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Dehumidifier

Harpur Hill

By Harpur Hill
in Boat Equipment

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Harpur Hill Contributor

Harpur Hill

Posted
Posted

Hi,

My dehumidifier at home expired on Boxing day, needing a replacement fairly smartly, mainly for the bathroom, I found the following -

 

From Aldi, Midi Dehumidifier £34.99: Peltier type. 20.5 W 13.0 D 34.0 H

 

Now, the adaptor accepts 230V 50 Hz and puts out 12V DC 5A The device is rated @ 65W

 

It states suitable for rooms 10M2

 

I know it's cheap, I know it's small but seems to me it would be OK for a narrowboat in this time of condensation & dampness particularly if the lead is modified to run directly from 12V DC.

 

The one that's gone bust was about £160 and has lasted only 3 years, so if I only get one year out of this I'm still in front.

 

 

Happy New Year to all

 

Cheers

 

HH

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smileypete Veteran II

smileypete

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Aldi one sounds like a mini one suited to a wardrobe and will probably disappoint, if the previous was £160 it must have been a full size one.

 

For a boat on shoreline an electric dessicant dehumidifier is much better though bigger, something like a Meaco DD8-L Junior, or a DD122-FW-Simple which goes under various names like EcoAir.

 

For unattended use get one with an automatic restart option like the above two have. Shop around online for best prices and google for user manuals etc and so on. smile.png

 

ETA: With the Meaco the warranty can be extended up to 5 years:

 

http://www.meaco.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Extwarranty&cat=66

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited by smileypete
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Ssscrudddy Rising Star

Ssscrudddy

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Posted

I'm liking my Meaco DD8L Junior, £135 from Appliances Direct. Keeps the bedroom & bathroom nice & warm (& dry) where the heat from the stove at the front of the boat doesnt quite reach. It also has a laundry setting, great for hanging up the wet washing in the bathroom & shutting the door, dry in a couple of hours.

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Tesla Proficient

Tesla

Posted
Posted

I'm liking my Meaco DD8L Junior, £135 from Appliances Direct. Keeps the bedroom & bathroom nice & warm (& dry) where the heat from the stove at the front of the boat doesnt quite reach. It also has a laundry setting, great for hanging up the wet washing in the bathroom & shutting the door, dry in a couple of hours.

Looks like just what i need, so I've just ordered one...

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geoffwales Collaborator

geoffwales

Posted
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Dessicant dehumidifiers are better and more efficient at low temps, where as refrigerant ones unless they have pre heat coil tend to tail off on efficiency below 12c due to the evaporation temps. Also with a dessicant dehumidifier you will need either somewhere to condense te moisture removed or a flow and return to outside to remove the wet air and let the regen air back. ( if the air is only exhausted out then the boat is under negative pressure and would draw ambient air in which would then be laden with the conditions externally. Also the process of dessicant dehumidifiaction normally uses a small in built heater to dry the silica./dessicant which in turn gently warms the inside of the boat.

 

You can put these easily on a humidistat as well, so oncethe humidity is high around 85%rh the unit will switch on and then off to the desired conditions.

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Tesla Proficient

Tesla

Posted
Posted

Looks like just what i need, so I've just ordered one...

Looks like just what i need, so I've just ordered one...

Top service from Appliance Direct. Ordered as per previous post late on new years eve with standard delivery and it arrived first thing on the 2nd. And it seems to be working pretty darn well too...

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nicknorman Veteran II

nicknormanDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

Top service from Appliance Direct. Ordered as per previous post late on new years eve with standard delivery and it arrived first thing on the 2nd. And it seems to be working pretty darn well too...

I would consider the 5 yr warranty mentioned earlier. I bought a DD8L in Nov 2012. We left it on, on the slow fan setting and economy (50% RH) mode when we were away from the boat. By Feb 2013 it had failed. It was repaired under warranty by Meaco, we didn't use it through the summer, and now are using it again over this winter. So far so good, but I suppose the early failure leaves me slightly nervous about it longevity.

 

But maybe I was unlucky, and if Meaco are selling a 5 yr warranty for £50 I suppose they must know their product is fairly reliable, but as I said, maybe a 5 yr warranty...

Edited by nicknorman
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  • 4 weeks later...
Grace and Favour Veteran II

Grace and Favour

Posted
Posted

Hi Annie,

 

Unless you've got a rather large battery bank, and run your engine/genny for many hours every day - I think a dehumidifier like the Meaco are too power hungry for you - (your solar panels will have a limited benefit in winter - which is when you'll need to use your dehumidifier most, of course!)

 

Though I'm sure one of our electrical experts will be along soon to give a much more accurate reply

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Suzie_q Proficient

Suzie_q

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Wiser heads than I may know the reason, but we had serious condensation problems the first few nights we stayed on board.

Is you boat a new build because I wondered with us whether it was just that the structure need to warm up in someway?

 

Since then we have been fine and I only have two small mositure traps either end of the boat.

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Grace and Favour Veteran II

Grace and Favour

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Best thing I'd suggest then, Anniwhere, is, when you move on - get your stove (solid fuel or diesel stove??) runing 24/7 - really warm the boat up (they can be very toasty!!) and keep as much ventilation open as you can, (particularly when you are cooking/washing/drying clothes etc) - give it a couple of weeks to really dry out the boat - and then see if you have a condensation problem

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nicknorman Veteran II

nicknormanDonate to Canal World

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When we leave our Meaco DD8L on slow fan, 50% relative humidity target, (on shore power) with windows closed and no breathing on board, it uses about £3 electricity per week which at £0.16 per kwh is say 20 kwh which is about 1700 AH at 12v. Ouch! Stick to the ideas above re getting the stove on, fabric of the boat warmed up, and good ventilation. Currently on the boat for a few days with stove on and haven't used the dehumidifier since I arrived. The relative humidity is showing as 48% which is DRY!

 

Without a dehumidifier everything will be slightly damp to start with, but give it a couple of days with the stove on and it will be fine.

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George94 Experienced

George94

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Posted

I second what Nick says. I have a DeLonghi which I use in spring and autumn when it's too cold to have windows open. In winter the solid fuel stove renders the dehumidifier unnecessary.

 

It's a good idea to keep an eye on the causes of excess humidity, and to mitigate them where possible. Easily the worst (apart for breathing) is cooking, and drying clothes. Don't let kettles boil for longer than they have to, and use a steamer to reduce water vapour from cooking veg' (this saves gas too).

 

I stagger washing so that I don't have to dry too much at one time.

 

Putting cling-film over windows and port-holes will reduce both heat loss and condensation.

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