electrical calculation please
We are looking at a portable dehumidifier. It apparently runs off a/c via a d/c adapter. specs says it draws 20w DC and is " energy efficient " How much of and energy hog will it actually be?...
Forum Discussion
Hmm, well, hopefully this isn't taken as spam or promotion, given it's my first post here. Signed up because I kept getting taken here in results, and figured I might like hanging out here.
Anyway, I wanted to add my two cents as I've been researching dehumidifiers myself. Primarily for our TT, as we had condensation while camping and we plan to camp through the winter. Specifically, I wanted something light and small, yet effective. The peltier based ones sold all over the place like the one linked where usually about a pint a day. That's about what a person will exhale in 24 hours, so for two people cooking and showering those were right out.
Compressor models didn't seem good either. Heavy, noisy, and they typically aren't effective while cold (below about 65 °F). So after a bunch of looking around I came across a desiccant wheel dehumidifier. 14 lbs, 18" x 11" x 7", and rated at 13 pints per day. No compressor, the only noise is a fan. Seemed perfect for an RV dehumidifier, so I bought it.
For the OP, there's both pros and cons for this (rare) style of dehumidifier:
Pros: It's smaller than most dehumidifiers. 13 pints/day is likely more than enough to maintain a sealed up 12' x 14' room. And there's no compressor to break or refrigerant to leak out, the latter seeming to be the biggest killer of compressor based dehumidifiers. After reaching set humidity, it shuts off, and runs the fan for a couple of minutes every so often to "mix up" the room air and get a more accurate humidity reading.
Cons: It costs $180. It's power hungry. I measured 480 watts and 12 pints/day at 70 °F and 50% RH (pretty in-line with the specs), which works out to 1.0 pints/kWh. That's pretty pathetic efficiency, given that a 30 pint energy star compressor based dehumidifier is roughly 3.9 pints/kWh. The 480 watts means it's also a mini space heater, so if heat is a concern it may be out (it does have low mode at 280 watts, but with correspondingly less humidity removal rate). And if it ran full time on high (seems unlikely, given a sealed room above grade), that's 345 kWh/month, or $42 at a reasonable electric rate of $0.12/kWh.
Sorry this post is so long, I tend to ramble. Please note I'm not saying this is the best dehumidifier for the job! However, it seemed to me that inefficient as it is, given a sealed room and presumably low runtime required to maintain a low humidity, it may be a useful option to consider. The biggest pro is there is no compressor, the biggest con is the inefficiency. I cannot speak to lifetime, as I just got it. As always, do your own research!
EDIT: To replace removed link with a basic description not containing any product names.
Anyway, I wanted to add my two cents as I've been researching dehumidifiers myself. Primarily for our TT, as we had condensation while camping and we plan to camp through the winter. Specifically, I wanted something light and small, yet effective. The peltier based ones sold all over the place like the one linked where usually about a pint a day. That's about what a person will exhale in 24 hours, so for two people cooking and showering those were right out.
Compressor models didn't seem good either. Heavy, noisy, and they typically aren't effective while cold (below about 65 °F). So after a bunch of looking around I came across a desiccant wheel dehumidifier. 14 lbs, 18" x 11" x 7", and rated at 13 pints per day. No compressor, the only noise is a fan. Seemed perfect for an RV dehumidifier, so I bought it.
For the OP, there's both pros and cons for this (rare) style of dehumidifier:
Pros: It's smaller than most dehumidifiers. 13 pints/day is likely more than enough to maintain a sealed up 12' x 14' room. And there's no compressor to break or refrigerant to leak out, the latter seeming to be the biggest killer of compressor based dehumidifiers. After reaching set humidity, it shuts off, and runs the fan for a couple of minutes every so often to "mix up" the room air and get a more accurate humidity reading.
Cons: It costs $180. It's power hungry. I measured 480 watts and 12 pints/day at 70 °F and 50% RH (pretty in-line with the specs), which works out to 1.0 pints/kWh. That's pretty pathetic efficiency, given that a 30 pint energy star compressor based dehumidifier is roughly 3.9 pints/kWh. The 480 watts means it's also a mini space heater, so if heat is a concern it may be out (it does have low mode at 280 watts, but with correspondingly less humidity removal rate). And if it ran full time on high (seems unlikely, given a sealed room above grade), that's 345 kWh/month, or $42 at a reasonable electric rate of $0.12/kWh.
Sorry this post is so long, I tend to ramble. Please note I'm not saying this is the best dehumidifier for the job! However, it seemed to me that inefficient as it is, given a sealed room and presumably low runtime required to maintain a low humidity, it may be a useful option to consider. The biggest pro is there is no compressor, the biggest con is the inefficiency. I cannot speak to lifetime, as I just got it. As always, do your own research!
EDIT: To replace removed link with a basic description not containing any product names.
