Dehumidifier or heat source tumble drier ?

[AlanW]

link to one for example ?

It is the post a few posts back, but this is the one we have. I really didn't want to spend that much money on one to be honest, but now I have it I'm so glad that I did.

https://www.meaco.com/products/meac...1_1669114472_d804947e645ea05b731d44d8418e423f

But be mindful that was purchased to function in an outside workshop that is often a lot colder than a house would be. It may be that a compressor type would be more suitable for a warmer house?

That said, its perfect in the "clothes dryer" mode.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Seriously how quick should I expect to dry clothes ?

 

[AlanW]

Seriously how quick should I expect to dry clothes ?

How long is a piece of string really, as it really depends on how many clothes, the type of material and the size of the room as they all play a part in the overall drying time.

 

[AlanW]

I dont know if this helps?

Room Conditions	Maximum Water Extraction	Wattage
20°C and 60%rh - fan speed 1	3.9 litres per day	351 watts
20°C and 60%rh - fan speed 2	8.0 litres per day	656 watts
20°C and 60%rh - fan speed 3	8.3 litres per day	661 watts
10°C and 60%rh - fan speed 1	3.9 litres per day	351 watts
10°C and 60%rh - fan speed 2	6.6 litres per day	656 watts
10°C and 60%rh - fan speed 3	7.5 litres per day	663 watts

 

[jowwy]

Heating on low, clothes on a clothes horse in dressing room, dehumidifier on drying the clothes......running on solar power.

before any asks, the sun doesn't go round the back this time of year to use the washing line, or it would be out there drying instead

 

[CXRAndy]

We've got MVHR but I think the problem with it is that the downstairs loo doesn't have a radiator, which means in winter it's extracting freezing cold air so there's no heat for the heat exchanger to exchange. So it's just blowing cold air into every room.

Yes that wont help for sure.


Cant you install an electric towel radiator or underfloor electric kit?


Seems a waste of a MHVR system not to make it run efficiently. I was surprised how even the temperatures were in each room north facing bedrooms to south facing living rooms.
I added an extra fan to pull the hot air out of the hot water cylinder cupboard, which could get into the high 30C into the hall, from there the nearby bathroom extract vent would take the heat into the system. Temperature then dropped to high 20C in the cupboard.

Im seriously considering a system on our old farmhouse. It has attics that run the whole length, allowing major ducting to run from one end of the building to the other. Then its just a case of smaller pipework into bedrooms, bathrooms, wet rooms etc.

 

[Mo1959]

link to one for example ?

I’ve got this one. Draws a huge amount of water out of the atmosphere, especially if it’s really cold outside or I’ve dried washing indoors. Bit noisy though.


https://www.meaco.com/products/meaco-20l-low-energy-dehumidifier-and-air-purifier

 

[MontyVeda]

A heated clothes horse will only do so much. Blooming great for drying shoes, but it can't dry lots of items quickly.

They have those in Aldi once in a while... and i just don't understand them. 99% of the stuff that needs to dry will be hanging below the heated rails, and heat tends not to go downwards. The whole concept seems very inefficient to me.

 

[winjim]

Yes that wont help for sure.


Cant you install an electric towel radiator or underfloor electric kit?

We've been meaning to but other stuff keeps taking our budget. We should be able to run it on the same system as the main central heating although we hadn't considered electric. I don't know why the previous owners didn't do it when they built the extension and installed the system. I think doing it now is going to involve some ugly exposed pipework and drilling through walls because of how the floor's been built.

 

[fossyant]

They have those in Aldi once in a while... and i just don't understand them. 99% of the stuff that needs to dry will be hanging below the heated rails, and heat tends not to go downwards. The whole concept seems very inefficient to me.

They are OK for small loads where you put stuff on the rails and not hanging. We dont use ours much. Only used for lads MTB weekends where we've got gloves and shoes to dry overnight.

 

[figbat]

We simply don't have anywhere to hang loads of washing, so anything like that is out (bar scattering damp clothes around the house). We have no airing cupboard (the hot water tank and boiler are in the garage, which is full to the gunwales with bikes, a trailer and camping stuff and not a clean or warm place for hanging clothes). Every other room in the house has a radiator but is fully-occupied. The utility room has a washing machine, tumble drier and fridge-freezer in it and a little bit of hanging racking, usually used to dry anything that is forbidden from the drier or is a little damp and needs finishing off. Given the amount of school uniform, PE kit, cycling stuff, horse riding apparel and day-to-day clothing we have to get through, we'd need a lot of hanging space for it all. The tumble drier does it all in a neat 600x600mm footprint and can do multiple loads a day if required. Yes it costs more to run but I'd argue less that buying a house big enough to accommodate the space, or building an(other) extension. And we use the clothesline as much as possible in clement weather.

 

[CXRAndy]

We've been meaning to but other stuff keeps taking our budget. We should be able to run it on the same system as the main central heating although we hadn't considered electric. I don't know why the previous owners didn't do it when they built the extension and installed the system. I think doing it now is going to involve some ugly exposed pipework and drilling through walls because of how the floor's been built.

Boxing around the pipes is an option if you connect to central heating

 

[winjim]

Boxing around the pipes is an option if you connect to central heating

I know but it's never going to look as good as if it had been done properly in the first place.

 

[gbb]

Despite my post above, went to the Hotpoint shop on their factory site and got a heat pump drier, basically 25% off retail.
They're brilliant in there, helpful, friendly, not intrusive,once you decide, pay, they bring it to your car and help you put it in, job done.

My wife decided she definitely didn't want a heated drier, not sure about a dehumidifier because that meant the clothes horse in the spare room...nah, get a tumble drier, its out the way, many not be the cheapest but allows her to keep rooms tidy and its just more convenient.

£279 later
Now we will see....

 

[gbb]

First run last night, full load of washing dried on Eco mode. Program states 3hr 14 mins, its actual time was around 2 hrs maximum, odd i thought ?
It has a sensor, monitoring the dryness of the clothes so i assume modifies the program run time as it goes. It calls it 'cupboard dry' on completion of cycle, its not old style 'hot' dry, it feels different, but there are other settings to get even drier....at extra energy useage of course.
Wife always selects a 1600 spin speed on the washer so that probably impacts the result for the better.
Wife is quite happy, that's ultimately what matters.