best dehumidifier

[moanthebairns]

Following on from my how to dry clothes faster section. I require a good dehumidifier, one preferably that has a clothes drying function on it too. (emits warmer air than it sucks in).

I have a budget of around £100 - £150. Anyone make any recommendations.

[singlecoil]

moanthebairns said:

Following on from my how to dry clothes faster section. I require a good dehumidifier, one preferably that has a clothes drying function on it too. (emits warmer air than it sucks in).

I have a budget of around £100 - £150. Anyone make any recommendations.

All dehumidifiers warm the air, as they recover the latent heat of evaporation from the water when it is converted from vapour to water. They are all made in the far east, buy whichever looks like it will suit, and from a place to which it will be easy to return it should it go wrong, or make too much noise.

[Deva Link]

singlecoil said:

..or make too much noise.

On the noise front, has anyone used an absorption dehumidifier - http://www.dehumidifiers-online.co.uk/ruby-dry-deh... ? And are they as effective as "normal" ones?

[singlecoil]

Deva Link said:

On the noise front, has anyone used an absorption dehumidifier - http://www.dehumidifiers-online.co.uk/ruby-dry-deh... ? And are they as effective as "normal" ones?

I have, different make, worked very well, especially as they keep working at low temperatures. Mine went wrong after 11 months and the receipt had been lost. I would probably get another one though.

[GingerWizard]

a big bucket of lime?

Just don't lick it.

[CunningPlan]

singlecoil said:

All dehumidifiers warm the air, as they recover the latent heat of evaporation from the water when it is converted from vapour to water. They are all made in the far east, buy whichever looks like it will suit, and from a place to which it will be easy to return it should it go wrong, or make too much noise.

Yes and no The better ones come with fan-heaters built in to raise the ambient temp, thus raise the level of evaporated moisture in the air so it is able to be removed by the dehumidifier. In a closed system, which a dehimidifier tends to be, it can't make heat from nowhere and the warmed air is equally offset by the cold water in the collection tank, unless it drains away. Noise tends to be about the same as a fridge (because, essentially, that's what it is) Mine's made in Italy Oddly, despite that (I'm thinking Lancia here) it's not gone wrong in 10 years. I wouldn't vote for it's running costs though - the "humidistat" helps a little, a timeswitch helped a lot more.

[singlecoil]

CunningPlan said:

singlecoil said:

All dehumidifiers warm the air, as they recover the latent heat of evaporation from the water when it is converted from vapour to water. They are all made in the far east, buy whichever looks like it will suit, and from a place to which it will be easy to return it should it go wrong, or make too much noise.

Yes and no The better ones come with fan-heaters built in to raise the ambient temp, thus raise the level of evaporated moisture in the air so it is able to be removed by the dehumidifier. In a closed system, which a dehimidifier tends to be, it can't make heat from nowhere and the warmed air is equally offset by the cold water in the collection tank, unless it drains away.

Yes and no

A fan heater isn't actually needed unless the temperature of the incoming air is close to zero, a heater will reduce the relative humidity of the air but, more importantly will increase the temperature difference between the air itself and the evaporator (assuming this is a mechanical compressor system). The water that is produced will be of a lower temperature than the air as it leaves the machine but will of course eventually warm to room temperature unless the container is emptied first. The waste heat from the compressor moptor will also warm the air somewhat.