One of the main concerns that people express when buying a dehumidifier is running costs and rightly so. Leaving a manual dehumidifier running 24 hours per day could add up to a costly exercise. This article will show you two ways of saving money with low energy dehumidifiers.
Running Costs of a Standard Dehumidifier
How much does a standard dehumidifier cost to run?
Well if we take the average tarrif of around 16p per Kilowatt we can see that the average dehumidifier will cost 8p per hour to run at 500 watts.
In full power many dehumidifiers consume just over 600 watts which costs around 10p per hour. Bear in mind that your dehumidifier will not be operating on full power all of the time.
So in general you can expect to pay around 6p-8p per hour of operation.
The First Type of Low Energy Dehumidifier
The first way of buying a low energy dehumidifier is to simply check the wattage used in the various fan speeds.
Dehumidifier companies such as Meaco are listening to customer concerns and more importantly, they are addressing these concerns.
A great example is Meaco’s Platinum Low Energy Dehumidifier Range.
The Meaco Platinum Low Energy 20 Litre dehumidifier won Which? magazines ‘Best Buy’ award in 2014, 2015 and 2016!
At 20 litres this is a large dehumidifier yet it runs on just 255 watts or just over 4p per hour.
Similarly the smaller Meaco Platinum Low Energy 12 Litre dehumidifier runs on only 165 watts which makes the unit just under 20% more efficient than most other brands which run on 200 watts of power.
The Second Type of Low Energy Dehumidifier
While almost everybody instinctively knows to look for low running costs in terms of wattage not many people know that the best dehumidifiers feature energy-saving technologies.
When buying a dehumidifier you can separate the units into two groups; manual and automatic.
Manual Dehumidifiers
With a manual dehumidifier the operator must change the settings manually. The result of course is that the dehumidifier will operate in the wrong setting for too long making the dehumidifier inefficient in terms of extraction, if left in a low fan speed for too long, or too expensive to run if left in a high fan speed for too long.
The best item to buy if you have a manual dehumidifier is a damp meter or hygrometer as this will tell you when to change your dehumidifiers setting.
Automatic Dehumidifiers
The ideal solution is to buy an automatic dehumidifier which can sense the relative humidity level in the air and automatically toggle into the most efficient setting exactly when it’s needed.
This way low energy dehumidifiers will be operating most efficiently from both an operational and cost point of view.
However the best thing is that automatic low energy dehumidifiers also feature technology that allows the dehumidifiers to toggle into a fan only setting once the required humidity level has been reached. The dehumidifier will recommence to run in the most efficient setting once the humidity has started to rise above the required level.
Sticking with the Meaco theme let’s explore Meaco’s Control Logic technology.
Meaco Control Logic Technology
Meaco Control Logic energy-saving technology is available on many Meaco dehumidifiers including my own personal Meaco DD8L Compact dehumidifier.
This is how the Meaco DD8L Compact works.
Once the target humidity level has been reached the DD8L automatically toggles off for 30 minutes. The unit then wakes up in its low fan speed for 5 minutes to sample the air. If the humidity level has stayed down then the DD8L goes back to sleep for another 30 minutes before testing the air for another 5 minutes etc.
If, after 30 minutes, the humidity level has increased then the DD8L will select the best setting to bring the humidity back down to the target level before toggling itself off for another 30 minutes.
While it is difficult to place exact figures on such an operation you’d have to agree that it makes dehumidifiers with Meaco’s Control Logic energy-saving technology around 80% more efficient than dehumidifiers without this technology.
Other Energy-saving Dehumidifier Technology
While this article has featured on Meaco dehumidifiers there are other companies with similar technology.
EcoAir calls their technology E7 Technology while Ecor Pro calls their technology Fuzzy Logic technology.
Low Energy Dehumidifiers
You now have a much better idea about what to look for when purchasing a low energy dehumidifier.
If you have any questions or suggestions please leave a note in the comments below.
