Dehumidifier hack is useless?

[PlinkPlonkFizz]

There have been lots of money saving tips being discussed. One that sounded good was using a dehumidifier to dry clothes rather than the tumbler.

I tried it out yesterday using the box room. The clothes were on a clothes horse, dehumidifier pointing at th and the door kept shut all day.

8 hours later I checked them....not dry but damp. Too damp to iron.

So the 350kw dehumidifier running for 10 hours (guessing it would need another 2 hours to dry them) surely amounts to roughly the same cost as 1 hour in the tumble dryer?

Yes too do wonder how running all these extras to dry washing-having heating on, heated airers , de humidifiers having to run constantly in order to dry washing and stop the house becoming damp as a result of said washing works out significantly cheaper enough.

It’s a stupid tip. It can help in addition to a tumble dryer but instead of is just filling your house with extra moisture which is stupid when it’s cold

I've only heard of this tip working in conjunction with one of the heated airers

I thought it was just a health thing for people who are drying clothes inside and opening the windows less!

I do it and it works amazingly. 3 loads in the box room on airers but I leave for 24 hours.

My dehumidifier is 180w and has a laundry setting, costs about £1.50.

I sold my Lakeland heated airer as it works so well.

I disagree.

The dehumidifier kills two birds - gest rid of condensation and dries the washing. And remember that not all condensation is from wet washing. Cooking and general human activity with windows clothes for months on end generate a lot of it.

However, timing is important -

I always put mine on in the evening when the heating comes on. The washing is hung on a clothes rail between a radiator and the dihumidifier (small items on radiator racks). 4 hours is enough. I leave the washing out overnight for the extra hour or two of heating in the morning - all fully dried after that.

It also makes the rooms feel less damp in winter.

We don't have a drier for environmental reasons. Only use the dehumidifier 3-4 months each year.

I don't think that was suggested to dry clothes just to extract some moisture from the air whilst they dry. Surely?!

I think this every time I read about dehumidifiers to save money and have just posted about the cost of ours - £1.70 a day. We don’t use a tumble drier much but ours costs less than that to run.

What one is this please

My heat pump tumble dryer would cost about 77p a load using the current average cost per unit of electricity
We run it on a much cheaper rate (fixed overnight tariff) so in practice it's a lot less than that.
I think the maths confuses a lot of people so they just assume it's going to be too expensive to use a tumble dryer because headlines say they are expensive to run when actually it very much depends on a few factors which you need to work out. So for some it's a good idea for others not so much.

Does your dehumidifier have a laundry mode? Mine's very efficient and in combination with the heated airer will dry within a reasonable time scale.

My dehumifier does dry laundry well. It also helps prevent damp as I don't turn the heating on. I haven't noticed it making a massive difference to my bills - I have a smart metre.

Mine is amazing!!

did you go cheap and cheerful?

I went for a Meaco and I’d sell my soul to get another one!

Mine has a laundry mode.

two full loads bone dry by end of day yesterday PLUS bedroom really warm and cosy as a result!

You need to use the laundry mode. It’s very effective.

Ours is a Meaco Zambezi. Which award winner and everything.

Another Meaco here, absolutely love it. It’ll dry 4 loads a day on laundry mode with very little impact on the electric bill. We don’t have a tumble dryer.

I really don’t understand the hype on here. I saw one thread where someone was saying it not only removed all moisture and condensation but heated the house too

there is a thread where someone is living with ice inside the windows and people are posting how a dehumidifier will solve the issue. It won’t. No more than a towel and ice scraper would, The house will still be freezing cold. Just with less moisture in the air

people are encouraging those struggling to spend hundreds of pounds fhey don’t have on something they know full well if they have one will not solve rhe problem.

dehumififiers reduce the moisture in the air. They do not dry your clothes, heat your home or sing lullaby’s to you. I have a 20l one. It’s good. They are a good invention and do their job well but this mad shit with people competing to out do each other on the virtues of them is having a lot of folks spending money they don’t have when the fundamental issue is these people aren’t heating their home.

You don’t understand the hype because im guessing you haven’t tried a kick ass Meaco

Mine dried two large loads yesterday AND made the room really warm

No it didn’t. It’s not a heater. Even the manufacturers would tell you that’s a load of shite. I have one, it does not act as a heater.

It did. It did. Damp room. Sucked out the moisture (i emptied full container 3x!)

as I say…. You’ve not tried a Meaco clearly!

I have a superb Miele tumble dryer. Not used it since Meaco delivered

I have a Meaco Zambezi too. If I left it to run for the full 6 hour laundry cycle my clothes would be crispy. They are not cheap though.

It doesn’t warm the room in the sense of puffing out warm air.

it warms the room by sucking out the cold moisture

A better way to save on washing is to wash things much less frequently. For years, people have insisted on washing bedsheets once a week. My mum washes them about once every 3 months and has done her whole life. Guess what? Nothing happens.

No it didn’t. It’s not a heater. Even the manufacturers would tell you that’s a load of shite. I have one, it does not act as a heater.

No a dehumidifier is not a heater but a desiccant dehumidifier will expel air at several degrees warmer than it draws it in. A compressor dehumidifier does not.