Posted 12 July 2022

Dehumidifier to replace tumble dryer. Do I buy a cover?

With rising electricity costs, I have been looking at getting an air dryer to replace the tumble dryer which when it’s raining or cold, gets used 5 times a week with baby clothes, bed sheets and towels.

What I would like to do is buy a cover for my manual airer, then chuck the dehumidifier unit under the cover with the clothes and hope the clothes dry quickly. Does anyone else do this? Do towels dry quickly

New Comment

6 Comments

sorted by

12th Jul 2022
I'd be careful trying this as you don't want to block the vents on the dehumidifier as it could potentially overheat. And it shouldn't be too near the clothes either in case any water or moisture drips inside
12th Jul 2022
Will you be drying in a large or small room?

I have a small utility room maybe 5x6 feet, so I have a wall mounted drying rack in there and run the dehumidifier with the door shut and generally stuff is dry after 4-5 hours, including towels. As long as they've had a good spin first and aren't coming out of the wash dripping wet.

So if you have a smallish room there is probably no need for the cover; maybe in a larger room or if you can't shut the door a cover would help
12th Jul 2022
We use a tumble drier a lot as i cant hang washing outdoors because of severe allergies. I hang clothes on 2 maidens that cant go in the drier, then turn on the dehumidifier and the clothes definitely dry far quicker. Really helpful in the winter.
12th Jul 2022
How much electric does a dehumidifer use ?

We use an air dryer and as long as the washing goes on at least a 1200spin stuff will be dry enough to put in the airing cupboard the next day. If we put the washing on a quickwash with like a 1min 800 spin then it takes an extra day.

One tip i was told was put an old duvet cover over the top of the air dryer to speed up drying.

You do need a well vented room for an air dryer though.