Comment on Desiccant dehumidifiers are fascinating... but not for everyone [29:19]
favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
I watched this. It was of interest to me because I must run two dehumidifiers in my house and they use a ton of energy. Unfortunately, this desiccant dehumidifier would use even more energy. Hoping someday someone figures out how to build a more efficient one.
In the meantime, I think manufacturers need to build all dehumidifiers with a repeat cycle timer built in. I find it far more energy efficient to run for some period like 30 minutes till the humidity drops low — like 45%, then shut off for 60-120 minutes while the humidity slowly creeps back up until the cycle repeats. Most dehumidifiers work based on a humidity threshold and will constantly click on and off as the threshold gets crossed. In my experience, this uses a lot more energy and being in a high cost state is completely unaffordable.
I had the same torment when buying mine, for an office-shed that’s just a swamp of English dampness.
I opted for the desiccant one as while it used more energy it does heat the space, and actually works better at cooler temperatures. Very specific to my needs as I’d imagine that’s counter to most other use cases
Yeah - the video does clarify that the UK is one of the few places the desiccant one makes sense.
Hoping someday someone figures out how to build a more efficient one
Some material, that catches water atoms via static charge, until it drips down, making room for more, maybe?
You should be able to pick up an old style timer plug for under 10 euro / USD in your hardware store.
They’re a tiny bit fiddly to set up but given how power hungry those things are you’ll be saving money in no time.
We have one around here somewhere. I’ll see if I can dig you out a picture.
Sounds like something that could be automated via home assistant and an esp32.
Even a simple tuya wifi plug
homura1650@lemmy.world 6 months ago
If you are running an AC, you might be able modify it to reduce the humidity.
AC units naturally dehumidify (as TC points out, they are essentially the same thing as traditional dehumidifiers). However, the amount of moisture they pull out is mostly related to how long they are running, not how cold they can get. This means that if you have an overpowered AC, you get less dehumidifying effect because the AC is on less.
Some ACs let you reduce their power, which will increase their duty cycle and increase the amount of water they pull out of the air. It also helps improve their lifespan as they need to cycle less.