Russell Hobbs 20lt/ day Dehumidifier €149.99

BhoyRayzor

If using a dehumidifier to dry clothes I've found a clothes horse/airer cover helps improve drying time as you are effectively reducing the size of the area it is having to work. Got one in the range for €6.50, meant for a heater airer but fits regardless to allow the dehumidifier fit under with enough room at the back of it.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121441382#Comment_121441382

The manual on this claims resumption after power outage, so going to check later.

However, as an edit, these (as with other equipment), are designed to run on with fan after soft-stop, to cool down the heated components/dry off residual moisture.

It is not something I would recommend to do regularly as they have that design for a reason.

There is however timer and humidity setpoint functions. Just got to study a bit.

XsApollo

I Have the Meaco dd8l Zambezi.

About the smart plug, these are not supposed to be switched on and off like that, when you switch it off with the button it runs for a while after (not dehumidifying ) but to cool itself down, it’s in the manual I think It can damage itself after a while if just shutting it off like that.

there is a built in timer on them so you can set it switch on and off at certain times.

also it checks the humidity when it’s plugged in and will keep it where you set it. Turning it’s self on and off.

not sure what the benefit of a smart plug is?

djdunny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121442662#Comment_121442662

A SwitchBot might be a better option instead of a WiFi plug.

allinthehead

Currys have the 20l Meaco. I ordered on Monday and it arrived today.

cormie

Hey, I'm just looking at getting a Meaco Arete, and just wondering if the 10 & 12L models will dry clothes just as quick as the 20 & 25L models in a small dwelling and the bigger models are only advantageous for bigger houses?

The smaller ones have a lower power consumption and less noise according to here:

https://www.meaco-dehumidifiers.ie/compare-meaco-dehumidifiers/

So just trying to gauge what's best!

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121777156#Comment_121777156

The smaller ones won't dry quite as quick as the bigger ones but will still do the job. I'd say they'd be perfect in a smaller home. If you have a regular fan you can run it aimed at the clothes at the same time as the dehumidifier as the extra airflow really speeds up the drying process, and a fan uses very little power.

cormie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121777358#Comment_121777358

Thanks for the reply. So you reckon in the same small enclosed space, the bigger models would dry the clothes quicker as they are more powerful and there's no chance the bigger models are really only of benefit in larger areas?

The fan is a good idea too! The EcoAir DD1 desiccant dehumidifier has quite a strong airflow in laundry mode, but I'm interested in the Meaco because it has a air purifying feature too.

Redlim

The bigger ones definitely extract more moisture from the air. The litre figure in the name of each Meaco model is what each are capable of extracting in a day - so the 20l could extract twice as much as the 10l (in ideal conditions).

But those figures are huge amounts of water which you'll never achieve in the real world as that'd mean you'd be emptying the water tank constantly during the day since the water tanks can only hold a few litres!

I have the 20l version and find it excellent. Only recently started using the fan with it to dry clothes and it really boosts the drying time.

Desiccant versions are excellent also, they'll tend to dry quicker, especially in colder rooms since they also blow out warmer air. The downside is that they're more expensive to run. And you might not necessarily want the extra heat it gives off, especially in warmer weather.

XsApollo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121777156#Comment_121777156

The ones you are looking at are compressor, which don’t perform well in colder weather, so during winter here you would better off with a desiccant which performs a lot better, it also gives off heat so the room it’s in will be warm also.

they are quieter too.

cobham

You can get a dehumidifier with a tube to discharge directly to a sink/drain and avoid having to empty the tank.... good if leaving a property empty/unheated.

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121777156#Comment_121777156

Just regarding the power consumption, I think you'll find that a bigger more powerful dehumidifier will actually use a similar amount of energy to a smaller one to dry the same amount of clothes. The smaller one will need to run for longer.

cormie

Thanks for all the replies! I actually own 2 perfectly good dehumidifiers:

1 Compressor type: Dimplex 10L Dehumidifier | EverDri10E | DXD10IR

&

1 Desiccant type: EcoAir DD1 Classic

Both work fine, but I'm being swayed to upgrade to a Meaco Arete to reap the benefits of the built in HEPA air purifier.

I asked this question on the Amazon product page for it and got a very helpful reply. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't allow you to respond to these answers and I'm posting here in the hope of receiving similar wisdom!

The question:

"Will the 10 & 12L models dry clothes just as quick as the 20 & 25L models in a small dwelling or slower since they use less power?"

