We are always getting questions and queries from our customers and potential customers about our products and their uses.
And because it’s the wet and cold weather season, we thought it only appropriate to make this edition all about dehumidifiers. Within that, we cover managing humidity, drying laundry and HEPA filters. We hope that by sharing the answers to these top-asked questions we can help more of you out there who may have been wondering the same things.
Can I schedule a Meaco dehumidifier to turn on and off at specific times?
We would answer this one by asking, why would you want to? We realise many people want to turn their dehumidifier on and off at set times, either to benefit from cheaper electricity rates or because they see condensation appearing at night, so logic tells them that this is the best time to run the dehumidifier.
We say that using a timer is not a great idea, and we go into a lot more detail as to why using a timer is a bad idea in our blog piece from 2012. But in short, if you restrict the run time of a dehumidifier to, say, midnight to 6am each day, then the humidity that you’ll have been creating during the day (through cooking, boiling the kettle, drying laundry, etc.) will be absorbed by organic materials in your home (clothing, furniture, timbers, papers, etc.) whilst the dehumidifier is turned off. When the dehumidifier is then turned back on, protecting those organic materials within your home becomes a lot more difficult because the moisture is no longer in the air. This is why we don’t promote the use of a timer for turning a dehumidifier on and off each day and our dehumidifiers in general only have one time use on or off timers or no timer at all.
The exception to this is the flagship Meaco DD8L Zambezi desiccant dehumidifier which does have a 24/7 daily run timer allowing you to set when it turns on and off each day.
The dehumidifiers with a standard, basic, on and/or off timer are listed below for you.
There are a few different answers to this question, as it depends on the type of dehumidifier you have.
- MeacoDry ABC 10 and 12L: No on-timer. Auto off-timer, with control to schedule turn off between 1 and 24 hours.
- Meaco Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier 12L: No on-timer. Auto off-timer, with control to schedule turn off between 1 and 12 hours.
- Meaco Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier 20L: No on-timer. Auto off-timer, with control to schedule turn off between 1 and 24 hours.
- Meaco DD8L Dehumidifier and Junior: No on-timer. Auto off-timer, with control to schedule turn off between 1 and 8 hours.
Despite the differences in on and off timers, all Meaco dehumidifiers are however engineered with Meaco’s unique control logic. This Smart Humidity programme, designed with years of experience in controlling museum humidities, aims to achieve accurate dehumidification, without needing to set a timer or break the bank. Fear not, we’ll explain Meaco’s control logic in more detail in another question below.
Can you use a Smart Plug to schedule your dehumidifier on/off?
Some customers may consider using a Smart Plug to manage the timing of their dehumidifier. We advise against this for the following reasons:
1) Safety/longevity issues:
Turning the machine off correctly (by pressing the power button on the control panel) allows a few internal operations to power down, ensuring the machine and refrigerant or desiccant settles correctly. Using a smart plug forces a power cut to the machine, which prevents these internal processes from taking place. This will shorten the lifespan of the dehumidifier and invalidates the machines warranty, in general this is the case for all dehumidifier manufacturers.
2) The dehumidifier knows best!
Chris Michael, Managing Director of Meaco, says that it’s best to just let the dehumidifier run on Smart Humidity Mode. “Set the dehumidifier to 50 or 55%rh and then just leave it. Let it decide when it must run and when it should turn off, that is best for your home and for your own health. Turning it on and off manually is a false economy.”
What is Meaco’s control logic?
The unique Meaco control logic is a programme within the machine that achieves accurate dehumidification whilst using as little energy as is necessary (and so saving you money).
When the target relative humidity has been reached, the dehumidifier will switch to fan-only mode. In this mode, the dehumidifier can check whether the relative humidity is stable and once it is the machine will sleep for 30 minutes. Then every half an hour, the dehumidifier will wake up and run its fan again to check the room’s relative humidity. If the relative humidity has risen above the set point, then the dehumidifier will start to operate again. If the relative humidity is still below your target, then the dehumidifier will go back to sleep again for another 30 minutes. The machine is clever enough to know exactly when it needs to be on and when it needs to be off.
This process saves you a lot of money on electricity and increases the lifespan of the dehumidifier, especially when compared to other dehumidifiers that keep their fans running permanently, regardless of the level of humidity in the room.
What is the best dehumidifier for drying laundry?
Choosing a dehumidifier really depends on the size and conditions of the space you are looking to manage the humidity. For drying laundry only, in a room such as a utility space, one of our smallest units would suffice. There is no doubt though if you are going through lots of washing then a 20 or 25 litre dehumidifier will be your best option because they will dry the laundry fastest. Combine one of these with a 1056 fan and your drying times will be cut in half!
