Our research tells us that 80% of our customers are buying their first ever dehumidifier. Logic states therefore that most people buying a dehumidifier are buying something that they are unsure of and know very little about. As a dehumidifier is not a particularly common appliance it is also unlikely that you have friends or neighbours that you can turn to for advice, so it can make buying the right dehumidifier difficult.
Having read various threads on Twitter and online forums I can see that there is a lot of bad advice out there and people, although well intentioned, are giving duff advice and recommendations. This is going to be because of the lack of real knowledge amongst consumers when it comes to dehumidifiers.
Does it really matter if someone saves some money and buys a 10 litre dehumidifier instead of a 20 litre or a desiccant?
Well yes and no – a 10 litre is fine for homes up to three bedrooms in size but it will not be able to stops condensation and damp issues in larger homes and for those living in a flat they might find it too noisy. I have also come across people living in a flat spending too much money on a 20 litre and then finding it too noisy for such a small property.
The worst thing about buying something too small to do the job you want it to do or buying something too big for your house is that you become disappointed and disillusioned with your purchase. I have often read reviews where customers have said that they have returned their dehumidifier because it was rubbish. In fact I read one yesterday about one of our competitors Ebac where the reviewer was saying that the dehumidifier was poor and he had returned it to get his money back. To be honest he had nothing good to say about the dehumidifier at all. But it was clear to me that there was nothing wrong with the dehumidifier but in fact the customer had bought the wrong dehumidifier and did not understand why condensation was forming on his windows.
There is a review on the John Lewis website for a Delonghi dehumidifier along the same lines with the customer saying that the dehumidifier is too noisy and heavy and that they had return it and replaced it with John Lewis own brand silica gel sachets. Crazy really and the fact is that the sachets would take two or three years to collect the same amount of water that the Delonghi would collect in one week.
All that had happened was that the customer had bought too large a dehumidifier for her property, was using it in the wrong way and had not read the specification before she bought it.
These mistakes are commonplace and of course if you don’t know what question to ask before you buy then you will not get the right answer. So the question remains – how to select the correct dehumidifier?
This is a major problem for first time dehumidifier customers and something that I am determined to address via this blog and our help pages. The most visited page on our website is or dehumidifier selection page. Probably not surprising when you consider how it breaks down the selection process. It is a really simple graphic page that helps you select the correct dehumidifier for the size of house that you live in and then gives you two models to choose from – simple.
Of course there is an alternative to the internet, just pick up the phone and talk to us, we are always happy to help and between us in the office we have over 65 years’ experience of helping customers find the correct dehumidifier!
Whichever option you prefer please do spend some time working out which dehumidifier is best for you so that your dehumidifier relationship becomes a happy one rather than one that drives you to write a ‘My Dehumidifier is Rubbish’ review online!
