ALDI dehumdifier

air

If you already have airvents then you're probably getting all the 'fresh air' you need.
They're typically oversized in traditional homes and when you add in the fact that your doors, windows and other building elements are probably very leaky you probably have plenty of ventilation.
You should look at installing an extractor fan in the under utilised bathroom instead.

I'm going to buy a Trotec TTK25E dehumidifier myself for clothes drying, €99 delivered direct from Trotec in Germany.
Only 12L/24h capacity (at 30C & 80% humidity as pointed out by editorsean) but low wattage and plenty of capacity for what I need.

The_Conductor

air wrote: »

You'll be better off closing the window and leaving the dehumidifier on.
If the house is undergoing a high rate of air changes then the dehumidifier won't be able to do a whole lot.
Best to locate it nearest the source of moisture - nearby the kitchen or bathrooms for example.

I'd second this- and from trial and error, I've found the kitchen, leaving the door open so the dehumidifier has access to the hallways/landings- to be the optimal location (for me anyway).

DubInTheWest

Hey guys, just noticed this thread now and a lot of you seem pretty knowledgeable when it comes to dehumidifiers most likely down to experience. I'm having some issues with mold/mildew smell in my house. I created a thread about it last night >>> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057662611

Can any of you recommend me a dehumidifier that might help me out ? Amazon would be easiest for me to order but definitely not limited too it.

Thanks guys

cobham

Yes mould is another whole issue and one of my asthma triggers hence my interest in dehumidifier. I have dug out my Dimplex machine and notice lot of dust build up on filter so bit of work done on it.... I have put in position now and will turn on tomorrow. I treat it as a fridge as gas in it needs to 'settle' for 24 hrs ... notice to same inside machine.

Lot of measures for mould control and dehumidifier part of answer.

cormie

Thanks for the reply

air wrote: »

Well a regular vented dehumidifier loses heat out of the building at a high rate.
With a dehumidifier the heat is effectively recycled again and again which greatly improves efficiency.

Sorry, is the above what you meant to say? Did you mean a vented tumble dryer loses heat out of the building at a high rate, or are there vented dehumidifiers too? And are these less efficient than a non vented one?

air wrote: »

Finally a dehumidifier is a much lower electrical load so far easier to supply with PV for example if available.

What's PV?

The_Conductor

cormie wrote: »

What's PV?

Photovoltaic- i.e. you run the dehumidifier off solar power.........
Problem with that is the inverter you'd need to run it would be ginormous- aka- it is do-able, even in Ireland- however, the setup costs would be so staggering as to undo any benefit having it run on ambient sunlight might bring........ I.e. its a great way to save the planet- but by god, it costs.........

editorsean

air wrote: »

I'm going to buy a Trotec TTK25E dehumidifier myself for clothes drying, €99 delivered direct from Trotec in Germany.
Only 12L/24h capacity (at 30C & 80% humidity as pointed out by editorsean) but low wattage and plenty of capacity for what I need.

I suggest getting this through their eBay listing as they charge something like €20 delivery on their website, whereas their eBay listings have free delivery.

When I bought the Trotec 75S model a few years ago, it failed after about 2 months of use, which I was not surprised about given how badly UPS handled the package (package badly battered and torn.) When I contacted Trotec, they sent out a collection to pick up the faulty unit and sent out a replacement, covering both shipping costs. Although I'm not sure whether they still do free pick-up for faulty products, it was the main reason I stuck with them for the desiccant model for my workplace.

cormie wrote: »

Sorry, is the above what you meant to say? Did you mean a vented tumble dryer loses heat out of the building at a high rate, or are there vented dehumidifiers too? And are these less efficient than a non vented one?

I assume that was meant to be a vented tumble dryer. When they operate, they vent the warm damp air to the outside. Whenever air is exhausted outside, fresh air gets pulled in to replace what was vented out, which will force cold air into the house when operated on a cold day, similar to operating an extractor fan.

