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Dehumidifier

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Scarlett | 22:15 Fri 29th Feb 2008 | How it Works
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How much does it cost to run one of these per 24 hours- just very approximately?
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I've just Googled 'dehumidifier watts' to try to find an estimate for the power consumption of a dehumidifier. They seem to vary widely so it's hard to give an accurate answer but lets assume that a typical figure might be around a third of a kilowatt (i.e. 333W). That means that a third of a kilowatt hour is used every hour, which works out to 8 kilowatt-hours per day.

A typical price for 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity, including VAT is just over 10p, so that works out at about 85p per day.

A small dehumidifier, with a lower power rating, might cost 50p or less per day to run, whereas some of the larger models use around twice the power of my example, giving a figure approaching �2 per day.

If you've already got a dehumidifier (or you're thinking of buying one), take a look at the power rating (in watts) on the label on the back. Remember that my estimate of 85p per day is based upon 333W and scale your figure proportionately.

Chris
We had several dehumidifiers working their magic after the July 2007 floods. Whilst I don't know the exact cost, they are very expensive. Bearing in mind that the only electricity being used was that for the dehumidifers, our electricity bill almost quadrupled compared to what it usually is with everyday electricity use; TV, lights, kitchen appliances etc.
Mikey's answer reinforces my comments about the difficulty of trying to provide an accurate answer without knowing the relevant power rating.

The smaller 'day to day use' dehumidifiers (such as those sold by Argos) might only use 200W of power (i.e. around 50p per day) but the big dehumidifiers you get from hire shops will use far more electricity. (I've used one after an overflowing cistern flooded my living room while I was away from home. It certainly ran up up quite a large electricity bill but it did a wonderful job).

I can only repeat my advice to read the label on the back of the dehumidifier and scale my previous answer accordingly. (The big dehumidifiers, from hire shops, might be rated at up anything up to 3kW = 3000W. If so, you need to multiply my 85p answer by 9!).

Chris
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Thanks!! I have switched mine off! I will just leave it on over night from now on, as I have night storage heaters which and electricity is cheaper at night. I'll also check out the power comsumption and get back to you. Hope it isn't too scary!
They may be expensive to run based on that information only, but you have to consider the fact that they reduce the amount of money spent on heating a place. They produce heat which obviously has a benefit during the cold weather, which is about the only time that you would use them.
The other benefit is that the condensation that would normally go onto windows would release energy in the form of heat on the window as it condenses from steam to water, once on the window it is easily lost to the outside. The dehumidifier does condense the steam in the machine rather than the window, so for every 300w of energy that it uses, it probably produces about 400w of heat. This is why they are considered very efficient.
They may be expensive to run based on that information only, but you have to consider the fact that they reduce the amount of money spent on heating a place. They produce heat which obviously has a benefit during the cold weather, which is about the only time that you would use them.
The other benefit is that the condensation that would normally go onto windows would release energy in the form of heat on the window as it condenses from steam to water, once on the window it is easily lost to the outside. The dehumidifier does condense the steam in the machine rather than the window, so for every 300w of energy that it uses, it probably produces about 400w of heat. This is why they are considered very efficient.

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