Motor Boats Monthly Boat Dehumidifier review

Motor Boats Monthly magazine in their November 2011 issue has reported on a long term test that they have carried out of the Meaco DD8L and the Meaco DD122FW boat dehumidifiers.  Both machines fair very well with tester Neale Byart commenting about desiccant dehumidifiers in general that he would always use a desiccant dehumidifier rather than a cheaper compressor dehumidifier from a DIY superstore because;

“Firstly, desiccant dehumidifiers are small and easy to stow on board.  Secondly, with no compressor they are also lighter, both these units weigh around 6Kg, making them easier to use.  Lastly compressor dehumidifiers don’t work very well at temperatures near freezing, just when you need them most.

The killer blow?  Both of these models have a setting which produces warm air, so not only will they keep the boat free of condensation when you’re on board, but they’ll also take the chill out of the coldest days.”

The encouraging thing for me is that Neale has fully understood some of the main characteristics of the desiccant dehumidifier over the compressor models, he also mentioned the auto restart after a power cut.  This is all shows that message that we have been working on for the past 6 years about the benefits of desiccant dehumidifiers are starting to filter through and people really are starting to understand.

Unfortunately the review was written before our big update to the DD8L range which sees power consumption drop considerably thanks to our new intelligent control system.

Normally a desiccant dehumidifiers keeps it’s fan running when it reaches the target relative humidity so that it can keep sampling the air.  This is a Japanese idea to ensure accurate dehumidification.  We feel that this is overkill for British applications and have changed it so that when the target relative humidity is reached the Meaco DD8L goes into fan only mode for 5 minutes to ensure that the relative humidity does not increase and then it goes to sleep for 30 minutes.  It will then wake up and check the relative humidity for 5 minutes every half an hour and will dehumidify as and when required.

In the fan only mode the desiccant dehumidifier consume around 30-40 watts and at marina rates in particular this can start to add up and therefore the saving to the customer should add up over the course of a winter.

We have also introduced a new version of the DD8L called the DD8L Junior which does not have the silver nano filter or the ioniser but otherwise is exactly the same dehumidifier.  The DD8L Junior is only £179.99 and would make sense for a boat owner who is not living on board and does not need the air cleaning facility.

The article mentions using a timer to run the dehumidifier for six hours a day.  This is a particular hobby horse of mine!  My advice would be to run the dehumidifier using the humidistat 24/7 so that any increases in relative humidity are spotted first by the dehumidifier before the hygroscopic material on the boat has a chance to absorb any excess moisture.  What you don’t want to happen is for the cushions/sofa/bedding/timber/papers to absorb the moist ure and for the dehumidifier to be turned on only to find that there is no excess moisture in the air because the organic material has absorbed it all (and mould is quietly growing as a result).

All in all though a fair review by the magazine and we are glad that once again it has been recognised that it is Meaco who are putting ourselves up for independent review and that Meaco dehumidifiers are good dehumidifiers!

Products featured: DD8L Junior  , Meaco DD8L