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  • What size dehumidifier…
  • poly
    Free Member

    Recently I moved some stuff in a room that’s just used for storage and discovered damp coming about 6-12″ above the skirting up the plasterboard wall in one corner. I’ve traced the source: a waste pipe was leaking – fortunately it is relatively clean water – not from a toilet!. So pipe fixed, most of the water dried up, but we now have a distinct smell of damp in that room and the adjoining one. Its not the repugnant wet dog smell (yet) but more the smell I associate with garages with unfinished walls/floors. I’m assuming this is a sign that there is still a damp/humidity issue, and we should put a dehumidifier in there.

    There’s no crawl space – its about 6″ on top of a concrete floor, and my only way in is through an inspection hatch (1′ x 2′) in a wall so there may even be a puddle sitting somewhere I can’t see. There is a vent in the storage room (fixed louvre vent in the plasterboard wall), but it has no windows.

    The affected room is below ground level (but the neighbouring one is above ground due to the slope of the land), and is always a bit cold. – it turns out in my investigating this there’s no insulation behind the plasterboard, or as far as I can tell under the floor.

    So dehummer – what sort of capacity/throughput do I need to dry out after a small flood? How effective if I can’t physically get the dehummer into the floor/wall void?

    irc
    Full Member

    I found a 12L one worked OK for drying a garage out. A previous version of this.

    cuts out when full. May need ewptying once a day if a very damp area.

    Worth getting a fan as close to the damp as possible to circulate the air towards the dehumidifyer. Or blowing air into damp void to circulate the damp air around?

    Maybe a better buy.

    https://www.screwfix.com/p/blyss-wdh-122e-12ltr-dehumidifier/494gy

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Assuming you are thinking of buying a dehumidifier, would it not be easier/cheaper just to get some heat there (ie a fan heater on a low setting) and plenty of ventilation as you aren’t trying to manage an ongoing problem, just get a damp patch dried out.

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    kelvin
    Full Member

    Good dehumidifiers heat and blow anyway. Shouldn’t need extra fans or heaters. Useful things. Keep your bikes living longer, when not in use drying out bits of your home.

    thebibbles
    Full Member

    I’ve got one of these that I’ve used to get rid of a damp patch in our basement. Now it lives in the utility room and makes drying clothes and damp bike gear nice and easy through the winter.
    https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/cd20le/electriq-cd20le-dehumidifier

    poly
    Free Member

    Assuming you are thinking of buying a dehumidifier, would it not be easier/cheaper just to get some heat there (ie a fan heater on a low setting) and plenty of ventilation as you aren’t trying to manage an ongoing problem, just get a damp patch dried out.

    I don’t know – if I’d had to do this before I wouldn’t be asking a bunch of middle aged IT consultants for advice on a bike forum. The internet told me that to get rid of the smell I need a dehumidifier. I guess that getting heat under the floor is not going to be simple, whilst diffusion will mean it will dry the air if there is good circulation. To me ventilation and good heating are slightly contradictory – I can open a widow or whack the heating up… Heating it without reducing the humidity feels like it creates a breeding ground for mold/bacteria and hence worse smell.

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    we have that screfix one.

    Its made such a difference and as above looks after the bikes in the basement when not needed. it blasts out dry air, plenty enough to get the air moving.

    humidifers work best when the air is warmer but the room gets notable warmer as it does its job.

    but if its plaster board and its been wet wet then just rip it off and start again it’ll be stinking and possibly totally knackered.

    if you just blow warm air at it you’ll need to extract that warm moist air or it will just make the whole room a swampy mess.

    They’re also great for drying clothes on a clothes dryer.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    I use a fan blowing at the damp area to evaporate most of the moisture in leak situations – works much faster than a dehumidifier. We also have a dehumidifier which is useful for keeping a room dry but it its much slower, we mainly use it for drying washing indoors in the winter, rather than using a tumble drier.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Heating it without reducing the humidity

    Heating it will cause evaporation which will, by nature, decrease the humidity assuming you have good ventilation (which can just be opening interior doors and getting good circulation of air – it doesn’t necessarily mean opening windows and cooling the room) as I suggested. I just think you are potentially going to be spending lots of money on something that could be fixed for considerably less as you have already identified and fixed the source of the damp.

    hugo
    Free Member

    Don’t stress the choice. Any decent one from screwfix should work.

    As long as you’ve solved the issue, which you have, then they are great things. Just comes down to speed, size, cost and how often to empty.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Got one of these earlier this year, worth every penny and very useful…
    https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/dd128/ecoair-dd128-dehumidifier

    Has massively improved my damp double garage and stopped mould in the bathroom (I move it about).

    twinw4ll
    Free Member

    Rig up a fan to get the air through the vent, it’ll dry it out far more quickly and it’s cheaper.

    hugo
    Free Member

    I prefer moist air being removed rather than moved!

    poly
    Free Member

    if you just blow warm air at it you’ll need to extract that warm moist air or it will just make the whole room a swampy mess.

    that was my thinking – I’ve tried Johndoh’s just heat it with the doors open approach… now its starting to feel like a typical outdoor centre drying room: humid, wiffy, and hot! increasing the circulation more (doors are open to neighbouring room) is going to involve opening doors to the rest of the house which means letting the smell circulate so I’m not too keen on that.

    but if its plaster board and its been wet wet then just rip it off and start again it’ll be stinking and possibly totally knackered.

    the plasterboard looks OK – like it would be fine with a coat of paint. I’m more concerned about moisture that might be trapped the other side of the board/beneath the floor.

    Rig up a fan to get the air through the vent, it’ll dry it out far more quickly and it’s cheaper.

    I use a fan blowing at the damp area to evaporate most of the moisture in leak situations – works much faster than a dehumidifier.

    Ok I have cobbled together a fan blowing into the inspection hatch and a heater warming the air that feeds that so I am now warming and circulating air in the cavity between the plasterboard/floor and the concrete. Sorry environment!

    As long as you’ve solved the issue, which you have, then they are great things. Just comes down to speed, size, cost and how often to empty.

    Yeah I guess that was was the crux of my question. I have no feel for how much water I’m trying to dry out – so is it a 1L unit which seems to cost c.£<40 or a ~12L unit which seems to cost 3x as much. Emptying daily (or even more often) is not a problem, but equally there is a sink in the adjoining room (hence the leak!) so its not impossible to have it continuously drain. Everyone here seems to be pointing at the bigger units – can I read into that that a £40 thing will not cut it? £30-40 would probably be worth a punt, £100+ and it starts to get into territory where ripping the plasterboard off, airing it thoroughly and then replacing is not ridiculous*… although the ability to dry wet kit quickly is attractive…

    * That could turn into a massive project if I then decided to insulate the space properly since its all open!

    chakaping
    Free Member

    This is a bit sad, but it’s one of the best value purchases I’ve made.

    Very satisfying to use and just makes the house nicer.

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