What kind of dehumidifier do I need: desiccant or refrigerant?

Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air and help control relative humidity. There are two main types of technology when it comes to a dehumidifier:

• desiccant technology
• cooling coil technology

Desiccant dehumidifier

These dehumidifiers work by passing the air through a rotor containing moisture-absorbing dehydrating material. Once the water is removed from the air, the dry air can be blown back into the room, thus encouraging drying. Next, the water collected in the desiccant wheel is removed by adding heat to evacuate the vaporized moisture from the building.

The desiccant moisture absorber material is typically silica gel, which does not have the usual gel texture but is a porous, granular form whose internal structure includes a network of interconnected microscopic pores. They can absorb moisture by attracting it inside each granule. Adding heat can then release this moisture from the desiccant by evaporation and push it out of the building, leaving the desiccant wheel ready to collect the additional moisture.

Dehumidifier with refrigerant/refrigerant

These dehumidifiers work by condensing the moisture in the air. The moist air inside the building is sucked into the dehumidifier and passed over a cold evaporator coil that cools the air below its dew point temperature. This leads to condensation that can collect from the cold coils. This water is collected in a container and either removed manually or through a hose automatically.

The dry air from the unit is then passed over the hot condensing coils, reheating them before entering the unit. This dry air is pushed in many pressure machines to be directed to certain areas affected by moisture to speed up drying.

Let's compare the performances further

Extraction rate

The main benefit of dehumidifiers with refrigerant-type coils compared to desiccant-type ones is that they can remove more daily moisture. Therefore, they are particularly useful when the humidity is very high and the saturated materials require fast drying.

However, the extraction rates depend on the make and model of the dehumidifier, and we suggest you look at the manufacturer's descriptions.

Operating temperature

The two technologies work differently in the low-temperature range. Desiccant dehumidifiers can work in cold conditions because the silica gel desiccant absorbs moisture regardless of the temperature.

Conversely, dehumidifiers with refrigerant suffer a decrease in water extraction at lower temperatures because the dew point is harder to reach, and the condensation of moisture from the cold air is more difficult to achieve.

Operating costs of the dehumidifier

In general, refrigerant-type dehumidifiers consume less electricity, so they have a lower consumption.

Noise level

Refrigerant technology uses compressors which generally make these dehumidifiers less powerful than desiccant-type dehumidifiers.

Size, weight and handling

Coil dehumidifiers are usually heavier because they have heavier components and often larger dimensions.

This is the comparative diagram between desiccant-type and refrigerator-type dehumidifiers. If you need a dehumidifier, come to the website to choose the right one. You bought a dehumidifier and have a tip for our blog visitors. We would be happy if you would share it with us.

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