Small dehumidifier recommendation; draining through the wall.

[Adam Funk]

Part 1. I'm looking for a small dehumidifier to use in normal room temperatures without an external switch (such as a timer), so a compressor (rather than a wheel) should be OK. Priorities:

1. It must be drainable by a hose. I don't care if it even has a tank, as long it can drain itself by gravity.

1. It needs to be small: either very thin from front to back, so it doesn't stick out much, or no more than 40 cm tall (to fit under a shelf --- in that case it doesn't need to be thin).

2. I'd like decent energy efficiency, since I plan to leave it on a lot.

Any recommendations?

Part 2. I want to drain it through an outside wall into a hopper that various waste water pipes already run into, but none of them are conveniently located for splicing a T in to do this. What are good ways to do this so that the drain-out doesn't freeze up but also doesn't let drafts into the room? I'm thinking of feeding the hose from the dehumidifier into 22 mm waste pipe on the inside, with the pipe going through the wall then sloping down to the hopper, & plugging the gap between the hose and the pipe with something. Is there a better way? Do fittings for this sort of thing exist?

Thanks, Adam

[Chris French]

In message , Adam Funk writes

A wheel?

How thin is very thin?

I asked about this a couple of months ago, with respect to getting one for drying laundry.

I've got a Meaco 10L one:

186 mm deep it says, though the drainage pipe (clear flexible PVC pipe about 10mm diameter?) comes out the front on this model so you would need to allow for that. BTW, if you put one under a shelf don't forget to allow for the airflow our of the top (most seem to vent from the top) and maybe access to controls.

They do a similar, lower energy consumption one, but it's a bit bigger I think, and about £40 more.

I can recommend them as suppliers. They were the best price, inc. next day delivery (which turned out to be Saturday for me)

I think that the drainage hose could be prone to freezing, like condensing boiler outlet. At the very least connected it to the 22m pipe inside But I don't think 22mm is always enough to avoid freezing either.

[tabbypurr]

Yes I'd avoid a desiccant wheel type, they use about twice as much energy

sounds like the size of a small peltier one

which peltiers lack

Condensing boilers handle it with a syphon trap. The indoor trap doesn't empty until full, then it all empties in one shot. Seems to work, and simple to arrange.

NT

[Tim Watts]

+1 for Meaco

[newshound]

Looks good and quiet too (46 dB). Do you find it quiet? My mobile one makes a right racket. Fine for decorating, no good for laundry.

[Tim Watts]

I've got the 20L Meaco and it's fairly quiet on the low setting (hear more or less nothing through a door) and OK on the high setting (but not at night whilst in bed).

[Chris French]

Yes, I find ours quiet.

Out 10L one lives in the utility room, I can't really hear it through the door to the adjoining kitchen.

In the room I guess it sounds similar to a fan going (which is most of the noise I think anyway), it's no where near as noisy as a fan heater we have.

I don't think it is the sort of noise that would annoy me really doing everyday stuff in the same room, it's one of those noises that I think I would adjust to and not really notice to much

[Adam Funk]

Is that something you can get in a version that works outside of a condensing boiler, compatible with just running the outlet pipe through the external wall? If so, what would that version be called? (I googled 'condensing boiler syphon trap' & got only internal components for boilers.)

[tabbypurr]

the simplest way doesn't need any parts:

NT

[Adam Funk]

I see what you mean --- that could be made with a few elbows & plastic pipe. Or would just looping the drain hose like that & fixing it in place vertically suffice?

[tabbypurr]

I'd do the latter

NT

[Chris J Dixon]

Will it work with a completely closed system, or does it need some way to allow air in on the input side?

Chris

[tabbypurr]

How could the input side be closed in a dehumidifier? :)

NT

[Chris J Dixon]

OK, I lost concentration somewhere back there. :-(

Chris

[Adam Funk]

I have to admit, I was thinking the same thing as Chris, but I eventually realized there must be something funnel-like on the inside.