&keywords=EcoAir+DC12+Compact+Portable+Dehumidifier

It has wheels on it so I can trundle it around the place. As long as I keep the doors open it works on the whole floor anyway.

J_B

We have this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00465PUSC

Does what it says on the tin - was a 'best buy' (maybe Which?) somewhere.

calleyw

Hermia wrote: »

I have this one and love it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/EcoAir-DC12-Compact-Portable-Dehumidifier/dp/B00HT8DC7Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452700081&sr=8-1&keywords=EcoAir+DC12+Compact+Portable+Dehumidifier

It has wheels on it so I can trundle it around the place. As long as I keep the doors open it works on the whole floor anyway.

I bought one of these just before christmas and think its fab. 2 fan speeds, can set humidity and 2 or 4 hr timer.

Seems to do a good job. read reviews on a site just for dehumidifiers. And it said thats one of the best for a budget one.

Yours

Calley

lstar337

We have an Ecoair and it does its job well. We mostly use it for drying clothes indoors as we no longer live in a place full of damp.

dingdongsaving

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dimplex-16-Litre-Dehumidifier-005231099/dp/B00CFRKU0Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1452718222&sr=1-3&keywords=Dimplex+dehumidifier

We have this one and couldn't recommend more highly. This is our 2nd winter with it and we've had NO black specks needing wiping from around the bathroom window or our 2 upstairs N-facing bedroom windows/corners near the coving...and that was a monthly task prior to this gadget!

We put it on for about an hour or 2 each evening or for an hour straight after our morning showers and that's enough for our 3 bed. house with 4 of us living here bathing/showering daily.

moneysavingmicromels

We bought a small Meaco one from John Lewis for about £120 - it had good reviews on their website and we've been really happy with it in our 3 bed house. It has a setting for the first few weeks to really get on top of the problem and then a maintenance setting.

PeppaPig123

I am happy that the user above is enjoying his new dehumidifier but I don't agree with his statement to avoid desiccant dehumidifiers.

I am more 'for' desiccant type dehumidifiers in the UK though I am not necessarily 'against' compressor units. Each has their own use.

To the OP,

A rough rule of thumb is that if the average temperature that the dehumidifier operates in is greatert hen 20C then get a compressor model. If the temperature is lower than 20C then get a desiccant.

If you are looking at placing a dehumidifier in the landing then I would assume that the average temperature would be below 20C so a desiccant might be the best bet.

You can see from the post above that the De'Longhi Dem10 is supposed to extract 10 litres of water per day however the operator states that it extracts 5 litres. This is normal for compressor units as the test climate is much higher than the typical UK climate.

Test climates for compressors are often 30C and 80% RH while Meao tests their desiccant units at 20C and 60% RH which is much more inline with our climate therefore the actual extraction rate is around the same as the stated rate.

Anyhow to answer your question:

For a landing dehumidifier which services all rooms you would need something powerful.

Some desiccant units you may like are the EcoAir DD122FW Simple, EcoAir DD122MK5 or the Meaco DD8L. All of these are popular and work well. I personally own the Meaco DD8L and am very happy with it.

Oh, I should mention the EcoAir DD128 as well. Its the same as the DD122MK5 but more powerful.

These units extract 6-8itres per day depending on the house and conditions.

With regards to running costs lets have a closer look at the MK5, 128 and DD8L.

With each of these units once the set humidity level is reached the de!!!!ifier goes into fan only only mode (except for the DD8L which goes to sleep). Once the hunidity rises the unit automatically toggles into a higher setting to bring the humidity level back down before going back into fan only mode.

The DD8L, as mentioned above, goes to sleep and wakes up half an hour later to switch into fan only mode for 5 minutes. In fan only mode it checks the humidity level and as the EcoAir units it toggles into a higher setting if the humidity has increased.

As you can see the difference between the models is that the EcoAir could stay in fan only mode for an hour while the Meaco operates in fan only mode for only 10 minutes out of the hour. Over the long term this features saves a lot of running costs.

Anyhow that's enough info to digest in one post. If you want the low down on certain dehumidifier features just let me know.

Edit: There's a lot more information on this site.