There are vented dehumidifiers also, but there is little risk of buying one by mistake. They are generally the industrial equivalent desiccant dehumidifiers as they generate a lot more heat than the small domestic desiccant dehumidifiers. To regenerate the desiccant wheel, hot air is forced through a portion of the wheel to evaporate its collected moisture and this warm moist air is vented through a hose to outside.

cormie

Great, thanks again for the info, so it sounds like a dehumidifier is the best solution to dry clothes in Ireland, providing you can wait 24ish hours for them to dry? I assume a dryer that isn't vented outside, just pushes the moisture back around the house and although it would then recycle the air, the air quality would be a lot more moist and may even take longer to dry if it's sucking in more moist air?

editorsean

Indeed, a vented dryer without its hose will quickly put a lot of moisture in the room. A condenser tumble dryer gets around that problem by passing the warm moist air through a heat exchanger to condense the moisture into a container. The running cost is a little more than a vented tumble dryer, but has the advantage of not venting air outdoors. A heat pump tumble dryer is basically the guts of a powerful compressor dehumidifier inside the tumble dryer. They are quite expensive to purchase, but have 1/3 to 1/2 the running cost of a condenser tumble dryer.

The drying time with a dehumidifier varies a lot depending on the room temperature, dehumidifier capacity and of course the amount of clothes being dried and the effectiveness of the washing machine's spin cycle. With the Trotec 75S (24 litre compressor based dehumidifier), room temperature around 21C, roughly 5kg mixed load of laundry and a small oscillating desk fan blowing across the airer, it takes about 6 hours to fully dry.

crabbypaddy

DubInTheWest wrote: »

Hey guys, just noticed this thread now and a lot of you seem pretty knowledgeable when it comes to dehumidifiers most likely down to experience. I'm having some issues with mold/mildew smell in my house. I created a thread about it last night >>> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057662611

Can any of you recommend me a dehumidifier that might help me out ? Amazon would be easiest for me to order but definitely not limited too it.

Thanks guys

Pull up the carpet for a start, there will be water stains that will tell you where the water is coming from.

air

Thanks editorsean, yes I was planning on the eBay store having checked out the shipping options.
Your after sales service experience is encouraging.

Apologies all for the mix-up in post #148, now revised.

The Conductor - a regular grid tie inverter will run a dehumidifier no problem, that's the great benefit of a grid tie system, the grid is there to pick up heavy startup loads.
Cost for PV is no longer prohibitive, especially if you can do some or all of the installation yourself and/or source the components at best prices.

cormie

Thanks a lot for all the info!!

DubInTheWest

crabbypaddy wrote: »

Pull up the carpet for a start, there will be water stains that will tell you where the water is coming from.

Thanks. Yes I lifted it up and no real tell tale signs. I have a feeling that there was a radiator leak in the house before we moved in, probably even years before. I think it was vacant for a few years. And... there is no air vents in the room believe it or not. Right now the carpet is dry but if you smell it closely it smells pretty bad. I think I'm going to get a desiccant dehumidifier, just which one is the question. Not only do I want a good one to removed/prevent future mould, but I'm also concerned about the cost of it if I'm running it constantly all day for weeks/months.

editorsean

I just noticed Aldi in Donegal town has a clearance on their 20 litre compressor dehumidifier for €105:



I'm not sure whether this is the case with other Aldi stores, but certainly the cheapest I've seen for a 20 litre dehumidifier to date.

Rock Paper Scissors

Some really great information on this thread from some very smart people.

I live in a 3 bedroom house and want to get myself a dehumidifier to bring the humidity down a bit and to dry clothes in the winter.

I am considering buying this one due to the fact that it only uses 165w. It's a compressor dehumifier.

I am also considering something like this one, its a little bit more expensive and uses more energy. This one is a desiccant dehumidifier.

Can anyone advise which would be a better choice guys?

Or is there a better option available?

Would love to hear your input

Thanks in advance

The_Conductor

If its indoors- its probably pretty much at room temperature- so the compressor unit is probably the most economical bet. If its colder than room temp- go for the dessicant.

Vis-a-vis drying clothes, many units come with specific clothes drying modes (the recent Lidl one for example). Check it out.

cormie

What does the clothes drying feature actually do? How is it optimised I mean?

editorsean

The drying clothes feature on most machines puts the dehumidifier into continuous operation regardless of the room's humidity. The lower the room's humidity level, the quicker water evaporates from the wet clothes. With desiccant models, they go into high power mode when put into laundry mode or continuous operation. With a manual dehumidifier, you can achieve the same principle by turning the humidistat knob to 'Continuous'.

Some dehumidifiers start a timer when put into laundry mode so that once the timer runs out, the dehumidifier returns back to the original setting or switches off depending on how the manufacturer implemented the feature. This is especially important on desiccant dehumidifiers that otherwise would continue to draw 600-700 watts until the user remembers to switch it back or until the water container fills up.

