A dehumidifier is common in both houses and workplaces to keep the humidity optimum. Although it has a lot of benefits, and everyone wants to enjoy its operation, it has a lot of disadvantages too.
The users cannot ignore them because they can disturb you and make you tense. Here we have listed both its advantages, pros, and cons to help you make a better choice when you think about buying a dehumidifier.
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Main Disadvantages of a Dehumidifier
Following are a few disadvantages of a dehumidifier.
- Cost
The first thing is that a dehumidifier can cost you a lot. The machines in the market have high prices that most people cannot afford. The affordable units have limited benefits that might not work per your needs.
The units are not the only thing in this that cost a lot. Their electricity bills also go up when you start the operation in your rooms. The dehumidifiers need to run most of the hours in a day, making the expense on the utility bills.
It is continuous, and every month you have to pay for it. Some of you cannot afford it, and it is hard for you to operate it all the time.
- Noise
The dehumidifiers have compressors that can make a lot of noise. As it has to be operated most of the hours in a day, you have to listen to its noise almost always.
This makes the environment of the house or office very irritating, and you cannot focus on your work. It also makes it almost impossible for you to operate it at night while sleeping because you cannot sleep in such a noisy environment.
Although there are units with lower noise levels, they are either very expensive or not as per your needs of large rooms and higher humidity levels.
- Space
If you are living in a damp place, then you have to keep the dehumidifier in all seasons. In this way, it takes a permanent space in your rooms. Most of the people with a high humidity level have less space, and it is hard for them to give it to a machine.
Some of the dehumidifiers with high potentials need a lot of space, and it is hard for the users to make it for them. They are machines, and they might not match with the aesthetics of your interior, and in this way, they look awkward. So, it is one of their disadvantages that a user cannot ignore.
You can help it by looking for compact designs with high potentials, but it might be hard due to their high costs and high maintenance.
- Maintenance
It might seem to you that dehumidifiers are very easy to use and maintain, but this is not the truth. Although they are not hard to use, they are hard to maintain.
In a manual drainage system, you have to empty the water tank over again, and in some cases, it has a very small capacity that it fills after every few hours.
The filters also need a lot of maintenance. There are two types of filters. One of them is washable, and the other one is replaceable. Both needs the user’s effort, and in the second type, they have to spend a good amount of money which makes the dehumidifiers even more costly.
- Heat Production
The dehumidifiers also produce heat in small amounts. The energy they use in doing their operation is then released as heat. The air thrown back to the room is also warmer than the normal air of the room.
So, in summers, the operation of the dehumidifier can cause you more heat which is very disliked by the users. There are ways in which you can control this heat, but there is no way to eliminate it completely.
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Pros and Cons
After looking at the disadvantages of a dehumidifier, now it’s time to look at its pros and cons. A few of them are as follows.
Pros
- Optimum Humidity Level
The first benefit of a dehumidifier is that it keeps the humidity at an optimum level. It takes out all the extra moisture from your air, but it doesn’t make it more dryer.
Most of the units have humidity set or automatic shut off. You can choose the humidity level that you need to achieve. The unit will shut off the operation automatically when it reaches your target.
Now they also come with smart technology that senses that needed humidity level and turns off the operation by reaching there. They also have an automatic restart that starts the operation again when the humidity level rises again.
- Protection from Mold
Mold is one of the most dangerous and alarming results of higher humidity levels. It can make you sick that can lead to fatal infections in some severe cases. Moreover, it destroys your furniture and infrastructure.
The best way to deal with mold is to start the operation of a dehumidifier in your rooms. It will stop its growth and you will be carefree after it.
- Elimination of Bad odor
Bad odor is one of the most unpleasant things that you can feel in an atmosphere. It makes it hard for you to breathe in it freely. It is also very difficult to work or sleep in a place with a bad smell.
One of the main reasons for constant bad odor in a room is higher humidity level, and only a dehumidifier can deal with it most efficiently. It will completely eliminate bad odor from your rooms by keeping the humidity at an optimum level.
You will be able to sleep and work peacefully with its operation.
- Healthy Environment
The main focus of a dehumidifier is to target your atmosphere as there is only air in it. When it takes in the air from your room and squeezes all the extra water from it, the air it then throws back is completely pure.
It doesn’t have any germ in it, and your air quality improves up to 99%. The high air quality also makes the conditions unfavorable for infectious insects, and you get to live in a healthy environment.
A healthy environment provides you with more relaxing activities during the day and at night. It keeps your sleep comfortable.
- Helps in Asthma
A dehumidifier also helps in asthma. One of the reasons for asthmatic episodes is the waste of cockroaches, and a dehumidifier lets no insect attack your room.
It also makes it easy for the users to breathe in the fresh air with its continuous and almost effortless operation. Most of the patients with asthma agreed that they stopped having their asthmatic episodes after they installed the dehumidifiers in their rooms.
So, it is the easiest way to deal with your asthma.
- Protection from Allergies
If you get allergies frequently, then one of the main reasons is higher humidity levels that cause allergens, microbes, dust mites, and other allergy-causing particles to grow more in the high humid air.
When a dehumidifier starts its operation, it eliminates all of them, and you get an ultra-protection from all such allergies. You get to live a worry-free life both at your office and house if you have dehumidifiers at both places.
The following video by Compact Appliance also provides the detailed Benefit guide of dehumidifiers.
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Cons
We have already discussed the disadvantages of a dehumidifier. Here is a highlight of its cons.
- It can cause you a lot of costs both at the time of purchase and after when you start its operation.
- It is hard to maintain as it needs a lot of effort with emptying the water tank over again, replacing or washing its filters. The filters cleansing or replacement is must twice or thrice a year depending upon the unit type, potential, and usage.
- It can produce considerable heat and warm air, which makes it a hard decision for you to install it in summers or if you are living in a hot area where the temperature is higher in most of the months.
- It can also make a lot of noise which is not possible for you to ignore. In this way, instead of making your environment comfortable and peaceful, it makes it irritating, and the users have to stop the operation.
- The dehumidifiers need a permanent space in your rooms as they need to be run most of the hours in a day.
Conclusion
Dehumidifiers are used to lower the higher humidity levels. They have numerous pros such as optimum humidity level, healthy environment, protection from mold, allergies, and they also help in making asthma passive. All of them make your environment pure and healthy to breathe in it.
The disadvantages include high cost, maintenance, heat production, higher noise levels, and space. All of them cannot be ignored, but as a dehumidifier provides you with a healthy environment, so it is always better to install it.
You will never regret buying a dehumidifier and living with its operation.
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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 .