There are several advantages of using a dehumidifier instead of a tumble dryer to dry laundry. Perhaps the most obvious benefit is the reduced cost. A dehumidifier can cost as little as 8p an hour to run in comparison to a tumble dryer that can cost over £2 per cycle*.
Meaco dehumidifiers have a dedicated laundry mode, which switches off after six hours to help you save energy. This means that with every load you choose to air dry instead of putting in the tumble dryer, you’re saving around £1.50 on your energy bill. For a busy family drying laundry every day this could add up to a saving of £45 every month!
Drying Laundry With A Dehumidifier
Whilst the dehumidifier is drying the clothes it is also protecting the room that the clothes are in. ‘Natural’ methods of drying laundry can create additional moisture in your rooms. This turns into condensation, or forms mould patches on walls, ceilings and even soft furnishings. Mould spores are bad for respiratory health, so the whole process is potentially damaging to both your home and your family. That’s why dehumidifiers are recommended as a safer, faster and more efficient way to dry laundry over the winter.
By choosing to air dry laundry, you can help your clothes to last longer too. Garments are not exposed to the high temperatures from tumble dryers that can damage delicate fabrics. Air drying is kinder to fabrics, making your clothes feel softer.
Still Using The Tumble Drier?
Over recent years there have been numerous product recalls and high-profile safety notices relating to tumble dryers. Tumble drying can be a fire risk, and owners are always advised to run their driers when they are in the house, and to keep them clean of lint and residue.
If you’re worried about the potential safety hazard of running your tumble drier – or the energy costs they incur, you might be thinking about the alternatives. The easiest of these is to air-dry your washing by hanging it on drying racks, over radiators or across chairs. As long as you have a reliable and effective way to reduce the excess moisture from the air in your home, this is a great alternative. It saves energy and reduces the potential fire risk in your home.
Using a dehumidifier to dry your laundry has a lot of benefits
What About When You Don’t Need To Dry Laundry?
While you have no clothes to dry you can put your dehumidifier to work to protect the rest of your home. There’s often excess moisture in your home – particularly during the colder months. Cooking, showering – anything that creates moisture – are all ways that you introduce more moisture into your home.
Not only does this extra moisture cause condensation and mould – it can also make it more expensive to heat your home. Cold, wet air is harder to heat than dry air, so your heating will have to work harder – even if you’ve turned down the thermostat. Investing in a dehumidifier will not just dry laundry – it will try the air. And this in turn will make it easier to heat your home – making it cheaper all round.
*Based on a dehumidifier that can extract up to 12 litres a day and runs at 0.157 kWh, and the average tumble dryer using roughly 4.5kWh per cycle. Calculations are based on the October 2022 price of 34p per kWh*.
49 Responses
Just purchased 20l platinum. Its says on the blurb on your website “when in laundry mode….” However there is no “laundry mode” mentioned anywhere in the instruction manual. I note another user posted same question but you didn’t exactly answer the question. Thanks
Angela,
Thank you for your query, please note the below text from the manual:
CONTINOUS (CO) MODE
In order to achieve this mode, keep pressing the DOWN arrow unit CO appears on the display. In CO
mode the dehumidifier will not stop, it will continue to dry the environment regardless of the room relative
humidity. This is the recommend setting for drying your laundry.
Hope that helps.
Omar@Meaco.
Does the 12l have a laundry mode. More utube videos on how to actually use it would be helpful.
Karen,
Thank you for your question.
Yes you will have the same control panel on both the larger AreteOne dehumidifiers and the smaller, a total of 4 buttons to press, Power button, smart humidity and if held down for 2 seconds, it will begin air purification, then your laundry button followed by the night mode button which if held down for 2 seconds activates child lock.
Your instruction manual will have more advise around this, to read as below:
– Situate your dehumidifier in a room with your laundry
– Place the dehumidifier close to your laundry but not too close that water could drip onto the
dehumidifier
– Keep all doors and windows closed
– Use smart laundry mode to set your dehumidifier to run continuously for 6 hours
Hope this helps, video on laundry below, hope this helps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1OL4GE4tg&t
Omar@Meaco
We have recently bought the meaco 20L platinum low energy dehumidifier. How do you put it into laundry mode. Other dehumidifiers have a symbol to press, the manual doesn’t describe how to do this.
