In relation to the ‘Damp in house…’ thread, and rather than hi-jacking that:

Recommendations please for a dehumidifier for a large-ish bedroom (approx 5m x 5m).

Something nice and quiet as I will want to run it overnight (when most of the damp/condensation forms) and there’s my two boys sleeping in there.

Crack windder urpen. I say – crack windder urpen.

Something nice and quiet

I think you’ll be struggling with that bit – they mostly have compressors in them so will make the same noise as a fridge.

You need some ventilation really. So, as above either a window or door open.

Good question, I was going to ask this anyway on my thread!

I always leave the bedroom door open

Also try to crack the window a bit, but then the room gets flipping freezing over night.

wwaswas – true. I’m not expecting it to be completely silent, I could cope with a fridge-esque noise,

anything from ebac would probably do. if the room does get cold try and get one of the ones that works by absorbtion not condensation as they’ll work down to a lower temperature.

As wasnotwas said – they are called desiccant dehumidifiers. They have the added benefit of warming the room too.

We have one of these (came recommended from someone on here I think) to keep moisture under control – great for drying clothes too. It has been very good since we got it and on the lowest setting it is very quite – enough to be able to sleep in the same room with unless you need absolute silence. I can sleep with ours on but it annoys my wife so we just switch it off overnight.

I think you’ll be struggling with that bit – they mostly have compressors in them so will make the same noise as a fridge.

No they don’t – desiccant ones are considerably quieter – the main noise comes from the fan. They work by absorbing the moisture into magic* crystals and then they are dried using a small heater/fan in order they can absorb more moisture.

*They are probably not magic.

Excellent advice & suggestions so far.

Plenty of food for thought.

Thanks all.

We have one of these (came recommended from someone on here I think)

I think that may have been me! They are quieter than traditional units and they also remain effective at lower temperatures. I’ve just dug ours out ready for the winter.

I would say get the cheapest condensing model you can buy, performance wise condensers are far superior – 10ltr extraction per day and a 2 ltr tank. They cheap ones are usually smaller and therefore easy to move around the house. We got one from B&Q for £50 on half price offer last year.

Don’t put it in the bedroom over night due to noise but put it on in the morning and it will suck loads of moisture up. Also put it outside the bathroom in winter when you have a shower to catch the moisture before it goes around the house.

Over night we put our clothes to dry in the kitchen and put the dehumidifier on where the noise isn’t an issue. The clothes dry well and there is no condensation. Really couldn’t do without one in an old house.

I’ve just dug ours out ready for the winter.

Me too – just put it in the bedroom this morning after seeing frost outside and moisture on our very cold exposed gable end wall. 🙂

We use a small delonghi one for drying clothes – it works really well. Cost £100 or so on Amazon. It also worked well at drying out a friend’s damp flat. But I wouldn’t have it on overnight – could you run it for a few hours before your boys go to bed?

Do try and get a reasonably sized tank – the 2 litre one will need emptying pretty often if the room’s damp.

The other advantage is that a dehumidifier will warm your room slightly through the latent heat of condensation.

I have a small ebac one, it works well. If you leave the door open and the dehumidifier out of the room it should still work. Look at how many litres of water they extract.

I would say get the cheapest condensing model you can buy, performance wise condensers are far superior

Check the performance against temperature. The performance of the condenser units drops dramatically with temperature – the manufacturers quoted figures are often at 20C.
If you want to move it around the desiccant ones are considerably lighter.
Another top tip is to locate it below your thermostat – my wife and kids think the heating is up high but the dehumidifier blowing out warm air means the heating is hardly ever on. 🙂