Dehumidifier in Cellar

[muzEqy]

Is it pointless using a compressor type dehumidifier in a cellar? I've heard mixed opinions that is will help or that the amount of water it will condense will be minimal and it will spend most of the time either iced up or defrosting.

My cellar has no windows and i would ideally like to use it as a home gym/workout space, is it likely to be unsafe exercising down there if its damp and humid. Is there anything not too costly i can do to improve ventilation

We have one in our Victorian cellar. The cellar has no windows, just an air vent. It works perfectly. The cellar is dry and we have noticed no effect on our electricity bill.

I know a guy who runs a second hand bookshop who uses one in his cellar stockroom. Keeps all his books perfectly dry and saleable.

Is it a standard compressor one like you'd have in the house or a cellar specific one?

The issue is you want the dehumidifier to be as efficient as possible. Otherwise you are just running electric and wasting it at no benefit and lots of cost.

It really depends on how cold your cellar is/time of year.

There are graphs on the web where you can see the crossover between dessicant and compressor. I think it is about 15C, but as you get down to say 5C or so the dessicant becomes much more efficient.

I think it really depends what you are trying to do. If the cellar is damp you might want to start off by hiring an industrial dessciant one to de humidify it, then try with a domestic dessicant one running constantly to maintain it at that level. You can get ones for example that only run when the humidity rises above 70%.

But I guess all in all it really depends on how damp your cellar really is now, and whether or not there is a source of penetrating humidity as to whether you are successful without needing further work for damp proofing.

My guess is for most people it is worth spending a couple of hundred quid to find out whether the extra space can be utilised.

Standard type. Not cellar specific.