However, if you have plans to use the machine to dehumidify your home, you may want to consider purchasing a larger unit and using it for a dual purpose. Our products are built to last, so thinking ahead and using a machine for dehumidifying as well as drying laundry, may save you money long term.
We have written blogs to help you in choosing the right dehumidifier for your sized house here:
- Which dehumidifier should I buy for a flat?
- Which dehumidifier should I buy for a 2 bedroom house?
- Which dehumidifier should I buy for a 3, 4 or 5+ bedroom house?
How does Laundry Mode on the MeacoDry Arete® One range work?
Press the Smart Laundry mode button (circled on image) once to enter Smart Laundry mode. In this mode, the dehumidifier will default to a target humidity of 35%rh and high fan speed. The display will change to ‘35’ for 5 seconds and then show the current relative humidity level.
The dehumidifier will run in Smart Laundry mode for 6 hours; after this time the dehumidifier will turn off. If the dehumidifier reaches a humidity level of 32%rh before the 6 hours is up, the compressor will turn off to stop the air from becoming too dry, but the fan will continue to run (and the dehumidifying indicator will turn off). If the relative humidity increases to 38%rh the compressor will turn back on. It will do this until the 6-hour timer is up, by which point your washing should be dry. Please note that heavier or wetter items such as bath towels may take longer to dry.
Top Tip: To dry your washing faster or to dry it within 6 hours, keep the dehumidifier running before you put laundry out to dry. This will ensure that the room’s relative humidity is well managed, so your dehumidifier can focus on drying your clothes rather than drying the room at the same time. Combine this with a 1056 fan and your drying times will be even faster!
How do I know how much time is left on my timer for Smart Laundry mode?
If you press the Smart Laundry mode button once, the display will show ‘SL’. If you press the Smart Laundry mode button twice, you will see how much time is left on the timer. ‘06’ means 6 hours, ‘05’ means 5 hours, and so on.
Can I use MeacoDry Arete® One without a HEPA filter?
Yes, you can. However, running the MeacoDry Arete® One without a HEPA filter means you won’t able to purify the air against smaller impurities (some as small as 0.3μm)
Without a HEPA filter, the dust filter is still in operation, as this stops any dust and larger impurities from getting into the machine and damaging it. This in turn cleans the air in the room as it collects the dust and large impurities that exist in the air.
Top Tip: We recommend cleaning your dust filter frequently (you can do this easily using a vacuum cleaner) and replacing your H13 medical-grade HEPA filter every 3 months, or when it turns grey, to ensure it’s optimal to catch airborne impurities for you and your family.
We advise you to run this machine with either a H13 medical grade HEPA or charcoal filter so you can get the most out of your machine, especially if you suffer from allergies. Using a HEPA filter removes 99.7% of particles as small as 0.3µm, which means that it is removing allergens much smaller than human hair – things that you cannot see but your eyes and nose can certainly sense and react to!
The HEPA filter cleans whatever air is being drawn through the dehumidifier so whether you are using the machine as a dehumidifier or just as an air purifier you benefit from cleaner air.
Can I use MeacoDry Arete® One as a primary air purifier?
You can use MeacoDry Arete® One solely for air purification by turning on Air Purification mode. However, if your primary aim is air purification, a dedicated air purifier will always be better than a combined device. This is because, when Arete® One is in dehumidification mode, the fan will turn off if the compressor is not required. Having this off reduces noise and prolongs the machine’s life.
Overwhelming feedback from customers showed us that you do not like dehumidifiers that leave the fan running 100% of the time. So, we designed a dedicated Air Purification mode for those who want it. Whenever the fan is running, in Air Purification mode or dehumidifier mode, the air is being cleaned.
Check out our Air Purifier Range.
To end
We hope that this blog post has answered some of the questions you have about dehumidifiers. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email us customerservice@meaco.com and we’d be happy to help you.
Products featured:
MeacoDry Arete® One Dehumidifier & Air Purifier Range
Meaco 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier
Meaco 20L Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier
4 Responses
Hello, when will you be stocking the MeacoDry Arete 12L? I’ve been checking for a few week now and it’s always out of stock.
H Jo,
Thank you for your enquiry on stock levels for the AreteOne 12L, they’ll be available commencing May, on the product page (link below) you can add your email to the notification list.
I hope this helps.
https://www.meaco.com/products/meacodryarete1-12l
Kind regards,
Omar@Meaco
Where can I buy a purifier filter for my meaco dehumidifier, I see they are out of stock.
Ms I lambden,
Thank you for your enquiry, HEPA filters will be restocked approximately mid-May onwards, you can register your email on the website to be notified.
Kind regards,
Omar.