Dehumidifier recommendations please

greyteam1959

Go back to basics.
What is causing the excess moisture in your house ??
Remove the source of excess moisture & your remove the need for a dehumidifier.

[Deleted User]

I have an Ebac, can't see the model number on it - will look later, it has a Smart feature, is very quiet, and can definitely vouch for the efficacy.

another_casualty

I too have an EBAC . Recommended by a forum member .
I haven't the model no. to hand, but it is a SMART one which you leave on 24/7 in the winter months . It doesn't cost much to run. It turns itself on and off when needed .
It also dries clothes , but I don't use that function . 

It tends to fill up every 2-3 days . Just empty container , close the door on unit and let it do its job. 

I got mine from the Amazon in a sale . 

Depending on your budget, whatever make or model you choose hopefully you'll get a good Black Friday  deal ..

koalakoala

I have to agree with greyteam.
Is it damp or is it condensation ?
For damp you need to find the cause.
For condensation you just need adequate heating and ventilation

dllive

Thanks all for your comments, very helpful.

It is definitely condensation, moisture condensing on the coldest parts of the room (an external wall, especially along the skirting board).

It is an ensuite bedroom, although thats never caused an issue before.

It seems - after reading these forums - the general consensus is that ventilation is far more efficient than a dehumidifier. So its a balance of having good ventilation and making the place cold.

Things Ive tried in the past 2 weeks (so its too early to tell the results):
1) After each shower I Karcher the tiled walls and shower tray.
2) Hold my breath for as long as I can while Im sleeping.
3) I have the radiator on first thing in the morning so that Im not cold when I get out of bed at 6am. I then turn the radiator off and open the window and bedroom door to get a through-draft. This obviously means the room gets very cold very quickly. After a couple of hours I close the window and turn the radiator back on to get the warmth back in the room.

I will look at the dehumidifiers people have mentioned. I presume - if they operate only when the air is damp enough - they wont use much energy.

Is there anything else I can try? The nuclear option is to paint the walls with mould-resistant paint. It may have to come to that anyway becuase the walls are currently stained by the mould and dont look nice.

neilmcl

If its's a constant problem maybe look into PIV systems.

Bendy_House

dllive said:

It is definitely condensation, moisture condensing on the coldest parts of the room (an external wall, especially along the skirting board). Along the skirting boards is unusual, although there can be reduced air circulation there too. Is this a ground floor?

It is an ensuite bedroom, although thats never caused an issue before.

It seems - after reading these forums - the general consensus is that ventilation is far more efficient than a dehumidifier. So its a balance of having good ventilation and making the place cold. Pretty much.

Things Ive tried in the past 2 weeks (so its too early to tell the results):
1) After each shower I Karcher the tiled walls and shower tray. Do you have a good extractor running throughout the shower, and for 10 minutes afterwards?
2) Hold my breath for as long as I can while Im sleeping. cough
3) I have the radiator on first thing in the morning so that Im not cold when I get out of bed at 6am. I then turn the radiator off and open the window and bedroom door to get a through-draft. This obviously means the room gets very cold very quickly. After a couple of hours I close the window and turn the radiator back on to get the warmth back in the room. That's a bit AoverT :-)  Instead, try this - have your bedroom heated as usual in the eve so it's pleasant before you go to bed, if that's what you currently do. However, last thing is; rads/CH off/down (which you probably do) and then crack open to 'vent' setting two windows if you can, as far from eachother as you can. Run to bed and dive under the duvet. If you are cold during the night, get a better duvet. In the morn, the heating should be set to come on, and as soon as you are awake, jump out of bed and close the windows. Run back to bed for 10 more minutes if you want. Most of this condensation - probably nearly all - will be formed overnight, so it's during the night that you need to ventilate it away, before it causes an issue. You should wake up to a chilly - but dry(ish) - room.

Probably the single biggest misconception regarding condensation - that opening a window will allow in cold and damp air. Cold, yes, damp, no.

If you were to leave your house for a month with no heating, but with all the windows partially open, it would be cold inside, but dry.

fewcloudy

@dllive

You asked for dehumidifier recommendations.

I am another who has the Meaco 20L dehumidifier with air purifier.

To those saying just open a window, all I can say is I am not an idiot...

Overnight here in Edinburgh last night it was about 2 degrees and it's barely 8 degrees now at 10.30am. That will be as good as it gets till about March/April now, and will be a helluva lot colder than that between now and then.  All that said, we do sleep with a window open and door closed out of preference.

Buying the Meaco was the best decision we made in a long time, it made a huge difference to the whole house in terms of reducing condensation. Sits on top landing, not used all the time, but comes into it's own for next 4-6 months. I don't need to move it room to room; it just sits there and dehumidifies the whole house when it's running. It is important to close windows during operation otherwise you'd be trying to dehumidify the whole neighbourhood!

This is a 3 bedoroom 2 bathroom house over 2 floors. 4 adults and 3 dogs.

We think it is quiet but I lent it to family who said they couldn't use it overnight, too noisy, so each to their own I guess.

Although it was bought for the condensation and has been very successful, it has also helped hugely with allergies/bedbugs. And yes I do regular cleaning of bed sheets etc. thank you!

I used to have to take an antihistamine for almost all of the other half of the year, and now I don't.  I keep the humidity setting at about 50-55 at this time of year, but about 45 in spring/summer.  My theory is that at that low level of humidity, the bedbugs cannot survive, and I really think that is what is happening. House is generally warm, and humidity is very low (in summer).

Hope that helps.

Black_Cat2

2) Hold my breath for as long as I can while Im sleeping.

😹😹

I too have a 20L Meaco dehumidifier. 

We don't have condensation on the walls but we do find the house sits around 62 - 66% humidity most of the time without the dehumidifier on.  We don't have any leaks. 

I wonder if whether having cavity wall insulation traps humidity in the house worse than not having it at all? 

BUFF

Bendy_House said:

Probably the single biggest misconception regarding condensation - that opening a window will allow in cold and damp air. Cold, yes, damp, no.

If you were to leave your house for a month with no heating, but with all the windows partially open, it would be cold inside, but dry.

The humidity today in a dry & sunny Glasgow is ~83%. If I had left the windows partially open for a month with no heating the humidity inside my house would be ~83%.