Dehumidifiers
Multipurpose and cost-effective
What is a dehumidifier?
A dehumidifier is an electrical device that is commonly used to maintain or reduce the level of humidity indoors by sucking the moisture out of the air. They are usually used in areas of the home that have high levels of humidity and are praised for having health benefits and added thermal relief.
Top Benefits:
Lower or maintain humidity levels
Prevent build-up of condensation
Reduce odours that accompany mould or mildew
Cost-effective
Dry clothes faster
How can dehumidifiers help dry your clothes?
Good question. While a dehumidifier might not be the first port of call when drying your clothes, as you might depend on a fast, yet expensive-to-run, tumble dryer, a dehumidifier can be a big help.
Drying clothes properly indoors without a tumble dryer, especially in humid environments, can be tough. When you use a dehumidifier, the air around your clothes becomes less humid, which allows the water in the clothes to evaporate quicker and helps them dry.
An added benefit is that dehumidifiers are multipurpose; they are great for those suffering allergies and usually have little to no noise. Furthermore, they help neutralise harmful bacteria – which is useful if you’ve noticed mould, condensation, or a musty odour.
Some tips to keep in mind…
- You want your dehumidifier to sit reasonably close to any clothes that need drying (about 1 metre away); using a small room would help. Choose an area that is well-ventilated.
- Spread out your clothes to help the drying process, ensuring there is airflow between your clothes. You can make use of any clothes hangers or a drying rack; just make sure you avoid piling wet clothes on top of one another.
- If you find that the dehumidifier isn’t quite getting on as expected, you may need to adjust the settings. Most dehumidifiers will have the basics (airflow, tank size, power) that will be suitable for drying clothes. However, if you are looking to use this method regularly, consider getting a dehumidifier that is equipped with a 'laundry mode'.
FAQs
On average, clothing can take 4-5 hours to dry with the help of a dehumidifier, but this depends on various factors, such as how wet your clothes are and how well ventilated the area is.
The larger the tank, the better! Use a dehumidifier with a tank size of at least 1.8L if you don’t want to keep worrying about emptying the tank for the same load of laundry.
Dehumidifiers have come a long way. You can use a simple calculation to see how cheap they are to run; we will take HG01174 (8L Desiccant Dehumidifier) as an example.
Note: HG01174 has 3 speeds. If you use the medium speed (330 watts):
330W / 1000 = 0.33kW
Let’s say you want to run the dehumidifier for 4 hours per day…
0.33kW x 4 hour per day = 1.32kWh
1.32kWh x £0.2486 per/kWh (current energy price cap UK, exc. NI) = £0.33
If we round that up, we can see that it costs less than 40p to run for 4 hours – which is great considering the additional benefits of a dehumidifier.
*Calculation is based on the current price cap of 24.86p per kWh in January 2025.
Rates are average and will vary by region, payment method and meter type. Contact your supplier for personalised information.
