Best Dehumidifier For Bathrooms

Bathrooms are always damp, it’s the very nature of the room, with 3, 4, or even 5 people bathing and showering every day it’s no wonder it’s always wet. The problem is damp, moist conditions are the preferred breeding grounds for mould, mildew and other fungal and bacterial infestations. These are not only unsightly, they can be unhealthy and even cause structural damage to your home.

So this dampness problem needs addressing and fast. That’s where the dehumidifier comes in, but it’s not as simple to choose a dehumidifier for the bathroom as it is any other room. Bathrooms have a specific problem when it comes to any electrical appliance, namely water. So what do you need to consider before you buy a dehumidifier for the bathroom?

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Table of Contents

How To Choose A Dehumidifier For The Bathroom

There are a few things to consider before selecting the correct dehumidifier for your bathroom, let’s have a look at the main points.

Size
The first thing to consider is the size, many dehumidifiers are large, cumbersome beasts that would take up too much space in the average bathroom.
Design
We’re not too worried about aesthetics here, it’s more about keeping safe. Electricity and water don’t do well in general, so look for a model that’s resistant to water splashes and possibly getting slightly wet.
Capacity
We’ve looked at the overall size but what’s also important is the capacity or size of the water tank. You need a fairly large capacity for a busy bathroom.
Power
The dehumidifier needs to be powerful enough to cope with the amount of moisture it’s going to have to deal with. Think about how steamy it gets in your bathroom and then multiply that by how many people are showering every morning.
Situation
This is often overlooked until it’s too late. Is the bathroom near a bedroom, if so you need a quieter dehumidifier, or else someone will not be getting a lay-in.
Allergens
Some dehumidifiers have HEPA filters to remove 99.97% of the allergens that can cause asthma and respiratory infections.
Room size
The overall size of your bathroom will affect the ability of the dehumidifier to remove moisture effectively.
Energy consumption
Let’s face it, power’s not cheap. Running costs need to be considered, you’re going to be using the dehumidifier every day in all probability. That’s 7 days a week, 365 days a year, that’s a lot of electricity.

What Is The Best Dehumidifier For A Bathroom?

So after taking all of the above into consideration, we are now going to throw a proverbial spanner in the works. There are 2 types of dehumidifiers available and one is definitely more suitable for bathrooms than the other. We’ll have a look at both types just to give you an informed decision.

Refrigerant Dehumidifiers

These are the most common type of dehumidifier used in homes. They work like your fridge, a cold steel coil allows moist air that’s drawn into the unit to condense and the water is dripped into a reservoir. The dry air is then recirculated around the room.

Desiccant Dehumidifiers

These work in a very different, yet somewhat similar way. They draw air into the machine, extract the moisture from it and recirculate it back into the room once it’s dried. The difference is how they do it. They use a desiccant rotor to extract the moisture which is then heated inside the unit allowing it to release the water to the reservoir.

The Most Suitable Dehumidifier For A Bathroom

The best type of dehumidifier for use in a bathroom is the refrigerant dehumidifier, Why? That cold coil that allows water to condense on is only able to work with warm air, bathrooms are full of hot, steamy air. The more steam produced in the room, the more efficient the coils will trap water. As an added bonus, refrigerant dehumidifiers are much more energy-efficient than desiccant models.

How To Calculate The Size Of Your Bathroom

This is easy to do, all you need is a tape measure. Just measure the length and the width of the room and then use this simple formula to work out the square meterage of your bathroom.

Length x Width = square metres

So let’s imagine your bathroom is 5 metres long and 4 metres wide, the calculation would look like this:

5 x 4 = 20

This gives us a total area of 20 square metres. Now we have the area, all we have to do is check the relevant dehumidifier to be sure it will have a sufficient capacity, and we’re ready to purchase and install our dehumidifier. On a quick search of the internet, we noticed many dehumidifiers are marketed with a value for the applicable area. But as a rough guide here’s a chart to help you get the most suitable size for your bathroom.

Area in total in square metres	Capacity in litres
Up to 46 square metres	4.7 litres
Up to 93 square metres	6.6 litres
Up to 140 square metres	8.5 litres
Up to 190 square metres	10 litres
Up to 230 square metres	12 litres

What Size Dehumidifier For Bathroom?

From all that we have said and done so far, it should be pretty obvious that the correct size dehumidifier for your bathroom depends on how many people are using the room, and the area of the room. It should be a refrigerant (or compressor) dehumidifier and it should be splash-proof to some degree. It should also be fairly quiet(if the bathroom is near a bedroom), and timer controlled might be advantageous too.