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Dehumidifier Advice

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ps124
ps124 Posts: 178 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
Hi All, I recently purchased a Meaco 25L Arete One dehumidifier and its really impressed me how effective it is and how quick clothes dry since we've had it. We keep in downstairs in the room where we sometimes hang clothes to dry on a rack.

I have a 4 bedroom semi, and I'm thinking of buying another one to keep on the stairwell just outside our main bathroom/shower. The kids often forget to open the windows when showering and one of the bedrooms has recently had a build up of condensation in the double glazing.

Should I be buying another unit for upstairs and would this make a difference? How can you work this out? When I purchased my current unit, the website said that a 25L unit is suitable for a 3-4 bedroom house but the bathroom area is literally on the other side of the house so I can't see how effective a single unit would be on its own. 

I read online that I should purchase a Hygrometer to measure the humidity before actually buying another unit. Again...not sure what the right way to go about this so any advice/guidance before I spend another £250 would be appreciated.
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Comments

  • MikeJXE
    MikeJXE Posts: 3,856 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    My granddaughter tells be hers is great drying the baby clothes after becoming a mother on the 11th 

    Today she wants to know why her electricity usage has gone up so much recently 
  • I have a dehumidifier that we run overnight when electricity is cheap.  Last night it consumed 1.619 kWh in 6.9 hours, so that's about 235 W.  It probably contributes more heat than that to the room because it works on the principle of a heat pump.  Dehumidifiers are often rated on the size of the water storage tank but the only difference that makes is how often you have to empty it.  If you want to run one overnight, as I do, then you need a big enough water storage tank to last the 7 hours.    
    Reed
  • swingaloo
    swingaloo Posts: 3,458 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I have a Meaco upstairs and love it. Its amazing what a difference it makes and how much water is collected. I recently bought another one for downstairs and use it in the kitchen mostly and it dries clothing really quickly.

    I have them on for several hours most days and the cost is negligible. I have a smart meter which tells me my daily usage and having one of the dehumidifiers running cost aroud 4 pence an hour.
  • Netexporter
    Netexporter Posts: 1,931 Forumite
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    Bluetooth hygrometer/thermometer units only cost a few quid. Scatter them round the house and move the machine to the dampest part of the house, as necessary. The big Meaco should be more than a match but if you do find one part of the house to be more troublesome then get an additional smaller capacity model for that area.
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,163 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 18 October 2024 at 1:04AM
    Bluetooth hygrometer/thermometer units only cost a few quid.
    Word of warning. Calibration isn't brilliant and they can read +/- 2 out on temperature and relative humidity. But as a cheap sensor with good battery life, they are good for the price.
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  • Newbie_John
    Newbie_John Posts: 1,214 Forumite
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    If the only problem is condensation on the window then get window vac 😉


  • Scot_39
    Scot_39 Posts: 3,433 Forumite
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    Is that on or in - as in between panels -  the glazing ?
  • ps124
    ps124 Posts: 178 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks all for the replies...Yes I think the energy costs are pretty low...and in comparison, its probably cheaper to run then my dryer where I would probably need to do 2-3 loads for amount of clothes the kids go through!

    For the windows, the condesation is between the panels but only in this one room. It's really annoying...seems there's no way to get rid of it without opening the panels. 

    Since I've had the dehumuidifer, its been an eye opener to see how much water is collected. As someone's already mentioned, I could have a few hygrometer's around the house but I pretty much know there is at least 2-3 areas of the house (the main shower for example) where we'd need it. So maybe a smaller unit would suffice for the uptairs area?
  • Netexporter
    Netexporter Posts: 1,931 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    At the bottom of the stairs is a good place for the large unit as the cooler damp air will naturally fall down the stairs from the upper floor.
  • I’m sceptical that running your larger unit downstairs will fully equalise humidity across the whole house. There is a temperature gradient and a humidity gradient to consider. Air does circulate by convection but your warm wet shower-drenched air needs to cool for it to circulate downstairs, and moisture may have condensed out on a window before that happens.

    We run a smaller one on each floor as needed it allows us to keep the upstairs cooler despite OH airing his cycle gear in a bedroom. But a bathroom extractor with a humidistat might achieve the same result if the shower is the main issue.
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