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?

Another dehumidifier convert here. We use it in a small room and can get 3 loads dry over the course of the weekend. Plus we hang everything properly so no ironing needed. And it does keep that room toasty warm.

🤢

Agree with others. Dehumidifiers like the Meaco are a different beast to the £40 ones. And worth the investment.

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.

Dessicant dehumidifiers sent out warm dry air and warm the room as a result.

Compressor dehumidifiers have a tiny effect on room temperature in comparison.

Having had both, I didn't need to turn on the heating in the room where the dessicant dehumidifer was used.

I’ve used a dehumidifier for years. Not particularly to save on my tumble drier but to stop the moisture going into my walls. The amount of water it collects is immense. Where would that go otherwise?

If you can, do an extra spin on your washing machine before hanging the washing up. It makes a huge difference to drying times.

Also if you have any outside space put the washing out for as long as it stays dry. That helps too.

We don't have a tumble drier. I fast spin everything in the washing machine then pop on a nornal airer with a 18l dehumidifer. Dries in about 8 hours with house about 19'c ish.

It's 320 watts so I guess about 12p an hour at current prices. We live in a 1930s house but it's never condensationy.

I have the appliances direct electriQ 20 litre low energy model and it's been a great investment.

Back in the summer I thought ahead about drying washing in the winter as we used my old hotpoint tumble dryer always (family of 5) and knew it would cost a fortune to run.
It was a toss up between a heat pump tumble and a Lakeland deluxe with cover. I went with the airer and thought it was ok at best but it did work out to be just as expensive as a tumble to run.

We only bought the dehumidifier as we had a damp patch from a kitchen leak but once I tried the laundry function I haven't looked back.

This. So many damp and mould threads just illustrate how little common sense lots of people have!

So she sleeps in three months worth of sweat and dust and skin cells and bodily fluids? Lovely!

Mine’s much faster than that; no heated clothes horse here either. How soggy is your washing when you’re hanging it up? No idea of the make of mine and cba to go upstairs but had it for years and it’s brilliant.

Running our dehumidifier is as expensive as our heat pump tumble drier but we didn't make the switch to save money. The dehumidifier has massively reduced the humidity overall in our house so it feels warmer and we're not getting mould damp problems. Putting the clothes on an airer next to it is just a bonus really as they dry really quick.

And we had high humidity in the house without drying clothes in there. So even if we put all washing through the tumble we'd still need the dehumidifier on as well.

@Ciri, how can using a dehumidifier be filling your house with moisture?

We live in an old house with no central heating. With the log burner on and the doors open we run a Meaco in the back room at the he bottom of the stairs. It really makes a difference. You cannot heat damp air so once the moisture has been taken out of the air the room will feel warmer. I put my dehumidifer in the lounge over night and the warmth from the log burner and the damp air being extracted from the clothes makes for a toasty warm room in the morning for a few hours.

Dehumidifers are great if you have to dry laundry indoors over old-fashioned concertina airers - it speeds up drying and helps prevent damp. Put the airer in the warmest room, near the heat source, with the dehumidifier nearby. So probably not the box room! Usually it's the only warm room cosy room you like to hang out in, but needs must.

Huh?

This thread is so black and white about whether they are brilliant or useless. There are a huge number of variables that affect whether this is a good option for you.

For us it's brilliant as we have an immersion water heater in an airing cupboard. I've put a very low watt (40W) cheap small dehumidifier in there and a rack. It can dry a full load, carefully hung in 12-24h. Costs pennies. But that's cos it's using the wasted heat from the tank that's there anyway to evaporate the water and the dehumidifier catches it.

It depends what your problem is and what your goal is.
Will dehumidifier fix damp issues of the house? No.
But it will quickly remove moisture from the air generated by cooking, laundry, bathroom etc. And this mean you can keep your windows closed all winter, so you save on heating this way.
For drying laundry you need a laundry setting on your dehumidifier, otherwise it won't work. Also obviously using a tumble dryer is quicker.

You need a Desiccant type one (as said before) then it does more than just extract moisture, it heats the air to about 13'C

the refrigerator ones become less and less good as the temperature drops, Desiccant works the same regardless.

Not sure having one on for 10 or 12 hours is better than a condensing or pump tumble drier though.

I ordered my Meaco a while ago. Seems to be in demand as the date of arrival keeps changing.

I haven't brought it for the laundry - mainly to reduce moisture in the air - which is a good thing.

But yes - running costs per hour need to be balanced against the time of running.

I will be interested to see the effect on heating with less moisture in the air.

I don’t (won’t) use a tumble drier for several reasons. Two clothes horses of washing dried yesterday with the dehumidifier on between them. All dry apart from a couple of heavy sweatshirts which I’ll leave out today with todays fresh load. (I don’t have the dehumidifier on overnight). Thermostat during the day is set at 15 degrees so the heating didn’t come on, obviously it dries quicker if you heat higher….

The main variable is whether you get a premium or budget one

This is exactly right. It depends on the type of dehumidifier you have

"My mum washes them about once every 3 months and has done her whole life. Guess what? Nothing happens."

What happens is that the sheets will smell. Yes, she will get used to the smell and not notice it after a couple of months, but they will smell. Also, there will be loads of dust mites, which is mainly a problem for those who are allergic.
I agree that there is no need to wash them every week, but every 2 or 3 weeks would be advisable, not 3 months.