One of the answers:

"No the smaller models do not dry as quickly as the larger models. However the drying rate is dependent on a number of factors, which include, room temperature, room humidity, room volume, volume of clothes, wetness of clothes, clothing material. The 25l model dries an 8kg (when dry) load of cotton clothing (spun at 1400 rpm) in 24 hours. The clothing is perfectly dry and ready to put away (too dry for ironing). The 12l model takes about 30 hours to do the same."

So if this is accurate, and if the comparisons here are accurate:

https://www.meaco-dehumidifiers.ie/compare-meaco-dehumidifiers/

Although the larger models are taking 20% less time to get the clothes to the same dryness, they operate at 76% more wattage, so not only do they cost more up front, but they may end up costing considerably more to run and are also noisier, so I think if these are being used in the likes of a bedroom, the smaller model would make more sense.

I'm planning to sell the Dimplex compressor one to fund the upgrade as I also want to have a desiccant at hand for any colder temperature usage!

I posted the above elsewhere too and got one reply saying:

"Take a look at tumble dryers. They'll use about 2kWh to dry 8kg of laundry. 60c at current electricity prices. With the added bonus of not having to hang clothes or look at them drying."

and another:

"They don't dry clothes. They dry air. If the air is equally as dry the clothes will dry in the same amount of time. Most good dehumidifiers turn off when the reach a target humidity. As long as the dehumidifier is powerful enough to maintain the target humidity then it won't make a difference on drying time.

The larger dehumidifier will spend more of the time switched off so you have to factor that into your price calculations"

I think I rather the idea of a dehumidifier to keep the humidity in the house at a sweet spot, but interesting that maybe the 25L one may switch off more whereas the smaller ones may operate for much longer periods.

The other disadvantage about compressor ones, is that when the compressor kicks in or off, that there's a slightly jarring sound (when you're trying to sleep at least). I wonder does the Meaco have the same nag?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121784862#Comment_121784862

If drying clothes is the main objective, and you can afford it, go for a Heat Pump dryer. They are extremely efficient and will do a better job than a standalone dehumidifier.

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121785153#Comment_121785153

We use the Meaco 20 litre. It dries a full load in about 6 hours using circa 1.2 kwh. Do you have a kwh figure for a full load in a heat pump dryer?

cormie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121785290#Comment_121785290

6 hours for a full load? That sounds very fast? The answer I got on Amazon said a full load would dry in 24 hours with the 25L model, so 6 with the 20 doesn't sound right? Also going by my own experience with drying clothes with a dehumidifier in Ireland. I like the features of the Meaco, but I think the basic technology of drying wouldn't differ THAT much?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121785290#Comment_121785290

Uses 600W while running and takes about 2 hours to dry a full load. Has a moisture sensor and turns off by itself once complete. I have the condensate pipe hooked up to the drain too so no need to mess around with emptying the collector.

Except from manual below.

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121785597#Comment_121785597

I have the clothes in a small utility room above the dehumidifier. The fan is blowing straight on to the clothes and there's also waste heat from the dehumidifier. There's a laundry setting that runs for 6 hours. That's all we use. It then gets wheeled out to the hall where it keeps running for another few hours. We haven't had the heating on at all today as a result.

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121785975#Comment_121785975

Thanks for that. That's incredible efficiency, I wish I had the space for one.

cormie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786045#Comment_121786045

Oh sounds good, is that an additional fan you use, or the fan built into the Meaco Arete 20L? It is the arete you have, right? And not a desiccant Meaco?

allinthehead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786289#Comment_121786289

Ya, the Arete. No additional fan, the dehumidifier blows out warm air from the top. Clothes dry quickly as a result if they're above the unit.

green123

Any bargains or recommendations on a dessicant and air purifier combined?

Doesn't seem to be many of that combination around?

cormie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121788951#Comment_121788951

I was hoping to find the same from Meaco since they were a recommended brand, but it doesn't appear they have any, at least not from this list:

https://www.meaco-dehumidifiers.ie/compare-meaco-dehumidifiers/

User567363

I have the russel hobs 440watt 20l model

Its on a energy monitoring plug and set to come on above 65% humidity, and its on the landing with 2 clothes horses and 2 retractable washing lines

Uses 230watts when running, so 440w might be a peak when the pump kicks in

It uses 1 unit of electricty for about 4 loads of washing,