When shopping for a dehumidifier, it is vital to choose the right capacity or size.
Sadly, a lot of people are often confused as to what size really means as well as how it can affect water extraction.
Today, you will know about the basics of size to guide you in choosing the right dehumidifier for your needs.
Dehumidifier Size: What is It?
When you speak of the size of a dehumidifier, they often don’t mean the physical dimensions.
The capacity or size, instead, refers to the liters of water that the unit can extract daily.
In practice, models of larger capacity have the tendency to be physically larger as well but this is not the case all the time.
Water tank size and capacity are two different things.
As you will notice, the majority of machines have a tank that is considerably smaller compared to the daily capacity.
It doesn’t mean you have to empty it several times a day though since it is rare for dehumidifiers to extract their full capacity every day.
The extraction will vary on humidity and temperature.
How to Select a Size
Every brand offers a capacity for the machines they release.
It is a useful figure when you compare machines but is often the maximum extraction in the ideal conditions.
When you visit the website of the manufacturer, they usually give the temperature and humidity the capacity has been measured at.
The truth is, a dehumidifier rarely reaches these figures so it is not the sole factor which affects the extraction efficiency of a machine. It is because extraction can vary greatly depending on the air’s humidity and temperature.
However, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore capacity. The general rule of thumb is that dehumidifiers of bigger capacity can deal with higher moisture levels and larger spaces.
Low capacity models which can manage humidity in smaller rooms with mild damp might struggle when used in multiple rooms. If you need a whole house dehumidifier, it is important to pick one with a big capacity.
In order to make it clearer, there are actually three primary considerations every time you choose a dehumidifier size, which is the following:
- The environment’s moisture level. It is a more subjective measure unless you are using a humidity monitor. However, you must have a good idea of the dampness of a space is through identifying where moisture accumulates.
- The size of the space you like to dehumidify. It must be measured according to square meters.
- The environment’s temperature.
It is probably obvious that you will need greater capacity if the room or rooms you need to dehumidify are larger.
Rooms that have severe damp issues also need larger capacities.
Some good signs of severe damp are condensations on the walls, wall stains, and wet floors in worst cases.
As far as the size of a dehumidifier is concerned, it refers to the amount of water a unit can extract for 24 hours.
This is among the most crucial factors to consider when shopping for a dehumidifier.
The general rule is when the room is damper or larger, greater capacity is required.
