Mould and condensation are often a cause for concern at this time of year, with more rainy and colder days our priority is to keep our homes warm and comfortable to live in. One way of preventing mould, condensation and damp inside your home is by using a dehumidifier, but with so many options on the market it’s important to make sure you are buying one that will not only help combat the problem of excess humidity, but which also has a long lifespan.
Before buying your dehumidifier, we recommend that you look for tell-tale signs of excess moisture in your home as there are always clear indicators of high humidity; for instance mould on walls, condensation on the windows, or musty smells to name a few.
Things to think about when choosing your dehumidifier:
How many rooms does your house have?
Firstly, you will have to understand the size of the house and which dehumidifier to use according to this – usually near the kitchen or just outside the bathroom with the door open are the more humid areas.
Will you want to move your dehumidifier around? If so, a dehumidifier with wheels is probably preferable. Are you using it in a small flat or home? A more compact dehumidifier would work for this, like our MeacoDry Arete 12L with its small, lightweight and compact design complete with castors.
When considering which dehumidifier to buy, you might want to think of the size of your house and read the specifications of the dehumidifier you want to buy (ours can be found in the instruction manual or on the technical overview tab on each product page).
Up to 2 bedroom flat/house | Up to 3 bedroom house | Up to 4 bedroom house | Up to 5 bedroom house or townhouse | |
Slightly damp 50%-60% relative humidity Light mould/condensation | 10L | 12L | 20L | 20L |
Moderately damp 60%-70% relative humidity Musty smells/regular mould/condensation | 12L | 12L | 20L | 25L |
Very damp 70%-80% relative humidity House always cold/mould & condensation in multiple rooms. Drying washing. | 12L | 20L | 25L | 25L x 2 |
Wet 80%-100% relative humidity Condensation on walls, mould on furniture/clothes. | 20L | 20L | 25L x 2 | 25L x 2 |
Energy efficiency
With high energy bills affecting us all these days, we are always looking for ways to reduce our electricity bills. When buying a dehumidifier, it’s important to consider the running cost over the initial price of the unit as it could save you a lot of money in the long term.
None of our products are energy draining products, in fact we have the most energy efficient range of dehumidifiers in Europe and we are proud to be leading the way in low energy dehumidifiers. That is why we encourage our customers to always look at all the technical information when buying any electrical product, as you could save yourself hundreds of pounds every year in energy consumption.
Read more about how buying a Meaco dehumidifier could save you over £700 in 5 years.
For Meaco, being transparent with our customers is our priority. We are more transparent than anyone else in the industry, that’s why the running costs are available for each model on the Technical Data tab on each product page. For more product specific details, please refer to the product page.
Will you be using your dehumidifier to dry your laundry?
Smaller flats or homes usually don’t have room for a tumble dryer, so the laundry tends to be hung to dry on a drying rack, the radiator or the back of chairs. In the colder months we keep our windows closed to prevent the heated air from escaping.
This results in the moisture from the clothes staying inside the home and the relative humidity starts to build up. Mould and condensation will then appear on cold surfaces around the home, on your windows or north facing walls.
If your flat or home doesn’t have an extractor fan in the bathroom or in the kitchen above the hob, the build up of humidity will be even worse.
Desiccant or compressor dehumidifier?
Another feature to consider when buying your dehumidifier is whether you want a desiccant or compressor dehumidifier. For a cold room (below 10°C) , you will want to buy a desiccant dehumidifier. For use in a warm room, the compressor dehumidifier is better for you.
Desiccant dehumidifiers are lighter and quieter in their low fan speed. They have a heater inside and they have a consistent performance regardless of the temperature; the air released from the desiccant dehumidifier is around 10-12°C warmer. So they are better if you’re using it in a cold hallway as they’ll warm the space up.
Compressor dehumidifiers work better in spaces that are already warm, above 10°C, if you are using a large compressor machine (20/25L) or above 16°C for a smaller compressor dehumidifier (10/12L). If you’re using it in a room that’s already nice and warm, the compressor is the best and will release air that is around 2°C warmer and will use less energy.
Look for customer reviews or press reviews
As with all purchases, it’s always best to have a look at reviews written by other customers or articles by press reviews or other product testing companies. Not only will they reveal the benefits of using the product, but it might also help give an idea on where to use it.
We are very proud to have won many awards for our dehumidifiers, notably Which?, Good Housekeeping Institute and QuietMark, but the great feedback that we receive on a daily basis about our dehumidifiers and the support from our customer support team. Reviews will always give you a more objective opinion and more detailed idea of your product. Our reviews can be found under ‘reviews’ on the product pages.
