Ideal for smaller areas, moisture absorbers can be placed in small utility rooms, wardrobes, cupboards and cabinets to help combat the build-up of mould and condensation in poorly-ventilated areas. Unlike dehumidifiers, they do not use electricity. Typically, they are filled with absorbent beads. Moisture is absorbed from the air and collects in a small chamber. Most moisture absorbers are not reusable, so will need to be replaced once the water chamber is full. Dehumidifiers range in capacity. The smallest start at around 500ml per day. These models are often cheap but are only suitable for single rooms, boats or caravans. Whilst this dehumidifier doesn't offer a specific laundry drying function, we still found it helpful at drying wet washing, although it took longer to do so than the MeacoDry Arete One Dehumidifier or Pro Breeze 20L Premium Dehumidifier with Special Laundry Mode which both offer a speedy dedicated laundry-drying boost mode. When people talk about a dehumidifier’s size, they usually don’t mean its physical dimensions. Instead, the size or capacity is how many litres of water it’s able to extract per day. In practice, larger capacity models tend to be physically bigger too, but this isn’t always the case. Thanks to this, the Silentnight 39899 dehumidifier has noise levels of just 25dBA, and as our reviewer says 'when I say it’s whisper quiet, I mean it. I couldn't hear this dehumidifier whilst it was running at all. That makes it perfect for anywhere you want to maintain peace and quiet' – like the bedroom.

Cooling & Condensation: Inside a dehumidifier, the air is cooled using refrigeration or desiccant dehumidifier technology. This cooling causes the moisture in the air to condense into water droplets.RH is comfortable for most houses. This will protect properties and belongings from unwanted mould and moisture while controlling dust mites. Reducing humidity below 50% is unnecessary. Relative humidity (RH) is the measure of water currently in the air versus how much water the air can hold. It is generally written as a percentage, and 100% RH (also known as ‘dew point’) will condense on any surface. An example of this is when you are in a shower and the steam condenses on a cold surface such as a mirror. The EcoAir DD1 Simple MK3 Dehumidifier can extract up to 7.5 litres of moisture per day in cold temperatures as low as 1ºc, so it's a very useful option for conservatorys, basements or garages that don't have dedicated heating, as well as unheated rooms in the home during winter months. The unit isn't the lightest or most compact we've tested, but then we wouldn't expect that from a machine this powerful. However, built-in wheels, a retractable carry handle, and cable tidy make it easier to move around the house and store neatly away when it's not in use. If you’re looking for a small dehumidifier, then the Russell Hobbs RHDH1061G Portable Dehumidifier is about as compact as it gets, measuring just H22 x W14 x D14cm and weighing in at 0.9kg.

That doesn’t mean capacity should be ignored though. As a general rule, bigger capacity dehumidifiers can deal with larger spaces and higher levels of moisture. For multi-room use: In larger homes with many rooms experiencing high humidity. Consider a central location like the living room or hallway. This allows for even distribution of drier air. You can also move the dehumidifier between rooms as needed.

DryNature17L

Accurate adjustable humidistat allowing settings from 35 to 80% relative humidity in 5% relative humidity steps It all depends on how much space you need to dehumidify. Dehumidifiers are often rated in terms of their extraction rate: how much water they can remove from the air in a single day. This is separate from their water tank capacity, which covers how much water they can store before you need to empty them out. If you’re only planning to dehumidify occasionally – for a few hours here or there in a kitchen or bathroom, for instance – you can get away with a mini-dehumidifier with an extraction rate of less than one litre. It will be cheap to buy, cheap to run and perfectly effective. The same applies if you’re trying to fight damp or mould in a smaller area, such as a wardrobe, utility room or box bedroom.