We are asked lots of questions on our Live Chat on a daily basis. One of the most common questions is 'How much does it cost to run a dehumidifier?'
In fact, it's such a common question that we have decided to write a whole blog about it! With the current climate, reducing your energy bills is the priority. A lot of the time people will look at their household equipment price at face value, without considering the fact that you could save a lot of money long-term by knowing its cost to run per day. There's lots to talk about how much it can cost to run a dehumidifier per day.
Does a dehumidifier cost a lot to run?
Not as much as you’d think! Our dehumidifiers are designed to be as energy-efficient as possible, and most of the dehumidifiers sold by other brands are efficient too. That means that even the cost of running a dehumidifier continuously might be less than you think.
As with all these questions, the heart of the matter lies in how often you're planning to use your dehumidifier. If you are running a dehumidifier 24/7, the costs will clearly be higher than if you're just using it for a couple of hours a day. It also depends on the season - dehumidifiers are more often used in the autumn and winter than in the spring and summer, so your running costs will necessarily be higher during the colder months.
So there's no absolute cost to running a dehumidifier. But here's something that might help. It's a question from a happy customer!
'What is the cost of running a dehumidifier?'
Q: Hi there, I have two of the 'MeacoDry Arete One Air Purifier/Dehumidifiers' and I love them. I use them when I’m drying laundry and I have recommended them on my website and know of 4 people who have bought them as a result. I have been asked how much they cost to run and so I wondered if you had detailed figures or graphs please of power consumption for lowest / highest or even all settings, full cycle.
The Arete range is designed to be cost-efficient to run.
A: First, thanks for buying your dehumidifiers from us, and for recommending us to others! We really appreciate that.
Energy efficiency was one of the key factors we considered when making the Arete range.
It’s important to point out that the dehumidifier that the customer bought is a compressor dehumidifier. This is the type of dehumidifier that works best in warmer temperatures (of 10°C for our 20 and 25L and 15°C for our smaller units). They can be used in your bedroom or bathroom or any room in your home that isn’t too cold. We'll talk about this a bit more below.
This is potentially quite a difficult question to answer because the performance will vary from day to day. For example, the MeacoDry Arete 20L uses 216 watts at a power consumption at 20°C and 60%rh. That’s 6p/hour based on 26.35p/kWh, and around 48p/ day if you run it for 8 hours a day.
When looking at dehumidifiers, you should remember that they are a winter product and all of the energy used is delivered back to the room as heat which is a good thing at that time of year. You will also save on the costs of your heating bills - not only because of the heat it delivers but also because the air will be dryer and easier to heat. You won’t need to use a tumble dryer or any form of drying clothes, as your dehumidifier absorbs the moisture in the air making it quicker for your laundry to dry.
When you first get a dehumidifier it will run flat out drying out your house, so it may cost more to run initially. Once the house is dry it will only turn on when it's needed. So your dehumidifier could end up running for several hours some days and then not running for a couple of weeks at all because the house is then dry. That means that the cost to run a dehumidifier will not be the same week-in, week-out.
How much does it cost to run a compressor vs desiccant dehumidifier?
Compressor machines will always be cheaper to run than desiccant dehumidifiers. That's because they don’t return heat to the space and are only really designed for spaces above 10°C. So running costs for them float between 4p and 9p per hour. A compressor machine running at normal room temperatures will always be the cheapest way to dry the air, especially when you start looking at cost in terms of pence per litre of water.
Desiccants win at lower temperatures and when someone actually wants to add warmth to a colder room in winter. In that case they get both water and warmth for their money. This is a type of unit that works at lower temperatures and that the air is pushed back into the room as heat. They are often used in colder rooms like basements, garages and utility rooms. The costs to run this type of dehumidifier are different to the costs for a compressor dehumidifier, which is the better choice for general home use.
To find out more about compressor dehumidifiers, take a look at our Low Energy Compressor Dehumidifiers ?
What makes a cost-effective dehumidifier?
So, what helps to keep the cost to run a dehumidifier low? It comes down to the efficiency of the unit and the features that have been added to help you control how and when the dehumidifier works. In this example, the MeacoDry Arete One has intelligent controls that regularly check on the relative humidity to ensure that it only dries the air when necessary.
Those in-built efficiencies means that it can cost as little as 4p per hour to run a compressor dehumidifier, which is still extremely cost-effective. And, as we've said above, it can also help you to save on the costs of your general heating bills, as this type of dehumidifier removes excess moisture from the air, making it easier and quicker to heat. And the air that is recycled out of the dehumidifier is warm, so there are cost savings to be made there as well as in the efficiencies of the unit itself.
Don't forget that we have running costs for all our dehumidifiers on the website. Every product page gives you an idea of how much it costs to run. Just have a browse around the site to find out more, or call us on 01483 234900.
Products featured: MeacoDry Arete® One 20L Dehumidifier / Air Purifier