Boat owners prefer this type of dehumidifier to compressor dehumidifiers because they work so much better at low temperatures as they do not care whether the temperature is 10°C or 20°C, their performance remains the same. Whereas a compressor dehumidifier if always less effective as the temperature drops, until it eventually freezes up and ice forms on it's coils.
The DD8L and the DD8L Junior look identical and have the same capacity and performance. The difference is that the DD8L has an air treatment facility with a silver-nano filter to kill bacteria and an ioniser to trap dust/pollen etc in the air. So if someone is living on the boat the DD8L is the better dehumidifier, if no-one is on the boat the DD8L Junior is the cheaper and more sensible choice.
What makes these two dehumidifiers special is that desiccant dehumidifiers, when the relative humidity is reached keep the fan running to sample the air for exceptionally accurate dehumidification. On a boat, because the air volume is small, this is not really necessary and having the fan constantly running pushes up the electricity bill, often at rates higher than the normal domestic average tariff.
Meaco have, therefore, made these two new dehumidifiers more intelligent. When the relative humidity is reached the dehumidifier will sample the air for 5 more minutes and will then turn itself off completely. Rather than just stay asleep and maybe miss the relative humidity increasing and being absorbed by organic material, the DD8L and DD8L Junior turn their fan on every 30 minutes for 5 minutes to sample the air. If the relative humidity is still low they go back to sleep, if the relative humidity has increased they start dehumidifying again.
This provides the perfect compromise between accurate dehumidification and energy saving.
If a boat is well sealed and there is no human activity then there is no reason why the relative humidity should increase too fast. Therefore the dehumidifier will only be on for 10 minutes in every sixty, rather than the old method of being on for a continuous 60 minutes. Therefore potentially these new models will use 1/6th of the electricity of the old models.
Both models feature the standard Meaco features for boat dehumidifiers, i.e., no castors so that they do not roll around, lightweight, a hose in the box for continuous drainage, auto restart after a power cut and a laundry drying mode, and whisper quiet mode for those living on board.
The Meaco DD8L is €199.00 and the Meaco DD8L Junior is €169 both including delivery and VAT. These new models will land in the Ireland at the end of October.
For more information on Meaco Products in Ireland, please contact CH Marine Ltd Tel 028 23190 E-mail [email protected]
