Desiccant Dehumidifier Or Compressor Dehumidifier?

Many people would choose the compressor over the desiccant, but why is that? With the specifications stating that the desiccant runs through (at the highest settings) 600w/h at 20ºC/60% and has a 7l/d tank while the compressor runs 350w/h at 30ºC/80% with 20l/d. Little do they know that looking at the numbers the compressor looks promising but this is not always the case, and depending on where you live, the desiccant can actually be more efficient. 

In the UK, a desiccant dehumidifier will be a better choice.

You can choose to run the desiccant dehumidifier at its "normal" setting (300W) rather than its turbo settings (600W).  When you choose the setting correctly, it will make the power consumption at a more comparable level.  See Turbo below for more information.

The optimum temperature for extracting humidity for compressor dehumidifiers is in the range of 20ºC-30ºC. The compressor dehumidifiers will not work at the same efficiency between the temperature 0ºC to 5ºC because it relies on freezing rods which condense the humid air. Due to this, if the temperature of the air falls below 5ºC it would be harder for a dehumidifier to condense and extract the humidity in the room. If the temperature is above 15ºC the compressor will extract humid air faster; this due to the difference in temperature. The compressor refrigerants are also a greenhouse gas that can affect global warming.

The desiccant on the other hand can run from 1ºC to 30ºC with a constant and stable intake of humid air, which means that even though it uses 600w/h, the consistency means that the electricity used has no fluctuations, coming to a lower amount of money spent. Despite the desiccant only being 7l/d it will actually be more useful because the stability of intake does not rely on temperature but only on how humid the air is. Also, the desiccant does not use a compressor, which means that it does not emit greenhouse gases, as an eco friendly product.

In most European countries, the weather can get as low as 0ºC or as high as 30ºC, so in comparison, the desiccant is more reliable and useful because it works at its optimum level through out that range, where as the compressor would work better the hotter the temperature it is in. Also the desiccant is much quieter than the compressor.

 

Noise level - Dessicant dehumidifiers are quieter than compressor dehumidifiers

Ambient Temperature - Desiccant dehumidifiers work well in ambient temperature range between 1 to 40 degrees celcius.  Compressor dehumidifiers only work well between 16 to 40 degree celcius.

Weight - Desiccant dehumidifiers are much lighter. in weight  For example a 7 Litre per day dessicant dehumidifier is equivalent to a 10 Litre per day compressor dehumidifier but the weight is 6Kg and 11 Kg.

Power Consumption - Generally desiccant type will use consume slightly higher energy cost compared to compressor type.  However a desiccant dehumidifier will generally extract moisture at a faster speed than a compressor, therefore it is debatable as to whether a desiccant dehumidifier is more expensive to run.    See next section Turbo.

Turbo - Most desiccant dehumidifiers come with a turbo function where it literally doubles up its power when you need to do a fast extraction of moisture, for example there has been a flood, or you want to dry your laundry with the dehumidifier.  This turbo function is designed to be used on a need to basis rather than as a normal basis.  Compressor dehumidifiers do not have a turbo option. Generally the highest power consumption is being compared between one dehumidifier to another in the case of desiccant dehumidifiers, comparison is made between its Turbo mode against a normal mode of a compressor dehumidifier.

 

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