Dehumidifier - will it ever reduce to optimum %???

[GoinSouth]

We have a 1900s Victorian terrace. It had damp problems to downstairs rooms which we've fixed, hopefully. We're now in the middle of renovating downstairs rooms, laying new floors etc. etc.

I bought two hygrometers and they were usually reading 70%.. less so in the summer, but we knew we had a high humidity problem. Last week we bought a Meaco Arete 20L dehumidifer, big enough for the whole house. When we turned it on humidity level said 83% and we've been running it for the last 3 days 24/7 (I'm trying not to think about the cost!) and so far it's reduced down to 68%. Customer services says it's collecting a backlog of humidity and will eventually reach its target of 55% and to have faith - that it can take days or weeks to reach target. But, will it?? Anyone else been in the same situation? DH says he's going to turn it off if it doesn't reduce any lower but I'm keen to stick with it a bit longer.

We don't have windows open when it's on (apart from bedroom but door is closed), never dry washing indoors, but unfortunately because we don't have a door yet on the kitchen or extractor fan until we get new kitchen fitted, of course any steam created by cooking, even boiling the kettle, increases the humidity. In the summer I have all the windows open and if I could take the roof off I would so it gets plenty of ventilation. I can see some difference the dehumidifier is making but can I be assured it will eventually reach 55%?

It takes weeks to dry a house out. If you think about it, all the plaster and woodwork in your house has been drinking up the moisture in the air, and as you take water out of the air then they will give up their moisture slowly.
Years ago we had a damp victorian terrace, and I think it took a month to get it dried out and then we needed to run a couple of hours a day to keep the ambient moisture down in the winter. Keep the faith!

Did you have it running 24/7? Each morning I come down hoping it's made signicant improvement but although it might reach 68, it can suddenly jump back up to 77 when I've boiled some eggs, even with the lid on. It's been very bad weather today which, despite having windows closed, probably doesn't help. I expect moisture comes down the chimney as well. But will persevere.

I’m in a similar position - house very damp (around 78% pre-dehumidifier) One week on and I’m getting loads of water out (emptying 5l tank twice a day) leaving it running all day and night (whilst worrying about the cost - even at “low energy” running it 24/7 adds up!) and humidity is still around 60%! Wondering if the house will ever dry out and it will switch on and off like it’s supposed to!

That’s without hanging too much washing around the house as I’m trying not to dry washing indoors whilst I get humidity levels sorted!

Ours has been installed for 3.5 weeks and is finally starting to switch off for reasonable periods. We set it for 60% though as we were worrying about the electricity bill.

How do you dry washing in this weather without it being inside? We have problems with condensation but the tumble dryer makes it worse (plus is £££ these days!!) clothes horse also creates moisture. Would be grateful to hear of any tips !

My Meaco started at 91% two weeks ago, it ran night and day for over a week and is now getting down to 54% for periods (particularly overnight). I have a much older house that has old, single glazed windows that are draughty.

I switched ours on a week or so ago and the humidity % was in the high 80s, it's been run quite a lot since then (some days 24/7 but then it might go a day switched off if the tank's full and we haven't noticed). It gets down to mid to high 60s but does creep back up if it's been off for a day. It's been so damp outside this last week though, I'm not surprised it's still high inside.

my Meaco has been struggling too during this wet weather - couldn't get it lower than 75 but last two days its been dry weather and its managed to get down to 60% - but it fills up quickly overnight it stops, the tank is only 2 litres, as PP's say you just have to keep it running OP it will get there

I know what you mean , but that is such a good indicator of how efficient/sensitive the humidity sensor is, remarkable really.

You talk about chimneys, do you have a working fire? A fire does an amazing job of drying out the air. We constantly have a load of washing drying indoors downstairs but have no trouble with mould or condensation despite not running a dehumidifier - because our wood burning stove dries out the air and really pulls an air flow through.

We use a dehumidifier upstairs but are also finding it's a lot of effort for not much improvement with the current weather.

We have a multi-fuel burner in the lounge and a capped open fire in the dining room - we only bought the house in August, previous owner has not used either fires for about a year or more and I haven't had them swept yet as it's not a priority whilst we're working on getting upstairs redecorated. (Nothing to do with the fact that can't get a sweep (multi-fuel burner) for love or money this time of year, and with energy crisis, everyone's wanting their fires lit!). We will try to get the fires sorted out in the spring so that we're ready with them for next winter.

Despite having all windows closed against some really miserable weather where we are, oop north, where's the damp coming from (aside from cooking steam)? My brain's a bit damp these days too so apols for a seemingly obvious question!