Using a dehumidifier to dry out damp walls - tips?

[nomdemere]

The source of the damp was inadequate flashings on 3 chimney breasts. This has (hopefully) now been fixed, but the chimney breasts are all very damp (40% moisture content according to the moisture meter we bought from Amazon - not sure exactly what that means, but apparently over 20% is bad).

Now running a dehumidifier in one of the rooms, planning to do that for a week, then switch to the second, and then the third. Does anyone know if this is sensible?

I had a big flood in my last house. The entire ground floor had to be taken back to brick. When drying out, the insurance company hired dehumidifiers AND massive fans. Apparently the trick is to drag the moisture out of the air, but also to keep the air moving. The electricity bill was colossal (they paid).

I've never tried a dehumidifier, but I do a lot of painting where it's a pretty small area and I want it to dry as fast as possible. Consequently, I often use a fan to blow air around the room. This greatly accelerates drying. The bigger the fan and the more air it moves around and the more quickly it moves the air the better.

Get a dessicant dehumidifier. They're about £100 but cheaper on eBay etc. We use one through winter and the house feels warmer as a result. The dessicant type dehumidifiers seem to be much more effective than the cheap ones.

We don't have damp issues but we do get a fair bit of humidity. One dehumidifier is enough to dry out a surprising amount of space and can easily be moved around as you describe.