This is the most common question that we are getting at the moment. Phone call after phone call telling us that their dehumidifier never seems to turn off and it is collecting lots and lots of water. Is this normal people ask us?
The answer is yes.
The Explanation – Why it’s normal.
The dehumidifiers have a built in humidistat that measures the temperature and relative humidity of the room and tells the dehumidifier whether to sleep or dehumidify. If you have a house that has never had a dehumidifier in it before then the dehumidifier will be running flat out for around two to four weeks while it dries out all of the air in the house and then the organic material in the house (wood, clothing, furniture, paper, books etc.) releases all of the moisture into the air that they have been holding on to, giving the dehumidifier more work to do.
As well as the above you are also putting moisture into the air each day (bathing, showering, cooking, breathing etc.) and this slows down the process of getting to a point whereby the humidity is low enough for the dehumidifier to turn off for a rest.
Then there is the weather, if it is raining a lot then the dehumidifier will run for longer. When it has caught up and brought things under control you will find that your dehumidifier turns off and then you will settle into a cycle of on/off/on/off as required.
After all you bought the dehumidifier to dry your house and that is exactly what it is doing for you. So don’t be too hard on your poor old dehumidifier!
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219 Responses
I just bought an Arete One 12L and have been running it for 12 hours. The humidity reading has got down to 70% but is struggling to go lower. As 70% is 15 points above the target of 55%, the fan reduces speed and a minute or so later, the humidity increases and the fan increases again. It’s been hovering about 69-71% for several hours. Is that normal? Also, I have put 3 hygrometers, each a different make with 6 feet of the Arete and all are reading between 53 and 60% – what (if anything) should I make if this? Could my Arete sensor be inaccurate?
Thank you.
Adrian,
Thank you for your purchase. 12 hours is nothing, it takes around a month to dry a space out because as Arete brings the humidity down you increase the humidity through breathing, bathing, showering, cooking, drying washing, putting the kettle on extra. The house also starts to dry out, releasing moisture from walls, doors, furniture and clothes.
Arete will also have two big advantages over your hygrometers, one the reading is assisted by the fan and two the sensor is a lot newer and will therefore be more accurate.
Trust your new dehumidifier and be patient, you will feel a big difference in the house soon.
Chris
Hi Adrian,
I am having the same doubt/issue, did it work as Chris Michael suggested, now that months has passed ?
I have the Meaco Arete 25l.
It does not automatically shut off or reduce the noise of the fan speed once it reaches the target or exceeding the target.
Target humid level is 50, it exceeded the target and is at 48 for few hours still the thing is on full power.
I’ve increased the target to 55, it’s achieved 48 still not turning off or reducing speed.
What is going, not a very smart unit?
Thank you for your purchase and your message, your dehumidifier is not meant to turn off until the relative humidity is more than 3%rh below it’s target, this allows for sensor accuracy and room humidity stability (page 9 of the manual). If you change the target setting it will not automatically turn off, it will run for a while to see what happens within the room at that new set point first.
Hope this helps.
Chris
Thanks for this comment Chris, makes sense! I just got my 20L yesterday and has been running for 24hrs bringing RH down from 62% to 50% in a small bedroom converted into an office. I also store my acoustic guitars here and this was the main reason to get your excellent piece of kit – to protect my guitars (needs to be 45-55% RH).
I had the same problem as DM, as I set the target to 50% and even though it was at that no it kept running. I moved the target up to 55% and after about 30 mins it switched off. Yes!
So, I’ve returned it to 50, and will leave it to run as I now see it may take a while to extract the humidity from other organic materials in the room.
Hello Chris – I bought my 12l LE unit a few weeks ago. It seems to be collecting 1.5 containers a day but RE never drops below 50, even though it’s set to 45. Is this normal and probably due to external humidity getting in faster that the unit can work or should it be able to handle it? I’m in a 3 bed single story flat and the unit is in a very central hallway. 50 is good I know but this means the unit literally never turns off. Thanks!
Seth,
That is fine, the dehumidifier is removing moisture from the air, you will be adding moisture to the air each day, plus moisture will be being drawn out of organic material in the house as the property dries. Once this has been done then you will see the room relative humidity start to fall and the machine turn off.
Chris
I’ve been using my new Meaco 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier 2 in 1 for a couple of weeks now, and it was working fine, turning itself on and off depending on the humidity inside the flat. These past 3 days it seems it has lost the ability to turn itself off. I have set it to 55% as usual, and even when it displays that humidity is as low as 49%, it keeps going for hours. I have tried changing settings, turned it off and on again several times, unplugged and plugged it back in, I’m out of ideas.
Laura,
A couple of things to do here.
Firstly press the button below the display once and let me know what number flashes up for 5 seconds and then the number that appears once it has stopped flashing. Let me know what the two numbers are please.
Chris
Hi. Mines doing the same. I set it at 55 but it then goes to 35 in minutes and doesn’t switch off at all. It doesn’t seem to collect much water either even when there’s condensation around. It’s dropped to 31 within 5 minutes of setting it at 55 and that’s with some damp laundry hanging about.
