Pointed my Father in direction of lead here on the LIDL offer and he just bought one of those.
I would like to get a Dehumidifier to use when I lay my boat up for the winter. I remember reading here that there are compressor models & rotating desiccant wheel type.
Are the latter any good ? ....which would be better for a reasonable small area ... and lower temperatures, as boat shed is unheated.
Would prefer type that has option to drain to a hose, timer would be nice but not essesntial.
Pointed my Father in direction of lead here on the LIDL offer and he just bought one of those.
I would like to get a Dehumidifier to use when I lay my boat up for the winter. I remember reading here that there are compressor models & rotating desiccant wheel type.
Are the latter any good ? ....which would be better for a reasonable small area ... and lower temperatures, as boat shed is unheated.
Would prefer type that has option to drain to a hose, timer would be nice but not essential.
My desiccant-wheel dehumidifier works down to ~2 degC, my cheapo compressor type is really struggling by 15 degC.
Most seem to have the drain hose option, it is no more difficult than pushing the hose on to the fitting.
This is similar to mine, although this one has a dial for setting the humidity level whereas mine has button-set fixed options. You might like to read the reviews, noting the possible energy costs. Having a dial-type means you can choose an optimum setting for humidity/cost balance depending on your particular circumstances - you might find that say 60% is sufficient for your purposes, which should result in less energy use:
We bought a dessicant type to dry out the unheated loft. It has also been used in other rooms and have had no problems with it. Be aware that it uses more electricity (440 - 740 W) than the compressor types but will work at lower ambient. Not sure what you mean by a timer - our model has a built in run timer (optional) of 2, 4 or 8 hours but advises that the mains should not be interrupted by an external timer since it likes to shut down gracefully. The model we have is Eco Air DD322FW Classic:-
Seems neat in that that the sensor shuts it down once at set level, and restarts every 30 min and checks .. then runs or shuts down again .... admit never heard of MEACO make
Be careful in that this one also has button-set levels. I find these a pain, as I'd like to set the humidity level to 60 - 65% percent but have to go for 50 - 55%. On a cold, wet, windy, day it struggles with this and therefore uses quite a bit more energy (which is something you might like to take into account). I did read somewhere that mould growth starts at 68% RH.
The one you refer to is also dearer than than the Amazon one.
I'm not sure the timer approach will help as on a damp day the humidity shoots up again when the unit turns off, and then you have to spend energy getting it back down again when the unit powers up. ITMT your boat interior hasn't had time to 'dry out', especially as it is likely to be well-ventilated; it's rather like an uphill struggle, except on those lovely cold and dry winter days.
Same price ... but includes Tilt sensor, and has rotary humidistat, fully shuts to standby once humidity level reached, a benefit can be put on external timer ... has full auto restart if power switched off.
Although the recommendation seems to be set it to a level and leave it permanently on.
Won the aware for best unit for boat owners and top performer in Caravan tests ... so might be my machine.
Move any 'soft furnishings' into a spare room in the house , wipe over all internal surfaces with a disinfectant spray, exclude vermin, allow controlled natural ventilation and forget about the dehumidifier.
My main one has a rotary humidistat knob. Its setpoint has wandered a lot, up and down, over time. I wouldnt want to rely on that unattended. An electronic sensor should be far more reliable than the plastic strip type.
I went with that link as I also asked them to include the free "Konig Weather station unit" that is included with other model, plus get 2 yr warranty. Just ordered it :-)
I can leave it plugged into mains all winter and just set stat to 55%, and have drain hose out through bilge drain.
I use my unit in my garage, where I have crated-up books and electronic equipment that I'd like to keep in good condition.
Based on this you might want to consider a higher setting than 55%. I'd go for 63 or 64% if you can monitor it than finely, as it will reduce electricity costs. If you get several days of wet and windy weather, which is all too common, the unit will likely be running continuously and your boat interior will settle down at whatever average humidity it sees, which could be very high. Under these conditions I turn my unit off, there's little point in paying for electricity to pull the humidity down from 95% to say 85% (these could be typical figures for a wet and windy winter week).
When the weather improves your unit will then have to get the air down to say 63%, and then pull the absorbed moisture from the boat and interior fittings, but this is easier than trying to dry out your part of the UK. I'd suggest removing as much fabric-based materials and storing them separately, and open all cupboards and drawers so that damp air doesn't get trapped and cause mould.
Best days of all are when cold dry air from Siberia arrives, the humidity can be as low as 30%. There's no point in running your unit under these circumstances, but you might take the opportunity to ventilate your boat naturally while the favourable conditions last.
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