A compressor dehumidifier would be a lot more efficient at drying clothes as these thrive with high humidity levels and wet laundry quickly raises the room's relative humidity level. The higher the relative humidity, the higher the extraction rate with compressor models, i.e. more water collected per kWh of electricity consumption, whereas desiccant dehumidifiers extract about the same rate no matter how high the humidity level gets. An oscillating desk fan aimed at the clothes air dryer also helps improve the drying rate.

cormie

Couldn't have asked for a better explanation than that!! Thanks a lot Unfortunately my compressor dehumidifier doesn't seem to have a thermostat or humidity sensor, you just twist the nob and the more you twist, the more often it comes on, twist it all the way and it's continuous, which I always put it at when drying clothes

Rock Paper Scissors

@editorsean

Would you mind telling me which of the 2 dehumidifiers I linked to above is better?

The meaco or the eco air?

Thank you

editorsean

I suggest going for the Meaco unit, particularly as you mention you would like to dry clothes. It will take a little longer to dry clothes than the EcoAir, but will consume under half the total electricity usage per load particularly when operated around 20C.

If you intend using it in an unheated room such as to keep your garage/shed or loft dry, then the EcoAir would be the better option as desiccant dehumidifiers are more effective and efficient below about 15C.

Scruff

anyone used these passive type dehumidifiers?
Cant imagine they would be as good as something with a fan to draw air in but seem to have good reviews on [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/UniBond-Aero-360-Moisture-Absorber-Device/dp/B00F1DNYPE/]amazon uk[/url]

cormie

Scruff wrote: »

anyone used these passive type dehumidifiers?
Cant imagine they would be as good as something with a fan to draw air in but seem to have good reviews on [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/UniBond-Aero-360-Moisture-Absorber-Device/dp/B00F1DNYPE/]amazon uk[/url]

I much prefer the idea of not having to buy refills and everything, both from a convenience and environmental point. If the tablets only last say 15 weeks at a cost of €10 (6-8 weeks each, €7 plus postage/parcel motel?), then it's costing €0.66 a week. I don't know how much water would be collected in that time, but probably a lot less?

September1

Scruff wrote: »

anyone used these passive type dehumidifiers?
Cant imagine they would be as good as something with a fan to draw air in but seem to have good reviews on amazon uk

They are OK for wardrobes or other small spaces as they collect very little water. Refills are cheap, as you can buy this chemical substance in bulk.

editorsean

One thing you'll notice with the passive ones is that they don't mention how much water they collect per day, let alone per refill.

From what I could find searching through the reviews, one UniBond Aero 360 refill collects 1 litre of water by the time it has fully dissolved and most people get around 3 weeks per refill compared to the 'up to 3 months'.

The cheapest refills I could find are 4 for £9 on Amazon, so that works out at £9 for 4 litres or £2.25 (~€2.50) per litre.

A typical compressor dehumidifier collects about 1 litre per kWh at 20C (60% RH) and about half that rating around 10C to 15C. A typical desiccant dehumidifier collects about 500ml per kWh regardless of the room temperature, i.e. 2kWh per litre.

The UniBond Aero 360 would be best suited for unoccupied motorhomes and caravans that don't need to be hooked up to run the dehumidifier or small enclosed spaces as September1.

A cheaper option for wardrobes would be to get a few silica gel packs that can be zapped in the microwave when it needs to be recharged. For example, this Pingi pack collects 60ml per use and takes 6 minutes to recharge in a 600W microwave. A typical microwave consumes double its output rating, i.e. 0.12kWh to recharge, which works out at 2kWh per litre, the same as a desiccant dehumidifier. Not surprising, given that silica gel is a desiccant.

The standard Electric Ireland tariff is 17.2c per kWh, so the following is a rough comparison of the costs:

• UniBond Aero 360 (per refill tablet) - ~€2.50 per litre
• Dehumidifier (compressor model, warm room) - ~€0.17 per litre
• Dehumidifier (compressor model, cold room) - ~€0.34 per litre
• Dehumidifier (desiccant model or silica gel) - ~€0.34 per litre

I'm sure the average person will breathe out more humidity than the rate the passive dehumidifier collects.

marcbrophy

I went to the Roxboro, Limerick Aldi store earlier, trying to see if they had 20L one's reduced as per earlier in the thread. No such luck.

