Spec me a dehumidifier please?

broona · 15 Oct 2022 at 16:09

My 15±yr old 50 quid Woolworths special has just died on me, so I'm looking for a replacement, don't really want to spend any more than £150, but can push the budget a little for something special.

We use ours to control the damp in our 200yr old house, it's better than it was after getting a new damp proof course in, but it's still there, and I've seen that a lot of the newer ones have a laundry drying function, so I'd like that too.

It's only a small 2 bedroom end terrace, so around 15l should be more than enough, spotted a Blyss 16l in Screwfix for £144, but any other recommendations would be much appreciated.

kinetic747 · 15 Oct 2022 at 18:32

We have a Meaco that was around the £150 mark, it's been excellent so far.

jellybeard999 · 15 Oct 2022 at 22:35

I had an EcoAir which broke after a few years. I replaced it with a Meaco and it seems a better built unit, so I'd second the above.

Just make sure you get the right unit for your needs. See dessicant vs compressor types... https://blog.meaco.com/when-to-buy-...er-and-when-to-buy-a-compressor-dehumidifier/

ThriceNightly · 15 Oct 2022 at 23:42

meaco dd8l junior

Buckster · 16 Oct 2022 at 08:15

I have an Inventor EVA II for about 4 years and it's been flawless so far. It seems really well made

Use it to help dry clothes - mostly in the winter

Nemiyen · 16 Oct 2022 at 11:25

Perfect timing for this thread.

I'm looking at getting one myself and I'm undecided between going for the Meaco dd8l (desiccant) or a different model / compressor version.

Our house is old and cold and had super bad condensation issues when we bought it. (cheap!) I used 2 Delonghi dnc65 desiccant models for months to get the moisture out of the air and both of them failed around 2 years. One was under warranty so I got my money back and the other just after and it's sat in the garage for me to fix it! Eventually.... Ahem.

Anyway, I'll probably just buy a new one and I'm down to the electriQ one or the Meaco and if they had 5 year warranties I'd snap them up. I've just been burnt with them failing just outside the warranty period so I'm thinking of going down the compressor option.

Our house is heating to 18 degrees due to the costs of energy so I think a desiccant one would be better for us really. The compressor ones do work above 15 but I'm guessing at 18 degrees they're not efficient at all. I keep reading they will work optimally at close to 30 degrees which our house has no chance in hell of getting to in winter!

I'm not in a rush but our humidity in the house is at 70 percent now which is quite high and the girlfriend moans if I open the windows when it's cold so a dehumidifier is my best option. I don't want to push my luck as I've only just managed to get the temperature down to 18 degrees and she has agreed not to put it back up!

broona · 16 Oct 2022 at 11:28

Thanks for the replies.

As it's an older property, it tends to run cooler than a modern fully insulated one, so a desiccant dehumidifier looks to be the way forward,

Pro Breeze have a 10l desiccant model on offer for £130 delivered at the minute, or any of the Meaco ones look good too.

broona · 16 Oct 2022 at 15:16

And as usual, I've gone slightly overboard! :cry:

Just ordered the Meaco DD8L Zambezi, £233 delivered with a 3yr warranty, gets great reviews, hopefully it's worth the extra few quid, thanks again for the replies.

Nemiyen · 16 Oct 2022 at 16:23

broona said:
And as usual, I've gone slightly overboard!

Just ordered the Meaco DD8L Zambezi, £233 delivered with a 3yr warranty, gets great reviews, hopefully it's worth the extra few quid, thanks again for the replies.

Haha that sounds like what I might end up doing! I look for the cheaper models and then after a while I just can't be bothered looking / researching any more and get the slightly better model!

I'm just concerned about the extra ionisation bits etc as we have guinea pigs in the house and I don't want to use anything that might do more harm than good. I know you can turn this off etc but why pay for something I won't end up using for years!

Decisions, decisions! That seems a good price for the Zambezi in the current market too.

Edit: was that price with cashback or did you get a discount code? I can see it for 239 but only 2 year warranty. The 3 years is what's swaying me to get that model too!

Doobedoo · 16 Oct 2022 at 16:35

3 year warranty for £245.90 here

Meaco DD8L Zambezi Desiccant Dehumidifier - FREE 3 Year Warranty - DD8LZAM

Experience the pinnacle of dehumidification with the Zambezi Dehumidifier, designed with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional functionality. Built from customer feedback, this versatile unit is perfect for flats, houses, cellars, garages, boats, caravans, holiday homes, and anywhere...

www.meacodehumidifiers.co.uk

Nemiyen · 16 Oct 2022 at 17:29

Doobedoo said:
3 year warranty for £245.90 here

Meaco DD8L Zambezi Desiccant Dehumidifier - FREE 3 Year Warranty - DD8LZAM

Experience the pinnacle of dehumidification with the Zambezi Dehumidifier, designed with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional functionality. Built from customer feedback, this versatile unit is perfect for flats, houses, cellars, garages, boats, caravans, holiday homes, and anywhere...

www.meacodehumidifiers.co.uk

Thanks! I didn't manage to find that one before. I'll see how broona got theirs for £233 but if I can't do the same then this is a good second choice!

Doobedoo · 16 Oct 2022 at 17:33

Nemiyen said:
Thanks! I didn't manage to find that one before. I'll see how broona got theirs for £233 but if I can't do the same then this is a good second choice!

I got mine from them as they were better value for money at the time. Not sure where he got his from but I haven’t seen it that cheap.

The_Arbiter · 16 Oct 2022 at 17:43

They've gone up in cost noticeably since a year ago, (what hasn't?)

Was browsing the budget screwfix ones, cheapest had 3yr warranty, but i'm always sceptical these days as they often like to worm out of a repair or replacement.

Really don't wanna spend more than £150 either. Might take a quick browse of the Meacos etc

broona · 16 Oct 2022 at 17:47

I got mine from the link Doobedoo shared above, but I googled discount codes, and found this one gave 5% off - NMTL5

NeilF · 17 Oct 2022 at 14:27

Nemiyen said:
Thanks! I didn't manage to find that one before. I'll see how broona got theirs for £233 but if I can't do the same then this is a good second choice!

Just to do the maths on that for running cost. So at its low setting it uses 350W so that's about 12p an hour at the moment.

So if you run it 10hrs a day, that's a £1.20 a day.

The high settings use twice that amount...

Nemiyen · 17 Oct 2022 at 16:35

NeilF said:
Just to do the maths on that for running cost. So at its low setting it uses 350W so that's about 12p an hour at the moment.

So if you run it 10hrs a day, that's a £1.20 a day.

The high settings use twice that amount...

That's the only downside of the desiccant ones. They're more power hungry than the compressor types.

On the flip side though, they do produce a lot of that in excess heat that will help warm the room up slightly! (well, my Delonghi ones definitely did!)

Thanks for the code broona as well, I'm torn between the dd8l for 180 (rainforest) or the Zambezi for £50 more but with 3 years warranty.

NeilF · 17 Oct 2022 at 20:36

There's a 12L MONHOUSE compressor reduced down to £99.99 at the moment... I might grab that one... And less than 200w power usage...

broona · 18 Oct 2022 at 16:20

Delivered today, had it running for an hour on low, relative humidity has dropped from over 70% to around 55% already, and Hive says the room is 2°C warmer.

Will have a proper play when I'm not in-between nightshifts, but happy with it so far.

Gammawolf · 18 Oct 2022 at 22:24

Half of that % drop was just from heating the air 2c

broona · 18 Oct 2022 at 22:29

Gammawolf said:
Half of that % drop was just from heating the air 2c

Quite possibly! :cry: