please talk to me about dehumidifiers

[janek]

we live in a victorian (edwardian?) two up two down, with kitchen and bathroom out the back downstairs.

the kitchen has no radiator, and the bathroom has a flat roof so is quite cold stuck out the back there, although if the heating's been on a while and the door has been closed it's not absolutely baltic.

at this time of year i tend to dry the washing in the house, but this always seems to take a bit long.

also, the bathroom gets incredibly damp thanks to hot showers and cold surfaces - i spend quite a lot of time wiping down the surfaces that are covered in condensation.

so would a dehumidifier change my life? would i use it in the bathroom, and to help get my washing dry (would it really make a difference here?!?).

and would you recommend one?

tia.

[iceandlemon]

You might be better off upgrading the extractor fan or installing one if there isn't one. A humidistat fan which comes on automatically when the atmospheric moisture reaches a certain level would be the thing rather than a dehumidifier.

[mollymax]

We have a dehumidifier which we use upstairs as we suffer from condensation.
It works really well, just have to not use it for too long, as it can make the air too dry.

[janek]

dry air sounds like a distant dream... i read on here that it's quicker to heat dry air than damp, that's really tempting...

is a humidistat fan a free-standing thing, or is it a type of extractor fan.

we don't currently have an extractor fan in kitchen or bathroom. potentially the reason for all our woes...

[mollymax]

Maybe a dehumidifier would be best, as you can move it from room to room.
I reckon you are right about the heating, because the room the dehum is in is always warmer.
Ours was not to expensive and have had it for a fair few years.

[wubblybubbly]

We have a dehumidifier we use upstairs. Our bedroom has 3 external walls and condensation, if not dealt with, causes loads of problems.

It's fantastic! I usually put it on every day for a couple of hours and the tank needs emptying about once a week. It's amazing how much water it takes in.

It means the bedroom stays warm and dry even with the heating on low and no nasty mould grows either.