would a dehumidfier dry my washing

[babyjjbaby]

just a thought or is ir bad for enviromnet

yes.
and probably.

worth it or not then or would i be better off using tumble drier occasionly

Where would the energy come from?

We have a dehum for the washing. It works really, really well, and is a lot more energy efficient than using the tumble dryer, esp as you can just have it on for a bit

does it make much difference is it expensive to run how long do u need it on for sorry for all ??? got a chance of getting one on freecycle but don't want it if it is going to be no good

Cannot tell you how green it is - although you could check the Energy Eff Rating, but ours does speed up the drying a treat (and stops our very damp house getting worse, into the bargain). It also handily heats the air in the rooms up a few degrees so saves on heating in the winter

In my experience it certainly helps dry washing which is damp.

Must be greener than a tumble drier, surely?

It has no element to heat up..

Depends what sort of dehumidifier it is, as to how much energy it uses.

An industrial strength one would definately use more energy (and be farking noisy too)
An old one would most likely use more energy, but you really need to know what make and model so you can check the Energy Efficiency Rating (ok so i'm assuming dehums have one?) online or something.

Anyway you slice it, you have to factor that the specific heat capacity of water is 4200 J/kgK, and the specific latent heat of vaporisation is 2.26MJ/kg.

Nothing is free and easy.

oh right haven't a clue how old it is sounds old cos it has got brown plastic casing dunno weather to get it or not i'm fed up of waiting days for my washing to dry but it does dry eventually

squeaky what are you on about?

no, seriously I am interested, cos I live in Southern Portugal where it is damp and chilly in the winter but not so cold that you really need loads of CH. We use a dehumidifier and the house def feels drier, warmer and more comfortable.

The Science.

Ok i've quickly tried to find out if they have EERs and i couldn't find any. It sounds like a fairly old model, but having said that my mum has one with wooden casing on it, and it still does the biz. I am not and never have claimed to be particularly eco-friendly though!

They take much less electricty to than a tumble drier an is therefore a lot more economical to run. They have cooling agent, so it suck damp air in, cool it down so the water goes into a container, and air is let back out without humidity or any water content. My parents have one in the laundry room, it dries laundry quicly. Hang in the morning, dry by evening.

And no chemicals to make it smell better!

We found ours a complete waste of £100 odd, tumble dryer much better - actually dries the washing, not eco friendly but if the heating isnt on the washing does at least dry!

Yes, they definitely help it to dry quicker (best in a small room) and are cheaper than a tumble drier to run. You do have them on for longer than a tumble drier though.

What cooling agent sucks the damp air in?

Really, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are going ot do anything other than dry outside, you have to pay in some way for the cost of heating water and evaporating it.

Except, Squeaky, that you aren't heating the water up or evaporating it with a dehum - it collects in the bottom of the machine and you use it to water the garden/houseplants etc.

but Squeaky...are you saying that the dehumidifier actually heats the water before condensing it? Surely not.... it cools it doesn't it?

You are not heating water to evaporate. There is a fan that sucks the air in, this runs on electricty. the cooling agent converts humid air to water and dry air.
We cant dry outside where i live, we have 6-7 months of snow.

All you have is a fan. You need much less electricity to run a fan than to run a tumble drier. Most tumble drier has no higher energy rating than B.

yes, it's great for the iron or the plants.

hmm think i won't bother manged without one b4 so can carrying on as i am thanks for help

Umm, how dowes the water magically collect in teh bottom of the humidifier?