Thank you for your message,
The UP and DOWN arrows can be used to select a target relative humidity between 30%rh and 80%rh, CO mode or AP mode. Press the UP or DOWN arrow until you reach your desired target relative humidity. The dehumidifier will run until the target humidity level has been reached. If you choose CO mode, the dehumidifier will run continuously and never stop. If you choose AP mode, the dehumidifier will just purify the air and not collect any water.
Hope this helps.
Omar@Meaco.
Is there any way to have laundry mode on constant b3yond 6 hours? If not is it better to leave on normal mode with a lower target moisture rating?
Thank you for your enquiry,
Laundry mode can only be run for 6 hours, you can manually press the button to start running this function again.
If you’re looking to achieve a lower setting, yes using your humidistat button, set it to the lower number you want and it will constantly run till it reaches the relative humidity.
Omar@Meaco
Can I turn off laundry mode if I don’t want it on for the full 6 hours?
Thank you for your enquiry, yes you can stop it and or change it to the normal dehumidifier mode.
Hope this helps.
Omar@Meaco
Using a dehumidifier to dry laundry seems like a practical and eco-friendly option, especially considering the cost savings and energy efficiency compared to traditional tumble dryers. I also appreciate the additional benefits, such as protecting the room from excess moisture, preventing condensation and mold growth, and extending the lifespan of clothes by avoiding exposure to high temperatures. It’s a compelling solution for both laundry drying and overall home moisture control, offering a safer and more economical alternative.
Pleased to see the benefit you’ve experienced, thank you for your comment.
– Omar, Meaco.
Hi, we have a DD8L in the conservatory, the main use is for drying clothes. It hasn’t been used as it has been hot and dry but the clothes drying function will not stay on at all recently. It works for approximately 5 minutes and then goes off. Any ideas why this could be?
Hello,
Thanks for your enquiry. There are a couple factors to consider for the reason of your unit not staying on.
1. The machine could be overheating.
2. The relative humidity could be really dry, perhaps at 35%rh – therefore the unit cannot operate in those conditions.
As a general rule of thumb, laundry mode will turn off after 6 hours to save energy.
If none of the above apply, it’d be helpful to send in a video of the machine turning off and also showing the display.
Please then send this to customerservice AT meaco.com
Our team can investigate and figure out a solution from there.
– From, Omar.
I’ve bought a 25l meaco where do I put it to dehumidifier / clean the air for the whole house?
Will the air circulate into the dehumidifier if I leave the meaco in the hallway downstairs with bedroom doors open…?
You have describe the best location very well. Somewhere central and leave the internal doors open. Always use the dehumidifier to dry the laundry.
How long per day should you have a arete dehumidifier on for. I have been running it near 24 hours for the first few days iv had it, but I’m thinking I should cut it down now?
David,
The house needs to dry out, and Arete will stop once this has been achieved. Set the dehumidifier to 50%rh and just leave it to run 24/7, when the same has dried out then it will switch in and out.
Chris
Hi there. We purchased a 20l Meaco dehumidifier approx ten years ago and it runs 24/7. We live in a well insulated semi and purchased the dehumidifier to help address a small damp problem created by drying our clothes upstairs in the spare bedroom. It works a treat and washing is usually dry within 24 hours. Recently we have noticed that it is blasting out cold air and the washing is taking ages to dry. Outside temp is 8 degrees C so not freezing in any shape or form. It’s still collecting water. Humidity is set at 35%. Any suggestions?
Cathi,
The air that passes through the machine is only warmed by around 1°C, so it can feel cool because it is moving (same effect as a fan in summer), especially when the room is cool in the first place. But the dehumidifier has no ability to actually cool the air.
Washing will be taking a while to dry because the room is colder.
Chris
Ok thanks for the prompt response.