Our house suffers from bad condensation (exposed location, old, cold walls, relatively draft-free, do lots of drying indoors in the winter).
So anyhoos, we have a dehumidifier. How is it most effective? Should all windows be closed (but this means less fresh air/circulation etc) or open (but then aren't I just taking moisture out of the fresh air that has just come in)?
Not sure it really matters, but if you are ridding the house of condensation, I suppose a closed house makes more sense - bit like not opening windows when an aircon system is on.
doors and windows should be closed. Heating should be on if possible I think - as the dehumidifier condenses out moisture in the air with a cooling coil.
Heating on windows closed
But then there are desiccant ones too - I guess heating doesn't matter as much with those or is a traditional one better in a house?
Doors closed for the place you are riding of moisture.
Could be fighting a losing battle depending on the power of your dehumidifier though.
Keep an eye on the water being collected,of you are using one from a decent hire shop,as i've known them to be left for to long and overfill the bucket,
But close windows and put heating on is the correct thing to do
or
Move 
I've got a desiccant one which is better when the temp is low but the normal ones are fine unless the temp is proper low (long term unheated house, boat or shed etc in the winter). Def windows and vents closed.
One of the best ways to make it work better is to put a pedestal fan or two on in the house to get the air moving around the house - nearly double to water colleted when I use one with mine. At the moment I put mine on every day for a timed two hours as I leave for work and collent cira 1.5 pints a day.
Ours used to gently heat the air. We go one in a dingy basement flat in Edinburgh and it used to take about 5 litres of water out per week. A clue that upstairs had a water leak was that it started taking out 12 litres a week. (Then we found the leak)
Our flat was always too cold to open the windows, so we used it in a little sealed box, with the gas fire on (and gas cooking) which would add to the moisture.
If it's a nice dry day I see no reason not to open the windows. But windows closed if it's damp outside. I leave mine in the hall, and the interior doors open.
Just spread bags of silica gel on the floor instead. The twins will have a ball building little silica gel castles. Think of the endless possibilities. 
The dessicant unit are generally better re noise level.
Plus (tho' it's mebbe not so important in a house) they work fine down nr zero degrees, whereas refrigerant units are less efficient (tho' cheaper to buy).
We've got a couple of Ruby Dry (AKA Amber Dry) units in outbuildings at the bottom of the garden where bikes/tools/plants are kept - don't seem to notice much difference on the electricity bill (at least, with one - only just bought the second after having had the other one for 3 or 4 years). Humidity settings are 40/50/60%, 60% seems to stop things rusting, also keeps the place above freezing in winter.
There's also an X-Dry, fewer humidity settings (tho' also a laundry mode) - the Amber/Ruby seems to be recommended for house use 'cos the fan options means it's generally quieter. Other thing with the X-Dry is it's got a timer on it, plus it autostarts if the power goes off. Smaller tank capacity than the Ruby/Amber. All of them you can fit an external drain pipe to.
All the above are about the 199 mark.
(Curiously Dry-It-Out - where I've bought the second from, since they were particularly good at swapping the first when it was DOA at delivery - also sell via ebay, but are more expensive online on their homepage.)
There are other dessicant units of course, but those are the only ones I've looked at since the original's worked well.
And yes, keep doors/windows closed.
We usually have the house relatively cool (18deg on evenings, 15deg day, 14 at night) so obviously never close to freezing, but never really warm.
I like the idea of a quieter unit as I am thinking about putting it in our bedroom (one of the worst culprits and also central (we have a loft room).
So is something like the Ruby (above ^^^^ and it is one I have been looking at anyway) going to be a good option?
Good point re. fans - we had a little desk fan I used to blow under a wardrobe (sited against the external wall that gets the full force of the cold wind and always suffers the worst for mould and mildew) but it packed in - perhaps I get another one of those.
Jond - is this the one you mean?
http://www.dry-it-out.com/ruby-dry-amber-dry-dh600-dehumidifier
Mine is the X dry - the laundry mode is great as is the timer. It is not noisy as such but not sure I'd want it on in my bedroom when I was trying to sleep. I bought it (the ruby would have been just as good) so I could use it outside to zap my shed or van from time to time, and it is very good at that. Paid £180 odd for it this time last year.
If it's a nice dry day I see no reason not to open the windows
If it's a nice day then just open all the windows and turn the dehumidifier off. No point trying to dehumidify the whole planet. We have the Ruby Dry unit as it's quieter and works without the heating on. We don't set the thermostat above 18 and it goes off at 8.30 in the evening so a standard unit would not perform at it's best.
Edit: I did wonder when I got ours out of the cupboard a week ago when we'd get the first dehumidifier post.
I guess if we had it in the bedroom we would switch it off at night if noise was a problem. We would struggle to put it anywhere else on the middle floor though (bathroom - no power sockets obviously; kid's bedroom - little fingers and all that).
All of this is shit I wish I didn't have to bother about to be honest but to keep finding mould in the house makes me want to scream.
If it's a nice day then just open all the windows and turn the dehumidifier off.
I use one during the day in winter to keep humidity down. They have a cut-out when the bucket is full.
Do check that you damp problem isn't caused by faulty roofing of pointing.
Do check that you damp problem isn't caused by faulty roofing of pointing.
And a wife who needs regular dousing in a steaming-hot shower.
We had one in a previous house; it needed emptying by hand, involving carrying the bucket thing into the kitchen down a single step. Once I forgot the step was there and rather dramatically rehumidified the kitchen floor...
yes the emptying is a pain, but it would be equal faff trying to get a pipe in and route it somewhere to drain I guess.
Perhaps you need a machine to take all that stored moisture and evaporate it off harmlessly into the atmosphere. Anyone have the number for Dragon's Den?
(-:
Not until I have had the team from The Apprentice devise me a marketing plan and come up with an ad campaign involving octopi
If that comes off you'll be squids in.
Get out!
>Jond - is this the one you mean?
Oops, only just checked back - indeedy - the Amber and Ruby are exactly the same apart from the case colour.
A bit difficult to compare with being in the house (esp with lots of washing), but I empty it every week or two, depending on the weather.
And yeah, I've had the odd minor mishap in extracting the water tray 
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