Dehumidifier & Tubular heaters

[Lance]

This might be of use to anyone thinking investing in any of the above.

During a visit to B&Q today, I picked up (what I think are) a couple of good buys.

Dehumidifier - realy compact unit with humidstat & constant drain facility £79.99

4ft Tubular heater £17.99 (40% less than the cost at my local swindelry)

Lance

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[hlb]

Oi!! We're the experts on here...../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif Anyway, tube heaters you get from yer local electric wholesaler, About eight quid!!!.../forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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Haydn

 

[andyball]

£17.45+ vat at tlc-direct , who are usually cheap......they are philips tho'

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[MidlandsOnSea]

My understanding is that the cheaper dehumidifiers are at risk of freezing up on a boat, and I'm not sure that use of a tube heater would generate enough heat to prevent it. A 'hot gas defrost' facility is supposed to stop this problem.

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[Micky]

Buyright at Hadleigh in Suffolk, don't know if you have one in your area, sell a dehumidifier+heater+cold air blower for £69.99, real nice compact units.

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[msimms]

If this is the same one as I bought a couple of weeks ago - BQWDH-610HA it works really well with one proviso. With the constant drain connected to an open pipe there was a slight weep of water in to the internal bucket. This caused the tank to eventually fill and the dehumidifier to shut down.

Luckily the small rubber bung from the rear constant drain outlet is the correct diameter for the water outlet that flows in to the bucket. If you remove the bucket you will see the outlet towards the top on the left side. Insert the bung in to this outlet.

I've left a hi-lo temperature/humidistat on-board and am playing with the settings to try and find a happy medium between low humidity and reasonable power consumption. I've got a DeLonghi Bambino radiator with built in thermostat running alongside to maintain some heat.

Not really sure what the ideal humidity should be, bedding all felt dry last week with a humidity of 50% so I'll probably stick with that. FYI the setting on this dehumidifier is about the 11 o'clock position for 50%, with temperature - from memory - at 18 degrees.

Cheers

Mark

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[abraxus]

I bought one of the £79.99 dehumidifiers from B&Q recently as well and can confirm that it has a defrost facility built in so it shouldn't freeze up.

Bill

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[Oldhand]

Mine has a defrost but it doesn't stop the inlet filter frosting up. Adding a heater this winter to cure that.

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[Rob H 37]

Did the heater have a thermostat on it?

Anyone know where you can get one?

Does it have to be a tubular heater in the engine-room or would a small electric caravan heater with frost protection work?

Cheers

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[Nickcf]

my B and Q dehumidifier didn't have a defroster either (only realised when it stopped dehumidifying..) but I managed to solve the problem by putting it on a time switch. Se it to switch off for four hours around midday when the temp should be well above freezing which gives the ice enough the time to melt off. never had any problems since. The good news is that a frost build up doesn't cause any damage anyway as it is on the outside of the cooling pipes.

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