Dehumidifiers ?

[ronan]

The condensation problem has reared its head again this year in the shed. Was out using the mill on saturday afternoon, cleaned it down and called it a day. I went out today and the lathe, mill and pillar drill, as well as my bikes were dripping water from condensation, but the mill was by far the worst, i had to get rags and dry it off it was so bad.
As soon as funds allow (probabily after christmas ) i want to buy a cheap dehumidifier, do they use much electricity ? Can anyone recommend one ? I have looked in the argos catalogue and they have a good few, are they much the same ?

 

[brightspark]

The condensation problem has reared its head again this year in the shed. Was out using the mill on saturday afternoon, cleaned it down and called it a day. I went out today and the lathe, mill and pillar drill, as well as my bikes were dripping water from condensation, but the mill was by far the worst, i had to get rags and dry it off it was so bad.
As soon as funds allow (probabily after christmas ) i want to buy a cheap dehumidifier, do they use much electricity ? Can anyone recommend one ? I have looked in the argos catalogue and they have a good few, are they much the same ?

get an ebac there the best, i have 2 in the house. u realy need some heat as well as cold air doesnt condense and yes they do use a bit of juice ,

 

[Shox Dr]

Before I bought an ebac I'd had said they were the best.... however it broke down after 13 months, on calling them, I was told as I hadn't bought it directly from them it was out of warranty, that was until I pointed out ALL goods carry a 2yr warranty and have done so since 2001 by EU law. They weren't happy but never the less repaired it.... When it came back it leaked, I called them and they weren't interested.

Prior to this failure the MIL had bought one one my recommendation, this unit also failed however she was less fortunate than myself despite pointing out EU law.

Both failed in the same manor. POS never again.


So back to the OP question. yes they can use a lot of leccy 2kw if you don't choose carefully. but once the humidity is down to a reasonable level they don't come on much, if the room/building is sealed against water ingress.

Personally I'd buy a commercial unit, bolt it to an outside wall and fit a drain tube so you don't have to empty it.

 

[brightspark]

i also have one of these just not worth running for the cost unless your drying buildings out, i scored it for 60 quid. ive had more than that back of it hiring it out http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Andrews-H...arden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2331df9d0b

 

[Shox Dr]

True but will only run when there's vapour in the air, it will just take it out faster.

I forgot to say, make sure it has a defrost cycle, the (very) old ebac I have in one of my workshops doesn't and it freezes up in cold weather making it run constantly without doing anything. So as BS say you may need some heat, or a better still as I said a defrost cycle

 

[ronan]

Gawd, the price of leccy is a worry as it seems to go up endlessly, i don't want a bill that looks like the national debt of greece just to dry out me shed.

 

[Shox Dr]

Believe me it will be the best (upto) 200quid you'll spend, I have the repaired ebac in the main workshop, I never hear it running, and I empty it maybe once every 3/4 months.

 

[excossack]

Would just adding some additional ventilation do the trick? Maybe a bathroom extractor fan?

 

[Shox Dr]

Would just adding some additional ventilation do the trick? Maybe a bathroom extractor fan?

Where will the new air come from? Outside?

 

[Paul99]

Believe me it will be the best (upto) 200quid you'll spend, I have the repaired ebac in the main workshop, I never hear it running, and I empty it maybe once every 3/4 months.

3/4 months? our Ebac would be full in 1/2 days. This one also failed after about 18months but was collected, repaired, serviced and returned under warranty FOC.

 

[chevy2]

Would just adding some additional ventilation do the trick? Maybe a bathroom extractor fan?

Good idea ^^^
We have one in our bathroom with a humidistat that runs on until the humidity drops below a certain level.

 

[Shox Dr]

Good idea ^^^
We have one in our bathroom with a humidistat that runs on until the humidity drops below a certain level.

That's fine as it will be drawing air from the rest of the house, that air will (should) be dry. If you put an extractor in a shed it will pull possibly damper air from outside, not what you want

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

I’d be inclined to improve the insulation and ventilation in the shed before spending money on a dehumidifier.

We have had an Ebac dehumidifier in the house for about 5 years, and it has been very effective. It did fail last year, after lying idle for several months. Symptoms were that it would start up, and then shut down after just a few minutes. In the end I looked through the louvres and realised that although the compressor was working, the fan was not, which caused the system to overheat.

The fan motor was easy to dismantle, and its shaft runs on two bushes of rubbery material. These had become so sticky that the motor was unable to turn. A few drops of acetone (what horrible smell they put in the wife’s nail polish remover) were enough to free off the bearings, and the machine has run perfectly ever since. Probably advisable to run it for a few minutes each month, just to keep the bearing free.

What sort of Ebac failures have other folk experienced?

 

[excossack]

I was thinking more along the lines of moving the air around and making the fan move the air to the outside. Just a thought really.

 

[chevy2]

I was thinking more along the lines of moving the air around and making the fan move the air to the outside. Just a thought really.

Thats the line i was thinking,
the constant air movement should keep it bay somewhat?

 

[Shox Dr]

What sort of Ebac failures have other folk experienced?

Both had suffered component failure, you can buy a new PCB at £50ish

 

[Wedg1e]

I have a B&Q cheapo that I bought in 2005 to dry out the structure of my house(!) after discovering that the shower cubicle had been leaking for some time. Two walls of the bathroom were pulp, it was only the grout keeping the tiles up; the kitchen side of the (stud and plasterboard) wall had black mould along three feet of it and the lounge side of the adjoining wall wasn't much better.
I ripped the plasterboard and tiles down and found all the studs sopping, so bought the dehumidifier to dry everything out. It took about a week, started by having to empty it twice a day.
Once it was all dry I rebuilt the walls and fitted a new bathroom, but the dehumidifier is still here and runs most days of the week. If I do a load of laundry I just hang it on the airer next to the dehumidifier and it's dry overnight (a lot cheaper than running a tumble drier!). It definitely responds to the weather as it needs emptying more when it's raining
Cost me £80 in a sale and was imported by EHS, Manchester (dunno if they sell direct).

 

[mylesdw]

Dehumidifiers are great and don't cost a lot to run BUT they don't work well in a cold environment like an unheated shed in winter.

 

[ronan]

I'll do a bit of work insulating the roof and walls first so. Anyone recommend a way to insulate cavity block walls thats not too thick ? The shed is narrow (only about 9ft) so i don't want to make it any narrower.
Bought a few of those uni-bond humidity absorbers today and have left a couple on each machine, i did use them before in the bathroom and they seem to work ok.

http://reviews.homebase.co.uk/1494-en_gb/431300/reviews.htm

 

[mylesdw]

Insulation will help but you need some form of heat. Any time the big bits of metal (like your mill) are sitting below the dew point condensation will form on them and a dehumidifier will not help much. It you raise the ambient temperature to 10 degrees most condensation will cease and a dehumidifier will mop up what's left.