Steven,
Damp laundry on it’s own will not be enough to drive the relative humidity up in all cases and if you have a low relative humidity and condensation on the windows then this might be because the windows are old double glazed or even single glazed windows. You can run the dehumidifier on CO to draw more moisture out of the air.
Chris
I have a meaco dehumidifier 20l. (Only 2 weeks old.)I like to turn it off when I’m not in the house but I find it doesn’t turn off when I press the button. I’ve tried leaving my finger on the button for less than 1 minute but to no avail. So I end up just unplugging it.
Thanks in advance.
Breda,
It will take about 2 seconds to turn off. When you say that it is not turning off is the fan stopping and the display turning off? What are you seeing? Which version do you have, could you please convey the model number that is on the sticker on the side of the unit please.
Chris
Hi Chris,
It’s a meaco dry arete one model no: s/n ar211120024999. The display stays on and the fan also.
Thanks in advance.
Breda,
This means that you are pressing the button for too long. Don’t hold your finger down for so long, just give it a quick press and then let go. It will then turn off fine.
Chris
Hi Chris
Just gave a quick flick , off it went. Thanks for your help.
Breda
No problem, you are welcome.
Hi Chris,
I have recently bought a Meaco 20l and have it on the standard setting of 55%. It is currently in my bedroom which unfortunately has a damp carpet from my old leaking dehumidifier, plus damp on the wall leaking through from a faulty chimney. It has been on for around 12 hours and hasn’t gone below 62% humidity and the tank has only filled up around 20% of capacity – is this normal? Thanks.
That sounds fine, you have to be patient with these things. Change the target to CO and blow a fan at the wet patch to speed things up.
I have a 20L platinum for a few years now and i have noticed that sometimes when it reaches the humidity i got an while the compressor has shut down sand the fun only works the meaco doesnt go to sleep like other times it beeps and the compressor starts again like a reset.
I am not sure exactly what you are saying here but my recommendation at the moment here would be to make sure that the filter is clean and if you are taking the humidity reading from a third party device then take that with a pinch of salt.
Yeah sorry for my english! When the humidifier reaches the target humidity set by me sometimes it doesnt close (goes tosleep mode) instead it makes a beep sound like reseting and the flap goes all the way up even though i had it set half way and continues to run. Its like the humidifier cant go to sleep mode so it resets himself
Are we talking about a humidifier or a dehumidifier? Which model do you have please?
Ohh really sorry i wrote humidifier jeeeesus! I meant dehumidifier. Meaco 20L platinum
Check if this bleep and flap movement happens when the mains lead is moved. Wiggle the mains lead and see if the bleep happens. If it does then you have a damaged mains lead.
No this happens only when the target humidity is reached. Instead of going to sleep mode it makes that beep sound like its resseting or something. Could it be a circuit board fault?
The machine should do to sleep when it is 3%rh below target and not on target. So are you reaching 3% below and does it happen every single time? Did you try the mains lead tests?
I did the mains lead nothing happens. Yes when it reaches below 3% goes to sleep but sometimes this year more frequently instead of going to sleep it makes that beep sound the compressor starts and the flaps goes all the way up. Like i said its like reset or something. Like i turned it on after i had it off.
If it is collecting water ok and is not happening often, then this will probably remain a mystery as it is not a fault that we have come across before.
Sorry.
Hi! I bought a 12l abc dihumidifier and when I first switched it on it started on high fan mode. It was working like that for 24h and then I realized maybe this mode is only for laundry? Can this model work on high speed longer than 6 hours?
High fan speed can be used at anytime you like and for as long as you like. Laundry mode is the t-shirt button and when you press that the machine will only run for 6 hours.
Hi. I’m looking at your 25L models. I see the arête is newer than the other one I am looking at. The air flow rate is 170 on the arête and much higher on the low energy one. There is also a fan difference of 2 to 4 between them as well as the warranty difference. I know the arête can go against a wall but we need a 30cm gap on the other. We have a four bed house that has condensation issues and a few spots on the walls. Can you advise me on which model would be better for us please?
What the 25L Ultra Low Energy is best at is drying loads of washing, very fast. If you need to do that then go for the that model. For anything else the Arete would be the better purchase. Only Arete can be pushed up against a wall, everything else needs space around it.
I recently bought the Meaco 12l Low Energy dehumidifier to lower the humidity levels in my 2-bed house (built 1900). I placed the unit in my living room with windows closed but doors between rooms open and set it to 50rh. It has been reading between 66 and 62 non-stop since I turned it on and has been running non-stop for around 48 hours. I’ve taken out about 1 1/2 tanks so far so I know it’s dehumidifying, but it doesn’t seem to be reducing the rh much at all – it’s never dropped below 60. The room temperature is constantly between 17 and 20 degrees. Any suggestions? Thanks, John
John,
It takes about a month to dry a space out so you will have to be patient I am afraid. The dehumidifier is removing moisture from the air at the same time that you are putting moisture into the air each day. As it starts to get on top of things the organic material in the house will start to realise the moisture that it is holding onto, all part of the drying process.
But this is why it takes time.
Chris