Have a look at one of our recent press reviews of our MeacoDry Arete from Expert Reviews (which won dehumidifier of the year!).
92 responses
Hi ,
My house is a 980 sq ft terraced house , I have 3 bed room and bathroom in upstair and 2 living from and kitchen in ground floor ,one of the wall the in the kitchen has some moisture problem, and has very mild mould in one of the upstair bedroom.Im planning to buy 12 ltr airated meacco condenser dehumidifier ,would that be perfect for my house ?I also would like to one with laundry mode
Appreciated your early replay
Thank you
Anish
Thank you for your enquiry,
You’ve selected a suitable dehumidifier, 12L, 3 bedroom, as per the guideline on the blog, however to note, your 3 bedroom is a large property and for this reason, I’d advise using a 20L unit which can cover a wider area and deemed more suitable for your home. Two models, AreteOne being the latest, links below, both feature laundry drying functions, please click and have a read. Hope this helps.
AreteOne 20L
https://www.meaco.com/products/meacodry-arete-one-20l-dehumidifier-and-air-purifier
Low Energy 20L
https://www.meaco.com/products/meaco-20l-low-energy-dehumidifier-and-air-purifier
Differences between the 20L, please see below:
https://blog.meaco.com/the-difference-between-our-arete-range-and-our-other-dehumidifiers-2/#:~:text=The%20big%20difference%20between%20the,with%20the%20larger%20water%20tank.
Kind regards,
Omar@Meaco
Hi Chris,
I wonder if you could help me, apologies for the lengthy query in advance.
I have just moved in to a 3 bedroom terraced cottage with a cellar. What size dehumidifier/purifier would you recommend for the cellar if the floor space is circa 3.5m length x 3.2m wide?
I was thinking of having one in the cellar at all times as it is partly finished but not an official liveable space yet until I have it converted properly, so just used for storage at the moment (it has lighting and laminate flooring but still damp as you would expect).
Then I was going to have one dehumidifier/purifier for the rest of the house that I could move around to different rooms as and when necessary, but the main rooms I would use in would be the Lounge / Dining room / Main bedroom, the sizes are as follows:
Lounge is 3.7 x 4.5m
Dining room 3.5m x 4.5m
Main bedroom 4.5m x 3.7m
Also may use in the kitchen when drying some laundry now and again (room size 5.4m x 3.4m)
I was looking at your MeacoDry Arete one 18L from Costco but also thinking about the 12l and 20l models, if you could provide any guidance that would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Alex,
Thanks for getting in touch!
Could you confirm the temperature of your cellar?
Could you also confirm how many people live in your home, how you dry your laundry, whether you have any pets and the average temperature?
We’ll then be able to help you further.
Thanks,
Siobhan
HI Chris,
We have a 5 bed house and are finding condensation on windows, sills and some mould in upstairs north corner upstairs bedrooms. We also use one of the downstairs rooms to hang washing on airers at the weekend. I was thinking of buying an Arete One 25L and siting it on the upstairs landing. Would that make sense? Also, would I then need to carry it downstairs to the room containing the washing at the weekends? Any risk of damage/ special considerations for moving it about? Or would it be fine to leave on the landing as is. Look forward to your advice please!
Eddie,
I would go for that machine and take the laundry to it. the laundry should dry in a few hours.
Chris
Hi Chris
I recently purchased the Arete 25l, and so far I’m very impressed with the amount of water it is removing from my home.
I live in a 3 bedroom (7 rooms in total) home which is very old and has a lot of damp and is always cold even with the central heating running for long periods of time. The rooms are large and the ceilings are very high.
So far the Arete has succeeded in reducing the humidity from the upper 80s to around mid-50s each time it is on.
At the moment I am using the arete during the daytime in the downstairs hallway with all doors open then at night time I’m putting it on the upstairs landing with all doors open.
It is working well but my concern is that I have to choose between doing the upstairs or the downstairs. It is very heavy to carry around. Would I benefit from a second that I can leave upstairs, or should I leave it in one place? Where would be the best place to keep it?
Mandy,
Thank you for your purchase. It should be able to do the whole space from the one location, two machines would obviously control the house faster. Place it somewhere central and closest to the source of the moisture and always use it to dry laundry if you dry clothes indoors.
Chris
Hi Chris, My bedroom is approximately NNEastt. I have vents in the windows and l leave the two top windows on the lock all year. In the winter my windows are nearly always covered in condensation even though l have recently replaced the glass. As you can imagine the room is very cold. I think l ought to mention l have solid floors. Which dehumidifier would you recommend.
If it is just for the one bedroom and you are not concerned about the rest of the house then a 10/12L will be fine. But you should really think about where the water is coming from and think about a dehumidifier for the whole house and to dry washing etc.
