If you’re living or working in a building where condensation, mould and mildew, or a musty smell is a problem, you’ll be looking for something that can help improve things – like a dehumidifier. How does a dehumidifier work? We’ll tell you everything you need to know in this article, including general running costs and the very real positive difference it can make to the quality of air in your home or office.
How do dehumidifiers work?
So, what does a dehumidifier do? A dehumidifier is designed to remove excess moisture or water from the air. This in turn results in drier air and a better, healthier environment for you and your family to live in. It helps to fight mould and mildew, reduces the instance of dust mites in carpets and fabrics, fights high humidity and can even help to dry laundry.
Compressor dehumidifiers are the most common choice for homes. When you switch them on, they draw air into the unit. The air passes through a filter and over cold coils. The coils make the water condense, and the drips are collected in an integrated water tank. A fan then sends the drier air back into the room.
Dehumidifiers come in different shapes and sizes, so it’s worth taking a look to see what you need – this may depend on the size of your home, whether you want a water tank or continuous drainage unit and how bad the high humidity in your home is.
How do I know if I need a dehumidifier?
If you have any of the following in your home, it’s worth considering investing in a dehumidifier:
- Water stains that might indicate a damp problem
- Mould and mildew in key places – particularly bathrooms and kitchens
A musty smell that you can’t identify or get rid of - Condensation and excess moisture on walls or fabrics
- Allergies and problems that you think might be related to air quality
All of these issues can be caused by high humidity, which is effectively excess water in the air. This could be because there’s not good enough ventilation in your home, or because there are leaks or other ways for moisture to enter your home. Instead of paying for very expensive repairs, a dehumidifier can make an immediate and noticeable difference.
The MeacoDry ‘ABC’ 12L dehumidifier is easy to use and helps you to be more energy efficient.
How much does a dehumidifier cost to run?
These are the questions we get asked most often: “how much electricity does a dehumidifier use?” and “how much does a dehumidifier cost to run?” Because customers know that it’s not just about buying the dehumidifier – it’s about running it when you need to. It may have been the case that historical dehumidifiers were expensive to run, but that’s absolutely not the case today.
Modern dehumidifiers are designed to use as little electricity as possible – obviously your costs will depend on how often you run the dehumidifier – but our calculations show that it can cost as little as £3* per week. The benefits of running a dehumidifier, however, are considerable, and will save money for homeowners in terms of the damage done by mould and moisture.
How much water should a dehumidifier collect in a day?
This very much depends on how much excess moisture there is in the air in your home. This is known as relative humidity, and if you want to know how do dehumidifiers work hard for you, you should look at the amount of water the dehumidifier can collect at different relative humidity levels, together with the average room temperature. So, for our Meaco 25L Ultra Low Energy dehumidifier, in a room that is 15 degrees and has 80% relative humidity, you can expect to collect up to 12.3 litres per day.
You can either choose a humidifier with an in-built water tank, which will need emptying by hand, or you can choose a continuous drainage machine. These units come with a drain hose that allows the condensed water to flow straight down the drain.
How to use a dehumidifier properly
Modern dehumidifiers are designed to be easy to operate. Simply follow the instructions and you will see and feel an immediate difference in your home. Here are our top tips on how to use a dehumidifier properly:
- Position your dehumidifier slightly away from walls and furniture – this will help the air to circulate properly.
- Always empty the water tank – if you are running your dehumidifier continuously, make sure you’re around to empty the tank to keep your machine working hard for you.
- Set the target relative humidity – this will help to ensure that your dehumidifier is working towards the right end point, and helps you to achieve the right level of dry air in your home.
- Maintain it according to the instructions – you will need to carry out some minor maintenance when your dehumidifier is in use. Make sure you do this so that your unit is always working as efficiently as possible.
Dehumidifiers are suitable for every room in your home.
How are dehumidifiers cost-effective?
Dehumidifiers should be an incredibly cost effective way of bringing down your overall energy costs. This is because getting rid of the excess moisture in the air in your home will also remove the uncomfortable chill which you might usually compensate for by turning up the heating. Reducing the humidity means that you can keep your heating bills down. You can also use a dehumidifier in a laundry room or utility room to help dry washing – it can be more cost-efficient than using a standard tumble drier and will help to reduce the potential for moisture from your washing creating mould, mildew or musty smells in your home. This is particularly useful if you live in a flat, or don’t have an outdoor area for drying washing.
What does a dehumidifier do – your questions answered
Has this blog answered your questions about how to use a dehumidifier, how dehumidifiers work and how much it costs to run a dehumidifier? There’s a lot of information on our website to help you make the best decision for your home or office. We believe that a good dehumidifier has the following qualities:
- It’s easy to use – in an ideal world, a dehumidifier would be as easy to use as any other home appliance. And it is! We’ve designed our dehumidifiers to be incredibly easy to operate, so you can just switch it on and let it do its thing.
- It doesn’t intrude – a good dehumidifier reduces the humidity of the air in your home without getting in the way. So our units are as compact as possible whilst still having the capacity to improve the air quality in your home.
- It’s quiet – no-one wants a loud, annoying machine in their home. That’s why we’ve designed our units to be as quiet as possible, just sitting in the background, reducing humidity levels in an energy efficient way.
- It doesn’t cost a fortune – you need the unit to be affordable to buy and cost-effective to run. Modern dehumidifiers are just that: they cost less to buy than you might think, and they are cheap to run, helping you to stay energy efficient in general and helping to improve your home environment.
Meaco designs, manufactures and supplies dehumidifiers and air conditioning units for use in homes, offices, basements, garages and more. Our collection of dehumidifiers is available online, and we can help with any questions you have about which machine to choose and how to get the most out of it.
Whether you are looking for something small to help with mould and mildew in your shower room, you have excess moisture in the kitchen, condensation on the windows, or poor air quality that’s triggering an allergy for you or your family, we can help.
Why not browse our website or give the team at Meaco a call directly on 01483 234900.
