Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier?

[DanielaDressen]

So we have a Meaco one downstairs which I have to say I’m not impressed by. Cost nearly £200. It runs 24/7, never seems to get the humidity below 65% and only needs the little tank emptying out every few days so doesn’t actually seem to suck much water up. Which is odd as it has good reviews.

im after another one for our bedroom now as am fed up with the smell of damp (I have bedroom window open all day currently and this isn’t helping). So figured I’d try shutting the window and running a dehumidifier instead?

We have the heating up to 20 degrees as below that we get mould. So I’m heating and airing the house.

so yes if anyone is happy with their dehumidifier and it actually seems to fill the water tank up any recommendations much appreciated.

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If you're short on time, here are the top dehumidifier recommendations from this thread:

• MeacoDry Arete® One 12L dual Dehumidifier & HEPA air purifier, from £160
• Russell Hobbs RHDH1001 10 Litre/Day Dehumidifier, £89
• Inventor 20L/Day Dehumidifier, £146
• EcoAir DD1 Classic MK6 Grey Desiccant Dehumidifier, £243
• Blyss 16l/d Dehumidifier WDH-316DB, £190

For more Mumsnetter-approved dehumidifiers, take a look at our round-up of the UK's best dehumidifiers.
MNHQ

I had it running all last winter and it was the same.

It’s going into defrost mode, and must be faulty. My very old dehumidifier defrosts itself more often than it used to, but is still effective.

That level of humidity is crazy - it must be really unpleasant and chilly to live in. Also, all the structural timber eg joists, lintels, in the walls will be rotting at that level of humidity.

Does your house have cavity wall insulation, or external wall insulation? Are the gutters and down pipes in good working order? Do you have a leak in your water or central heating pipes?

I’ve lived in lots of old damp houses over the years, but even the worst ones haven’t been at 99% humidity.

It’s an old house, no cavity wall. Ive ordered a hygrometer to see how damp the actual room is. I do think the gutters may need clearing.

I have a Meaco and it’s really good. It’s a free replacement for one I had that broke and couldn’t be repaired. It needs emptying every day and goes down to about 60 from 80 which it starts at every morning (DH turns it off every night as doesn’t like the noise and it’s on the landing)

If you happen to live in Dorset, you can get one of these handy little room thermometer/hygrometers from your local Building Control office for free 🙂

Problem solving what’s causing damp in old buildings is quite a lot of my day job- happy to run through the checklist of usual suspects if it’ll help?

Following as similar issues.

Less so that the house is damp, but have the Arête Meaco dehumidifier that always get recommended and it takes days to dry washing.

Also wonder if house is too cold for it (17/18ish degrees usually)

I've got a cheap n cheerful Screwfix one and it's amazing. Put it in the hall overnight with washing on airer and it dries it overnight on the clothes setting. I think it was about £120

Thank you.

dh is going to borrow a ladder and check the gutter. I’m happy that the roof is ok as it was reroofed not that long ago and seems fine.

we do ventilate every day in the bedroom and bathroom. The other thing which might be an issue is the pointing on the external brickwork at the rear of the house. We have some visible discolouration on the painted external bedroom wall which I’m assuming is damp. It got better in the summer but getting darker again. The actual pointing looks ok. Maybe the bricks are old. A neighbour mentioned about painting the bricks outside with a clear waterproof sealant? Not sure if you know anything about that?

Yep that's why we bought a dessicant. Our old one struggled as our house doesn't get warm enough.

Not in a chilly house. Refrigerant dehumidifiers need to be in a warm space for maximum efficiency and will become less efficient the colder it gets. A dessicant Meaco Zambezi made a massive difference.

We have 2 Meaco ones and they are amazing - maybe there is an issue with yours?? Perhaps try contacting them?

None of that makes sense? I’m in a house that’s not insulated and 120 yrs old. I use one if I think the humidity is high (bought it 3 years ago on a bad summer but must have been humid tho not warm as found the start of light green mould on the back of kitchen chairs and bought one same day) Once on it ran a couple of days and full tanks, then fine. End of problem.
If your humidity is that high then I’d expect full tanks every few hours?

My flat isn't very warm, I don't ever have the heating on over 19c and my dehumidifier works really well. I put it on earlier with 2 loads of wet washing and humidity of 85% and it's pulled it down to 55% already

Meaco DD8L

I don’t have central heating and my dehumidifiers work OK at 12°C or so.

To anyone with a Meaco and saying they have no wheels do check inside the tank as we found a plastic bag in ours containing the wheels😱😂. We only realised when the bag started to go orange which was rust! We'd been using the machine for several months by then. How mad is that??!

I think I’ve found the issue. The hygrometer says the bedroom is 57%. So I think the reading on the dehumidifier is wrong. Which explains why it’s whirring away all the time but barely sucking up any moisture. Guess I can change the auto cutoff setting to a higher number and then it will cut off at a sensible level rather than running 24/7.