Best Dehumidifiers - Recommendations & Advice?

Guten morgen,

I'm in SE Queensland, where we've had record breaking rainfall and humidity ~15% above average for months. Recently a pipe burst in my house, and Cyclone Alfred, which has triggered a mould problem. It's been treated professionally, but we've had to throw out a bunch of furniture, and the general wetness means the mould professional said investing in some dehumidifiers is a non-negotiable in preventing a resurgence. Thus, I'm looking for recommendations.

I've done some research and it's clear I need a compressor dehumidifier, not a desiccant, as I'm in a warmer part of the country where desiccants won't perform as well. I've also seen some air conditioners such as this one from Kogan that claim dehumidifying figures similar to pure dehumidifiers at a similar price point. If I could pay a similar price and have an aircon + dehumidifier in one then that would be optimal.

This isn't my area of expertise, so the more info the better. Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • i got the 50l one of these, and a smaller one (i think it was 30l?) from NWT -

    the 50l i paid $530 ish , ive seen it as low as $510 recently. Price fluctuates all over the place depending where you are getting it from.

    im also in SE QLD - we have a real humidity issue on our ground floor as the airflow is poor and theres probably some rising damp issue somewhere too due to some dodgy renos done many years ago prior to us getting the house.

  • +2

    Do you have aircon? Running the aircon will dehumidify, even if you set it at the ambient temp.

    • +1

      This. Most air cons have a 'dry' function too. Although I find mine gets a lot colder than the set temperature when using it, but it does drop the humidity.

      • Nope, no aircon. There's only a few days each year where the sea and mountain breeze + fans aren't enough to keep me comfortable, so investing in an aircon hasn't been justified.

        But, if an aircon with dehumidifier function works just as well as a standalone dehumidifier, then I may as well get both in the one package.

  • Also in SEQ, I got a Breville or Sunbeam one from Good Guys a few years ago for about $500. It does an amazing job and I move it around the house from room to room wherever I think it needs it. I don't know anything about compressor vs desiccant, but have had no issues with the one I bought.

    • Do you happen to have a link to your specific model, or are you able to find the model number? I'd really appreciate it, knowing that you've had a good experience with it in the same climate.

  • desiccants

    Desiccants work well on cold winter days… They also heat up the room slightly.

    • +1

      Not a problem in SEQ

      • -1

        You can run them in PARALLEL.

  • as I'm in a warmer part of the country where desiccants won't perform as well.

    I don't think this is correct.

    Compressor dehumidifiers don't work well in cold weather because they require condensation, but desiccant based ones work in both warm and cold weather. I've used both in climates similar to QLD and both have been fine. My hybrid desiccant model was pretty good in that it could also redirect warm and cool air in two different directions, so could be used to cool down one room if placed at the doorway.

    Any AC is also going to dehumidify (unless it's one of those craptastic portable ones that just suck air through the room and out a window) but it'll use more power unless it's using a specific dehumidify mode. I can't make heads or tails of that Kogan thing though.

  • In my experience, the dehumidifier mode on the air conditioner only works when there is a temp difference. E.g. if the ambient temp in the room and outdoors is 23C and I set the aircon to 23C in dehumidifier mode, it will not do much. It has to be set a few degrees under 23C in which case it does dehumidify the air perfectly well, but it cools the room to an uncomfortable level. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or it's just the way the dehumidifier mode works in air conditioners. Or maybe it's just my air conditioner, a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 3 year old model.

    • +1

      Mine does that too. And it cools the room below whatever I set it to anyway.

  • +2

    Ausclimate seems to come up top in all my research a few years ago. I live in a colder area so got their desiccant model which has worked really well. Based on my previous research I’d say go for an Ausclimate model - you can compare the specs etc here https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0766/3904/3866/files/Auscl…

    I think I bought mine from Amazon but would recommend that once you know which model you’d like to just compare prices - I found that usually there was at least a modest discount but even if not, still worth getting to deal with all the moisture in the air and prevent any mould and mildew issues from getting worse.

  • -1

    I paid crap loads for one 10 years ago with blue light to kill things, I hardly use it. The way I see it works is, it runs for hours sucking up all the moister then you open the door and you're back to square one.

    • This is my thought too. The gf wants one but how long does the air stay effectively dehumidified!

      edit - And she's bought one lol

  • I bought two of the $155 Kmart desiccant dehumidifiers. They're great in the cool weather, but they put out a lot of heat, so I'll need to get compressor dehumidifiers for the Queensland summer. When I do, I'll try and get some with inbuilt HEPA filters.

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