Dehumidifiers - recommendations?

Twister_Ken

Twister_Ken

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Want to acquire one of these beasties. I remember one of the comics ran a test and review recently, but I can't remember which mag or when or what they concluded. I do remember there were alternative technologies. Can anyone help with more info and/or recommend a particular model?

TIA.
 
Twister_Ken said:
Want to acquire one of these beasties. I remember one of the comics ran a test and review recently, but I can't remember which mag or when or what they concluded. I do remember there were alternative technologies. Can anyone help with more info and/or recommend a particular model?

TIA.
Click to expand...

i have one of these from Ebac. cant fault it. now at least 5 yrs old & very efficient + it has many settings.
on saturday whilst i was working on the mast it had a ltr out in 8 hrs @ full chat.

http://www.ebacdirect.com/product-list.php?parent=2

direct phone No 01388 602602
 
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ST did a Buyer's Guide in their Feb issue.
I have been using a rotating dessicant type this winter and it has proven to be very good. I have an older model that won't restart if the power is disconnected - which is really annoying if you leave it on and the power goes of, which it seems to regualrly in our marina! Worth checking for this. Also, make sure it has a continuous drain function and a shut off should it fall over.
 
The types are dessicant or condensing. However condensing requires a minimum temperature to work, therefore less useful on an un-tended boat.
Other features I found important are built-in timer, automatic re-start after power failure and drain hose rather than (or as well as) built-in bucket.
I opted for one of these: http://www.xdry-dehumidifiers.co.uk/
 
Twister_Ken said:
Want to acquire one of these beasties. I remember one of the comics ran a test and review recently, but I can't remember which mag or when or what they concluded. I do remember there were alternative technologies. Can anyone help with more info and/or recommend a particular model?

TIA.
Click to expand...

I bought a De Longhi dessicant model, as they work better at lower temperatures, although they do consume more power than the refrigerant types.

It works extremely well, and the boat is as dry as a bone.

The model I got does not automatically restart after power interruption, which is a drawback, I believe you can get some that can.
 
Bought one last winter. The best investment in winterising kit I ever made (the second one is a Pela oil extractor). The spring cleaning used to be a hideous task of being covered with soapy black mould water, now it's just a refresher. The bilges are covered with dust instead of condensation runoff. Sails are kept in the boat and stay dryer than the stuff kept in the garage.

I have a general B&Q one, with continuous drain to the sink. If the power in the marina fails, it doesn't restart, so I do have to check up on it once and a while.
 
XM

I've got the XM one , a condenser type.
It has auto restart and auto defrost , drains into the sink and has a humidistat.
I have it running on a timer that provides about 3 periods 3 hrs in every 24.
It has a metered lead which shows it is using about 1kwh per day (it is rated at about 220w)

It does make a big difference to the interior dryness of the boat. We bought it to eliminate mould growth in areas where air does not circulate easily (corners and ends of bunks etc.)

Although they are not supposed to work below about 5 degrees C mine still must run enough to keep things dry (I live a long way from the boat and so can not visit regularly)

Because of some low incidences of issues with fires , I did inform my insurance company who were quite happy with it (Nautical)

I still take everything out of the boat over winter but due to the success of the dehumidifier i am considering leaving it in next winter or at least moving it back early this year (hoping for a nice early Spring !!)
 
I've got one from Mr B&Q, it's a WDH-610HA whatever that is...about £70 I recall. Coming up for it's third birthday and still gurgling away happily in the evenings down here in Sardine land when the temperature drops a bit, zero condensation. :D
 
I also bought one of the Meaco dessicant units ( DD122F ) brought it home at the weekend to dry out the garage. It took about 2 gallons of water out over a 24 hour period with the temperature hovering around zero. I put the drain hose into a watering can and it filled it in less than a day. At £150 it wasn't cheap but it certainly works.
 
Recently went through this myself, as our boat is in the water and lived on during the week. I have had an old condensor model dehumidifier for the last couple of years and it does a great job normally, but in the winter the amount of water taken out of the air drops from a full tank every 12 hrs to a mere trickle, and condensation was becoming a problem.

PBO did a test recently and their stand out winner was the Meco unit mentioned above, although it is worth pointing out it is the only dessicant unit they tested, so the test was effectively saying that the dessicant types are much better than condenser machines. This is because the condensers rely on a temperature differential to make the water condense out of the air, and this becomes radically less at lower temperatures.

The dessicant models on the other had remain effecive at much lower temperatures, which in my mind makes them a far more effective solution for a boat over winter. I tried to buy the Meco recommended about a month ago but found there were none in the country - they should however be in stock now, and an internet search should pull up some reasonable prices.

I ended up buying the x-dry instead which was about £20 more but has a higher capacity, and can certainly rate it very highly. Since receiving it a couple of weeks ago there is no trace of condensation.

People have mentioned the higher power consumption of the dessicant units compared to condensers, although it should be pointed out that whilst they have a higher peak load they run for less of the time as they are more effective at extracting water, and in the PBO test they reckoned that the total power consumed was the same for both types.

In short if you want to keep a boat dry over a UK winter I would definitely recommend a dessicant model.
 
As I have said in previous threads, I do not rate this as a good idea for boats.

I have a very good model (GET DHMD16) that I used for a season. 16 litre tank, or can be plumbed in.

I was going to put it on ebay, but if you are interested please PM me. Same item as ebay number 250539475670.
 
IIRC Snooks bought the best in test model and has waxed lyrical over it's virtues, so he should be able to supply the full SP.

Snooks beat me to it, I'm sure he hadn't posted when I started typing.:o
 
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