Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is urging anyone struggling with energy bills during the cold weather to look at investing in a cheap gadget that only costs 7p an hour to run. According to Martin, who founded the MoneySavingExpert (MSE) website, the simple gadget could potentially slash hundreds off your heating bill every year.
Martin Lewis' advice comes as temperatures in the UK have left many households struggling with the basics like keeping warm and drying their washing. As a result of not being able to afford to put the heating on, several people have reported falling ill, and mould has become an increasingly worrying issue.
Speaking on the latest Martin Lewis podcast, the finance guru offered a 7p solution to the problem. You will need to make a small investment first, but after that, you'll start saving money.
READ MORE: Martin Lewis' word of warning to anyone who has a washing machine at home
Martin has suggested that Brits should invest in a dehumidifier as the amount of kilowatt's per hour it uses is "generally far, far cheaper" than putting the heating on. As reported by the Mirror, he explained that so long as you factor in the cost of purchasing one in the first place, having a dehumidifier will guarantee families lower electricity bills. The MoneySavingExpert founder explained on his show: “Many dehumidifiers have different wattages, the one I checked out was 200 watts (w).
“Once we know it’s 200w and we know a kilowatt (kw) is 1,000w, which is how electricity tends to be priced, we know this is a fifth of a kilowatt. And you pay roughly 34p per kw per hour. A fifth is 7p so you’re going to pay roughly 7p per hour to run a dehumidifier at 200w assuming it uses full power the whole time. Which is generally far, far cheaper than putting the heating on.
“If a dehumidifier does work for you it will definitely have lower electricity bills but of course you do have the initial capital outlay of buying a dehumidifier and see how that works for you.”
We shopped around to find the most budget-friendly dehumidifier with a low wattage. Argos' Challenge 0.5 Litre Mini Dehumidifier costs £50, and is only 22 watts. It's also got hundreds of glowing reviews on the Argos website.
One impressed shopper said: "I purchased this dehumidifier back in December and it works a treat! I keep it on all the time and it extracts about a cup of water every 24hours It’s very quiet and makes only a gentle humming noise which is like a white noise helping me fall asleep too! Very happy with this product!"
Another wrote: "I bought this month ago and worked well for my room I don't have humidity issue anymore quite happy with purchase."
A third person said: "I bought 2 of these small dehumidifiers. They take a few hours to show any improvements but after that you could see how much water they were picking up. Small but mighty."
For a larger model, look to Amazon's CONOPU Dehumidifier 1000ml. It's £49.99, and boasts low energy consumption. Thousands of Amazon shoppers have tried the £50 dehumidifier, and have been blown away by how effective it is.
One five-star reviewer raved: "Bought 3 of these for each of the bedrooms in our house as we are struggling with black mould and it’s been affecting ours and our kid’s health. Was a bit unsure if they’d be that good but so far we have noticed a significant difference. We have them on a lot and have them placed in the corners that the mould is the worst. After 2 nights of having it on and we have gone from the mould growing back 2-3 days after cleaning to having gone nearly 2 weeks without having reclean as there’s no mould present."
A second Amazon shopper said: Bought one because my home office computer wouldn’t turn on one day… bought a thermometer with built in humidity meter… 76%! bought this within a few hours of turning it on lowered the humidity, after a couple of days back to normal."
A third raved: "This is amazing i had to replace mine and this one is much better then my old one i will definitely buy another one easy to use you can choose which light colour you want its not loud the sound."
You can buy the Amazon CONOPU Dehumidifier 1000ml here.
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