Chris,
We live in a large three bedroom detached house and mainly have condensation on the windows in the two north facing rooms with little on other windows around the house, with a little mould on rubber around windows is left unchecked. Two bedrooms are the worst in the winter.
Winer months laundry is dried inside and can cause a lot of condensation on windows if nor opened. There are only two of us mainly until kids come home. What would you recommend for a dehumidifier please?
Dom,
A 12L dehumidifier will be fine for you, but make sure that you use it to dry that laundry.
Chris
Please can you help Chris? Theres 2 of us in a small 2 bedroom house. Looking for best option to tackle bad condensation in the main bedroom on windows and walls during winter months and to use while we sleep. We are dealing with some already existing previous mould around the window edges from previous owners. No other issues elsewhere. Would be useful to use it near washing if possible also.
The bedroom is usually 15-17 degrees when unoccupied and heating off, and 18-20 degree when we sleep in there heating on. Low noise and energy efficient is primary goal. We think a 10L or 12L size would be fine but not sure which model. Please can you suggest?
Jay,
Arete 12L or ABC 12L would be the quietest. the dehumidifier does not have to be in the bedroom,. I would put it into the hallway and let it run 24/7 (humidistat will switch it on and off as required). Leave the bedroom door open during the day and use the dehumidifier to dry any laundry that is being left to dry in the flat.
Chris
Hi Chris, didn’t think about the hallway as an option. Will look into the Arete – thank you for the advice on model
Hi.
I am trying to decide between a 12L and 20L Arete model. It’s a 3 bed terraced house (north facing), with a single occupant. It’s not a warm house (~14-15C) and suffers from some damp. Would I be asking too much of the 12L model?
Thanks.
At those temperatures you need a 20L machine.
My Arete 12l cuts out even when the tank isn’t full. The float is fine and the issue is that the desired setting hasn’t been reached. I’m trying to dry washing and the humidity is reading 75, but I had to turn the machine back on and have no idea why it cut out. Please can you advise?
Maria
When the fan is running then please tell me the number you see on the display and then press the droplet button once and tell me what number flashes up for 5 seconds? Also are you using the Laundry mode when this happens? Or when this happens is there an error code on the display? And finally when you say that it is cutting out, do you mean that the fan stops blowing?
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your reply. It was on laundry mode and when I pressed the droplet, the reading was in the 60’s or 70’s. Prior to this, the screen had gone blank and the fan had stopped blowing. Thank you, Maria
Laundry mode does stop after 6 hours of run time.
Hello again,
My machine was on laundry mode less than 6 hours. I pressed the droplet after the issue happened again and the machine had powered off.
Maria,
If you are 100% sure then please send a video of what you are seeing to sales AT meaco.com, so we can help further.
Chris
Hello, I need some advice please. We live in a 3 bedroom (3rd bedroom is in a loft conversion), 2 bathrooms with one downstairs and one upstairs. 2 adults and 1 medium sized dog living here. the property is mid a terraced house.
The bathroom downstairs has a window and is mainly only used for indoor drying clothes while upstairs is used as a shower, has no window but an extraction fan. The upstairs bathroom often smells mushy and I struggle in removing condensation at times or it takes a very long time due to the fan. The kitchen does have windows but no extraction fan. The windows in our main bedroom and the windows in the loft often has a bit of condensation which we clean every morning. We also have a bit of condensation on the kitchen window especially after cooking etc.
We have no damp issues etc on walls to date, as we put the heating on for a few hours every day. We also never hang clothes on the radiators, we dry it on a drying rack when we cant dry it outside due to poor weather.
The humility on average in the house is around 60 – 70% on really cold days, and the bathroom downstairs at around70% and upstairs around 85 – 90% after showers but does drop back to 50% after quite a few hours of the fan doing its job and leaving the shower door open 30 minutes after the shower.
I would describe as our property as medium. Please could you recommend a dehumidifier that is best suited for our needs? Thank you.
Jack,
You will benefit from a 20L dehumidifier for that size space.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I live in an L-shaped old stone cottage with an old extension and small rooms The extension has a small staircase leading to one bedroom.
It is a house of two halves connected by a very narrow hallway and bathroom and the worst damp is at either end of the house. It is a 3 bedroom house with 1 occupant.
Humidity is 75%+ in all rooms and 85%+ in the bedroom. Temperatures in winter without heating are daytime 10-13C and nighttime below 10C.
Would it be good to get 2 smaller desiccant dehumidifiers to be placed at either end of the house or 1 larger one?
Thanks
Definetely two desiccants because of the lack of airflow between the two halves. The DD8L Junior will be fine and is available on this website.