They had smaller 10L one's instead, but I can't find them on their site.
99.99 for it, so I picked one up. Compressor model, 2.7L tank

marcbrophy

I went to the Roxboro, Limerick Aldi store earlier, trying to see if they had 20L one's reduced as per earlier in the thread. No such luck.

They had smaller 10L one's instead, but I can't find them on their site.
99.99 for it, so I picked one up. Compressor model, 2.7L tank

cormie

Great comparison editorsean :eek:

cormie

Hey folks,
I've been happily using my dehumidifier, but noticed a big puddle of water beside it the other day... and some boxes seemed to soak up what, from the look of the box after, seems to have been quite dirty water:



There was a lost of dust built up on the filter, including a clump of it on the spout where the water falls into the tray, so I'm hoping it's just that this redirected the drips and it's fixed now after cleaning it. Will have to wait and see if there's any water on the ground on the next full tank.

Anyway, while cleaning the filter, I noticed the coils seemed to have what look like rust spots at the edges and there's a residue of brown dirty looking deposits on the surface where the water drips from. The dehumidifier still seems to be working fine, but I'm just wondering how much longer it'll last and work effectively

I've taken a video here that shows it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dnlggr3MR0

Any wisdom would be appreciated

randombar

With black Friday looming has anyone seen some decent deals on the "clothes drying" type variety.

Have a big hot press and thinking of converting it to a drying room rather than a place clothes stay. The room isn't even hot any more because everything is so well insulated.

cormie

Hey, has anyone ever had a dehumidifier repaired locally at all? Mine has stopped collecting water, the fan is still working but I'm guessing it's the refrigerant compressor that is gone. It's this one here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dimplex-38067-DXDH10N-Dehumidifier-Plastic/dp/B017KTUJ68/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=DXDH10N&qid=1597583364&sr=8-1

Not super expensive itself, but I'd rather pay to fix it than create more demand for more things to be produced.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


Also, I've started using the spare ecoair one mentioned in this thread already, but I'm not sure, is there continuous mode on it where you can just leave it running until it fills up the tank?

editorsean

If you bought that Dimplex DXDH10N a few years ago, check if the first three digits of its serial number are 501 or 502. If it does, it has been recalled due to a fire risk, in which case Dimplex needs to fix the recalled fault. If you don't mention that it stopped working, there's a good chance they'll fix that in the process as they'll mostly likely do a test run of the machine once they fix the recalled related fault:

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/07/product-recall-five-dimplex-dehumidifiers-pose-fire-risk/

Check the warranty section in its manual in case it came with 2 or 3 year warranty. If you originally bought it at Aldi, it likely has a 3 year warranty.

If there's an appliance repair place nearby you can try asking for a quote as it could be something minor such as a faulty relay or humidistat, particularly if it just stopped working all the sudden. If it was getting unusually noisy or regularly defrosting even in rooms above 20C, then it's likely faulty compressor or had a refrigerant leak.

cormie

Hey thanks a lot! My model doesn't begin with 501 or 502, but at the bottom of that page, there's a link about another recall for models that serial numbers begin with 0, 1 or 2, which mine is :pac:

I've called Dimplex and waiting on a call back about a replacement now :cool: Kinda scary though as I've left the dehumidifier running plenty of times when I've been out for hours/days/weeks!

editorsean

Hopefully they'll get it replaced or fixed. I didn't notice the earlier recalls down the page. Going by the CCPC website's recalled products section, it's surprising the number of products that get recalled unnoticed. It's worth checking now & again in case any other product you own shows up as the news/newspapers generally only announce the major recalls:

https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/product-safety/product-recalls/

At least it's not a Whirlpool product. I know someone that is having awful bother trying to get their washing machine fixed under warranty, likely due to their engineers being busy dealing with the massive number of recalled tumble dryers and washing machines.

cormie

That's a huge amount of recalls alright! I don't buy too many things, but that's a good resource to have should any of them develop any problems if they are out of warranty

cormie

editorsean, thanks again for the heads up above! Replacement DXD10IR (newer model) was delivered completely free of charge with the recall of the old one

zerosugarbuzz

Slightly off topic but do the people in the house not get very dehydrated when these are being used? Also, would it not be worth investigating why you have dampness problems. Speaking as someone in a 45 year old house with no dampness issues.

3d4life

Thats some result, Cormie !

O/T : Theres some number of vehicle related recalls up on the ccpc site !