what is the point of a dehumidifyer

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

does it warm the house?
or just take the damp out of the air when you are drying clothes?

do you have one

I think they warm the place indirectly, as drier air is warmer.

I don't have one but I know that they take the moisture out of the air and ifthat happens to be because you have wet washing hanging up it will effectively dry it

Helps to dry washing and if you get condensation on your windows
It stops the damp feel!

How much do they cost to run?

I got one because my house is rented and gets mould in the bathroom and one bedroom so it helps

The primary purpose is to take moisure out of the air. But some work by heating the air moving through it so also adds the excess working heat into the house.

I use one that my partners mum got him but which he didn't use.
It is in the conservatory and runs for 2 hrs in the early hours and gets rid of all the condensation on the roof & windows.
On from around Oct/Nov to Mar..
It always had condensation but got worse when partner started staying due to his large dog sleeping in there.

It takes moisture out of the air and therefore the air will feel warmer. Damp air will always be more difficult to heat. Dehumidifiers are cheaper to run than tumble driers(mine is 200 watts) and make the home healthier. You should never dry clothes indoors without one. The water that comes out of a tumble drier is the same amount that is in air of clothes drying indoors and can lead to mould and mildew.

Wetter air takes more energy to heat (as well as causing mould and condensation) so by making the air drier it takes less energy to reach the same room temperature.

Through the latent heat of condensation, they warm the air using less electricity than an electric heater (greater than 100% efficient).

We have one, it’s fantastic. We place it next to two drying racks and it will dry the clothes within 24 hours, although often they’re dry after 12 hours or so. It also stops all the condensation and dampness around the rest of the house and also chucks out a bit of heat at the same time! We empty the tank on ours twice a day, I dread to think of what our house would be like if all that moisture was going on everything!

If you put the heating on and have lots of moisture in the house, it makes your heating less efficient - it's easier to heat dry air. Since I bought a dehumidifier I have much less mould and condensation. Before I bought it, the walls would sometimes get wet as well as the windows and I used to have to wipe them down every day.
I also stick one in the cupboard with the wet laundry hung up and it dries it. It's not as fast as a tumble dryer obviously, but I wouldn't be using a dryer for everything even if I had one, so for drying the house it's a necessity imo.
My only regret is that I didn't get a big powerful one years ago.

My dehumidifier is one of my favourite purchases. Clothes dry within 12-24hrs, and I haven’t had to put the heating on yet.

How long do you have them on for? Is it all day? Do they make much noise? Are they cheap to run?

I think that’s quotes like this that lead people to disappointment, that it can simaltaenously dry your clothes, remove condensation, clear all moisture from the house and then heats it. Even a huge industrial one wouldn’t do that. It’s ludicrous to suggest it.

@Greysanatomyfan but it does do everything I’ve stated it does? Although I didn’t say it heated the house, you said that. I said “it chucks out a bit of heat”, which it does. Not enough to heat the house, but it adds a bit of extra warmth to the area of the house it’s in, which most people wouldn’t complain about at the moment.

@Miss03852 we have ours running all day from October - March/April usually. Might be off for a few hours if the tank has filled and I haven’t noticed it needs emptying. I don’t know the exact running costs but husband says it’s less than when we used to have the tumble dryer going all the time.

Clothes dry within 12-24hrs, and I haven’t had to put the heating on yet.

I could say the same. I don’t use a dehumidifier, although I do have one.

I have a 16l Blyss one. It’s used in a very small utility (downstairs cloakroom size!) to dry clothes. I used to use it in the dining room for drying but it took much longer in the larger room. In the utility clothes can be dry in a couple of hours

we also use it in the bathrooms at times such as when there’s been several showers in succession and it’s really steamy and the ceiling fan can run for hours otherwise. The dehumidifier makes short work of it so the walls aren’t sitting wet and the mirror and window demists.

if you are unsure about getting one get a humidity reader £6 ish from Amazon/eBay and see what moisture levels your house operates at. We live in a very old house and parts of it were at unhealthy levels previously which was from drying washing indoors.

we have a smart metre and it costs very little to run in comparison to tumble drier or using the central heating.

I think it very much depends on where you live. I've stayed in places where I've hung up washing and it hasn't dried for days!

A dessicant dehumidifier chucks out warmer air but is more expensive to run than a condensor dehumidifer which chucks out cooler air than the room temp.

I also use mine for clothes drying rather than the tumble dryer. The ones with that capability (or just reduce the target humidity to 35deg C if it doesn't) are very efficient - in my experience - at clothes drying.

I got it originally as I was getting condensation on the inside of my windows in the early hours. It's been fantastic for that although I only have a one-bedroomed flat so not on two or more floors.

We use it in an old house to reduce condensation and take moisture out of the air. If we forget to empty it (so it turns off) the difference is very noticeable.

I don’t think they make any difference to the speed of drying washing. Having read about it on here, I experimented the other day by moving one into our utility room for 24 hours where I have washing hanging on a drying rack. It didn’t dry any quicker than it normally would.

It works better in a small room if you are drying clothes. We have a walk rack in our utility room and I shove a dehumidifier in there when the clothes are wet. Even just running it for 2 hours makes a huge difference.

We got ours at the end of October and I love it. We use it to dry the washing but also to just remove all the moisture in the air. It's incredible the amount of water you pour away each day. We didn't have an obvious damp problem but the air in the house is much less humid than it was and the house just feels better.

We have ours on during the day, it's a Meaco one and is very energy efficient (about 8p an hour) but despite being labelled as quiet it isn't. I'm downstairs and I can hear it and it's currently upstairs in our hall. Having said that, the noise isn't annoying, it's just background noise.

I agree it also heats up the room it's in. If we put it in the spare room to dry the washing with the door closed, the temperature in the room increases by about 1 degree. Not much but it all helps 🙂

I've had this one since 2015 www.meaco.com/products/meaco-dd8l-dehumidifier and I think it's great. Small enough to put up in the loft when not needed. I have a tumble dryer but not everything can be tumbled.

If I could only choose one item it would be the dehumidifier. It certainly does warm the house by taking out any moisture.