TUMBLE dryers are fast becoming a gadget of the past because the almighty dehumidifier is taking over as the must-have item to solve all your household problems.
Meaco is said to be one of the best dehumidifier brands on the market.
Fabulous spoke exclusively to Chris Michael, managing director of Meaco about why the nifty gadget is better than a tumble dryer at drying your laundry.
It can also reduce damp and mould, and get rid of condensation – all with a flick of the switch.
It takes around five hours to dry “easy” items such as activewear and underwear inside, whereas “difficult” items such as jeans and hoodies can take around nine hours.
Add a dehumidifier, and your wet washing will dry so much faster.
No need for heating
Dehumidifiers recreate the perfect clothes drying conditions you get when you hang wet washing outside during the warmer months of the year.
Chris said: “Think about how you dry washing outside – you would look for a dry, sunny and windy day. This is what you need to recreate indoors to dry laundry.
“The warmth from the house is fine, but there’s no need to add in extra heat (as heat costs money).
“Wind is vital – clothes dry faster on a windy day because the air blowing through the clothes literally forces the moisture out of the clothes.”
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Switch on laundry mode
But to get the full effect, you need to switch on laundry mode – which is specifically for pulling out moisture from clothes.
When it comes to cost, running a dehumidifier costs around 4p an hour – compared to 65p to £1.76 for a tumble dryer.
The expert added: “Using a dehumidifier to dry laundry is more cost-effective than a tumble dryer and could save you as much as 95p when drying a load of washing*.”
But to dry your wet washing even quicker, Chris said you need to place the clothes a certain way on your airer.
He said you should be putting “smaller clothes on the bottom and large ones at the top”.
“Use hangers where possible to spread clothes out, and all the clothes should be exposed to the air to help them dry,” he added.
Location is key
The location of the clothes airer and dehumidifier is also key.
Chris explained: “In a perfect world, run the dehumidifier in your ‘laundry room’ often enough so that the relative humidity in there never goes above 50 per cent rh – you won’t dry clothes fast in a damp room.
“If drying laundry, selecting as small a space as possible to do so will enable the dehumidifier to dry washing quicker, improving energy efficiency.
“Positioning the dehumidifier correctly will also help to save electricity.
“It is important that the dehumidifier is placed close to the wet clothes.
"Putting the machine flush against a wall will mean the appliance has to work extra hard to pull in the air, which is inefficient.
“The exception to this is the Meaco Arete dehumidifier range, which has been uniquely designed specifically so it can be pushed up against a wall,” Chris noted.
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Another benefit to using a dehumidifier over your tumble dryer is they’re “gentler on fabrics”.
Clothes hung on an airer and blasted dry by a dehumidifier are not being “tossed and tumbled in a dryer” so it “prevents static cling”, meaning your clothes will last longer.
Does it really work?
In a recent test conducted by The Sun, the MeacoDry Arete One 12L which you can buy for £190 from Argos, scored 5/5.
MoPasty spoke about her experience of using a dehumidifier to dry her washing: "I’ve had it two weeks and l love it. I’ve not used tumble drier since getting it and brilliant at drying washing."
Okka said: "You put wet clothes in a closed room and leave the Laundry mode on. The machine will stop itself after running for six hours. Thanks to low-running costs, this appliance is superb for those living frugally in small flats that has limited space or money to dry the clothes."
Alan added: "Quiet, easy to use and dries clothes. Leave it running on laundry mode and they are dry. Much better than clogging radiators up with clothes or using tumble dryer."
*Based on a dehumidifier that can extract up to 12 litres a day and runs at 0.157 kWh, washing drying within six hours (length of a Meaco dehumidifier’s laundry mode), and the average tumble dryer using roughly 4.5kWh per cycle. Calculations are based on the price of 27p per kWh (October 2023).
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