As the colder weather ushers in, money guru Martin Lewis has a savvy tip for households: give your ‘demon appliance’ tumble dryer a miss and opt for a dehumidifier to dry your laundry. With less sunshine for outdoor drying, and ever-looming issues like mould and musty odours, a dehumidifier may just be your winter saviour, not to mention it’s much kinder to your wallet than the costly tumble dryer.
The smart money expert highlights that while dehumidifiers have varying wattages, they’re substantially more energy-efficient and swift at drying clothes without inviting dampness or mould. On an episode of The Martin Lewis Podcast, which you can tune into via BBC Sounds, Spotify, and Apple Music, he breaks down the costs: “Many dehumidifiers have different wattages. The one I checked out was 200W. Once we know it’s 200W and we know a kilowatt is 1,000W, which is how electricity tends to be priced, we know this is a fifth of a kilowatt.”
“And you pay roughly 34p per kilowatt per hour. A fifth is 7p, so you’re going to pay roughly 7p per hour to run a dehumidifier at 200W, assuming it uses full power the whole time.”
Martin has noted that with energy costs having dipped since his initial advice, it would now cost about 5.5p an hour to run a dehumidifier, based on the current 26p unit prices for this winter, according to the Express. In comparison, energy supplier Utilita estimates that a tumble dryer can cost between 53p to £1 an hour to run, which is ten to 20 times the amount.
It’s indeed a demon appliance.
The Pro Breeze 12L dehumidifier comes with built-in laundry drying settings and a 12-litre tank, allowing you to run it multiple times before needing to empty the tray. It’s available on Amazon for £134.99. While it may seem pricey initially, it’s much cheaper than running a tumble dryer and fixing mould damage in the long run.
Devola offers a larger 20L model that also includes an air purifier, enabling you to enhance your home’s air quality while removing moisture and drying your clothes. The larger 20L model costs £179.99, while the smaller 12L size is priced at £119.06. It also features a quiet run mode at just 38 dB, quieter than a fridge.
Lastly, the EcoAir DD1 7L is slightly smaller, but its slim profile will easily fit into a living room. It has a laundry setting and runs quietly at just 34 dB, making it the quietest model here.
With a slightly higher price tag of £229, this model is the most advanced one on our list, boasting multiple settings, app connectivity, and glowing reviews. While there are some budget-friendly portable options available, they lack laundry settings and aren’t recommended for drying clothes due to their insufficient power and water storage capacity.