Dehumidifiers - any experts? I need technical advice please

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I am really confused about dehumidifiers. I have spent £500 three dehumidifiers over the last few years and I keep getting technical problems - is there anyone out there who knows the ins and outs of them - I cannot keep buying them at £130 a time

 

 

I have tried phoning customer service at Dimplex but gave up having been on hold for 35 minutes 

 

I would prefer to speak to someone if that is at all possible - my number is 07799728863.

 

The issues are quite complex and it would be far easier to talk them through.

 

Thanks

[tomparryharry]

I'm not a great lover of dehumidifiers.  The machine, as such, creates a partial vacuum within the house, to capture the moisture.  So far, so good.  But, creating a vacuum brings its own problems, as moisture gets pulled in an effort to equalise  the vacuum.  Rather than 'pull it in', I'd be trying to 'push it out'. 

 

My fathers house was always damp; always with a dehumidifier running.  I found a loose lead flashing, and offered to redo it, but he wouldn't have it.  To compound the problem, they had oil-fired central heating, not my favourite heating medium.

[30801]

33 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

I'm not a great lover of dehumidifiers.  The machine, as such, creates a partial vacuum within the house, to capture the moisture. 

 

Um, not it doesn't.

Cold bit. Hot bit. Fan blowing air over the two. Water drips off the cold bit job done.

Have a 1990's Ebac one that still works although it sounds like a class 37.

[Neil]

I've had three e-bac dehumidifiers, two of which were left on (they have sensors which switch them on and off as necessary) as they were in the two cottages we used to let out for holidays. We had them for about eight years and as far as I know are still in use as they were included when we sold the business. They were about £300 but worth the cost.

[Hibelroad]

I have used a Meaco unit (From John Lewis) in my modelling shed, had it several years and it does a great job. Before I had it I suffered from rusty axles and sagging card models, now all is crisp and dry. 

[Stuart Birks]

Basically two types. The most common are compressor types which dont work well in cold rooms. As 30801 above says it has a cold bit which needs to be quite a bit colder than the room to get the water to condense on a plate. If the room is already cold it just freezes up and doesn't work.

The other type is desiccant which is a bit like the silica gel bags you get with some stuff. This absorbs the water on one part of the cycle and releases it on the next part. It still has a cold plate to condense the water but it is only as cold as the room so it works at any temperature.

Desicant types tend to be quieter but that is not an absolute case.

Stu

[tomparryharry]

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

 

Um, not it doesn't.

Cold bit. Hot bit. Fan blowing air over the two. Water drips off the cold bit job done.

Have a 1990's Ebac one that still works although it sounds like a class 37.

 Pardon?  I'd certainly agree with you about  temperature differential; you're quite right.  With a  dehumidifier working  on constant, you'll be emptying the container, or allowing the condensate to drain off.  That condensate (water vapour ) has to come from somewhere, so I would certainly be tackling that first.  

Edited March 11, 2021 by tomparryharry
Text clean-up.

[woodenhead]

39 minutes ago, Hibelroad said:

Before I had it I suffered from rusty axles and sagging card models, now all is crisp and dry. 

If my axle was rusty I'd be straight down to the doctors, sagging comes with age though.

 

Had a dehumidifier for years at my parent's home to tackle mould in the out house, single skin brick, no cavity and open to the rest of the house, there used to be an eary fog in there at winter.  Once the outhouse was rebuilt with a cavity and made part of the kitchen it resolved the issue and no longer needed the de-humidifier.

 

As said, find the source of the damp and resolve that rather than fight a losing battle with dehumidifiers.

Edited March 11, 2021 by woodenhead

[Hibelroad]

To be fair we don’t know what the OPs problem is, early failure of the units or something more complicated. A dehumidifier will not cure a problem of water ingress or serious damp but will dry the air in an infrequently used building, as in Neil’s case above. In my case the “modelling shed” is an extension on the back of the garage of brick and block construction with insulated cavity. It doesn’t suffer from damp as such but isn’t used as much as it should be, so the dehumidifier keeps the damp air at bay when I am not in there with the heater on. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Hibelroad
Spelling!

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, Stuart Birks said:

Basically two types. The most common are compressor types which dont work well in cold rooms. As 30801 above says it has a cold bit which needs to be quite a bit colder than the room to get the water to condense on a plate. If the room is already cold it just freezes up and doesn't work.

 

That might be why mine just gives an error whenever I try to start it up in my cellar, although it used to work down there.

[Nick C]

2 hours ago, Hibelroad said:

I have used a Meaco unit (From John Lewis) in my modelling shed, had it several years and it does a great job. Before I had it I suffered from rusty axles and sagging card models, now all is crisp and dry. 

We've just bought a Meaco one, which I've been running in the shed to try and dry it out after fixing the leaks I've discussed in my thread - it seems to work pretty well. Also used it indoors on some of those really cold damp winter days when the moisture from the shower doesn't clear easily.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Nick C

[Butler Henderson]

I have  a desiccant dehumidifier keeping a metal shed dry which seems to work fine, has a hose connection so that it can be drained externallly although if the hose gets disconnected or freezes up then if fills its built in tank and stops working when that is full - Eocair DD1 Simple.

[didcot]

I used to have one in a metal shed. I'd put polystyrene tiles on the underside of the roof and insulated the walls and boarded them. I still had to run it 24/7 during the winter months. It would freeze and the defrost on the floor.

We had similar issues in the house. A 1930s solid brick construction with no cavity or damp droof membrane in the wall. The boys would have mould under their mattresses, mildew on the walls and windows. Curtains permanently wet. It had an air brick. It was reroofed, new sofits, gutters etc. So no damp from outside. Youngest suffers from asthma and it made it worse.

I mentioned it to a work colleague. He had a similar issue. You want a Lofty he said. A quick Google turned up positive ventilation systems. It basically a fan in the loft that pumps air through a ceiling fitting into the stair well. They come with filters and a preheat element for cold weather. It basically pushes the air around the house, out through the cracks, fireplaces and trickle vents. You need to keep the doors open or cracked during the night, but it reduced the damp by about 80 to 90%. Its changes the air in the house several times over during an hour. The filter helps out with pollen as well.

We have since moved to a bungalow and I fitted one in the hall. A friend had similar issues and on my recommendation fitted one and its reduced his problem. 

Try looking at Nuiaire Drymaster Heat. Last time I looked they were about £400.

[Bert Cheese]

As above the Nuaire Drimaster PIV systems are pretty good but do require installation in a loft space or similar.

I've had 3 Ebac compressor dehumidifiers over the years since having double glazing installed when I first moved in...ironically the draughty old single glazing was better for ventilation and I suffered slight dampness in winter once the place was all sealed up.

The current Ebac is around 5 years old now and has started running fully frosted, the temperature sensor had popped out of its pocket on the coil but its still not running correctly even after fixing this...I'm currently thinking of buying some sort of dessicant model for next winter but have some reservations.

 

Having said all that we still don't know what the OP's problem is do we?