Dehumidifiers are a need in both winters and summers to keep the humidity of your room at an optimum level to fight against mold, mildew, and bad odor. It maintains a healthy lifestyle, keeps you fresh, and protects your furniture and other items.
There are common questions for the consumers of dehumidifiers in the market: Dehumidifiers that don’t produce heat? The answer is that there are a few tips to avoid its heat. This little awareness can save you in summers, and you can enjoy the cool air conditioning with optimum humidity level and fresh air.
Why does a Dehumidifier Produce Heat?
The unit captures air from your room and runs through its coils. There the moisture starts to squeeze into the water tank. The energy used to squeeze the moisture from the air is released as warm, exhausted air. This is how the dehumidifiers produce heat.
Three Types of Dehumidifiers
Following are the three major types of dehumidifiers. All of them produce more or less heat than the other one. You can choose that which one can work the best for you.
- Refrigerant Dehumidifiers
This type of dehumidifier works on the same mechanism as a fridge. The air is captured, and moisture is squeezed through metal plates or coils into the water tank. It comes with a fan that captures air into the machine and then passes it to the coils. The smart technology in these units allows automatic shut-off when the ideal humidity is reached.
It is appropriate for average temperatures, but it cannot function well at lower temperatures if you live in a little hot area. It would be best if you chose this refrigerator dehumidifier.
- Desiccant Dehumidifiers
This type of dehumidifier has a different operation than other types. It absorbs the water from your room’s air in silica crystals and then drains this extra water into the water tank through a pipe. They are usually small and compact designs that work best for small areas.
They use more energy in extracting the moisture, producing more heat. So, if you live in a cold area, this is an appropriate option. Otherwise, in hot temperatures, it doesn’t work efficiently.
- Whole House Dehumidifiers
The last type is a whole-house dehumidifier. It works as a single operation and saves the whole house from mold and other problems associated with extra moisture.
It fits in the loft area and extracts the extra moisture from every corner by circulating the air through grills and hallways. The extra water is extracted out through the leak points in your house.
It works very fast and uses less energy. This results in producing less heat than other dehumidifiers. Additionally, it is also effortless, but it is not affordable to everyone, but once it comes home, it has low energy utilities.
Things to Consider for Your Dehumidifier
When you decide to buy a dehumidifier, it would be best to consider the following things to get better results.
- Type
the first thing to consider is the type of dehumidifier. The whole house dehumidifier is of three types, as mentioned above. You can choose any one of them according to your needs.
It would be best if you reference the weather conditions of your area. If you live in a hot area, choose a whole-house dehumidifier, but it is expensive. So, people mostly choose the refrigerator one. This one is affordable and produces less heat than desiccant dehumidifiers. If you live in a cold place, you must choose the desiccant one as it is cheaper, easy to operate, but the heat production is higher than the rest.
Pro-Tip
Choose the refrigerator time as it is best for average temperatures and affordable.
- Pint capacity
The pint capacity is the daily moisture removing the ability of a dehumidifier. It is very important to consider as it serves the main purpose of the dehumidifier. It depends upon the humidity levels in your rooms. If it is intensely wet, you should look for a higher pint capacity.
Lower pint capacity dehumidifiers also work for you if the humidity level is not very high. It also depends upon whether you are looking for a dehumidifier for a commercial area or a residential one. The commercial grade works the best for business areas, while you can choose according to the excess of extra moisture for home use.
Pro-Tip
A good pint capacity is above 50. If you are getting 50 pints or more than this, then you should buy the unit as it will remove the moisture from your area more efficiently in a short period.
- Area capacity
You must consider the area capacity of the dehumidifier you are buying. Before looking into the market, measure the unit’s area you are buying. Then compare it with the ones you like. If the area capacity of the dehumidifier is lower than the area of your room, you will see very low results. It will not be able to dehumidify the room efficiently, and you can end up wasting your money. So, to avoid the loss, compare the area capacity.
Pro-Tip
if you are getting the larger area capacity in your budget, which is more than your room area, you should buy it as it will work more efficiently in smaller areas than its ability.
- Size
The size of the dehumidifier also matters as it depends upon its space in your house. If you place the dehumidifier in a crawl space or storeroom and have space, you may choose a large one. If you had to keep it in your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, or walk in the closet, then choose the one with a smaller size. The size of the dehumidifier doesn’t depend on its efficiency. The market has compact size and high-efficiency options, so try to do a good search and find the best unit to enjoy healthy and fresh air in your rooms.
Pro-Tip
We suggest always choosing a compact dehumidifier as it is very spacious, and you don’t have to compromise your space for a healthy and fresh environment in your house or office.
- Drainage system.
The drainage system of the dehumidifier is a major concern for the users. It depends entirely on their needs. Two drainage systems include automatic and manual drainage.
If you don’t use the same dehumidifier in more than one place, you can use the automatic drainage that features a drain hose. This process is continuous and effortless.
In manual drainage, the water tank needs to be emptied manually. Try to get your hands on the dehumidifier with an automatic shut-off that turns off the operation when the tank reaches its full capacity. This avoids overflowing and saves energy. The advantage is that you can place your dehumidifier anywhere in your house.
Pro-Tip
We suggest you choose a dehumidifier with multiple drainage systems as they are more user-friendly, and you can use them in different ways at any time.
- Energy efficiency
Whenever you buy a dehumidifier, check its energy utility. It tells you about its monthly expense, and you can compare it with your budget. The market has energy star-certified dehumidifiers that use very little energy. Don’t compromise the efficiency of the dehumidifier on its less utility. It is important to get an efficient unit because that is the main purpose.
Pro-Tip
We suggest buying an energy star-certified dehumidifier with lower utility and high efficiency.
How to Reduce Heat Production with a Dehumidifier
You cannot stop a dehumidifier from producing heat, but you can control it by following the ways given below.
- UV protection window shields
They contribute to protecting your rooms from direct sunlight that might cause heat. They are affordable and very easy to maintain. You can make your house more heat protected with these. Additionally, they are healthy for human skin, too, as they filter the sunlight which comes in contact with it.
- Air tightening your rooms
The second tip that you can follow is to keep your room airtight so that the dehumidifier can work efficiently and effectively. In this way, there would be no heat coming from the outside environment.
You can use weatherstripping too for sealing the space in your doors and windows. They are made of rubber and very easy to use.
Conclusion
The heat produced by a dehumidifier can be controlled by following a buyer guide given above. You can choose a better dehumidifier according to your needs and follow the measure of heat production to get the best results. A dehumidifier is a small investment that leads users to a healthy lifestyle in this dire time of global warming and high air pollution.
They are easy to use and maintain but put your life on a greater quality by preventing allergies from dust and other particles in the normal air of your house or office. The protection to your house furniture, walls, and roof is a bonus for the users from the dehumidifiers.
We wish you luck with your next purchase of a dehumidifier!
Hi, my name is Fahad. I am the Electrical MEP Design Engineer in Dubai for over Two years now. Fahad is experienced in the HVAC industry, installing, maintaining, troubleshooting malfunctions for all sorts of complex heating/ventilating/air conditioning systems. Fahad started his website to share his past experience and knowledge in the field of humidity control. He has a lot of valuable advice for visitors and writes great articles with lots of information about home humidity control .