As anyone who owns one knows, a dehumidifier is an extremely handy appliance to have around – especially if your home suffers from bad condensation or damp issues. But finding the best place to put a dehumidifier can be tricky, both in terms of convenience and functionality.
But even if you invest in the best dehumidifier money can buy, its placement can significantly enhance – or inhibit – its performance, even reducing how long you need to run a dehumidifier.
In the right spot, your dehumidifier will most likely reduce condensation, prevent mould from forming, and help with tasks like drying laundry more efficiently. But in the wrong place, it will carry out those tasks poorly, create a trip hazard and potentially even damage your appliance.
We've spoken to several dehumidifier experts to get their take on the best place to put your dehumidifier depending on the task at hand. We've put together some positional dos and don'ts that it's useful to know before buying a dehumidifier so that you get the most from your appliance.
The best place to put a dehumidifier in general
Our experts concur that placing a dehumidifier centrally – ideally in a hallway or upstairs landing – is the best way to effectively treat the air throughout the entire property.
"Most people think dehumidifiers can only work in one room at a time, but they are powerful enough to extract moisture from the whole house at once," says Chris Michael, managing director of dehumidifier manufacturer Meaco.
"If the whole house is damp, place the dehumidifier near where it is dampest," Chris suggests. "A landing or hallway is a recommended position for a dehumidifier as it can service several rooms from that position – including bathrooms or the kitchen, where excess moisture is common after bathing and cooking, respectively. But if you're doing this, do remember to keep your internal doors open."
"If your entire house is damp, the best place to start by placing your dehumidifier at or near the root of the problem," agrees Joshua Warren, dehumidifier expert at AO.com. "For most houses, the common areas of dampness include bathrooms, kitchens and basements."
"Place the dehumidifier centrally in an open space to allow for better air circulation," he adds. "This can help the dehumidifier pull moisture from multiple rooms affected by damp. You can also position the dehumidifier near airflow paths like your hall or doorway. This can help to permeate dry air throughout the house and clear up any damp faster."
"Usually, humidity comes from bathrooms and other areas where heat and water are used, such as near the washing machine. To target a particular area, the nearer the dehumidifier is placed to the source of the damp, the better," adds Marc Duckworth, product manager for Russell Hobbs at Product Care Group.
"But it can also be placed on the landing or in the hallway to capture damp from all areas throughout, preventing any damp pockets."
Top tip: If you have a large open-plan living space, it's a good idea to invest in a dehumidifier on castors – such as the Delonghi AriaDry or the Eco DC12 Mk3. This will make it easier to wheel to more humid spots as and when needed.
The best place to put your dehumidifier when drying laundry
While an 'open door' policy works when you're trying to rid the whole house of humidity, the same doesn't apply when you're using a dehumidifier to dry clothes indoors.
"Place the dehumidifier at one end of the clothes horse in a small, closed room with the wet washing evenly spaced out," instructs Chris, who has another top tip to speed things up when drying clothes indoors.
"Using a cooling fan at the opposite end of the room to help blow the moisture out of your clothes. This will improve the efficiency of the dehumidifier and decrease the drying time."
Marc Duckworth suggests "placing clothes around six feet away from your dehumidifier in a well-ventilated area, allowing for optimum air circulation and evaporation'. He also explains that spreading out your washing as much as possible on a drying rack will help get your laundry dry quickly, and therefore reduce the cost of running your dehumidifier.
The best place to put a dehumidifier to remove condensation
"The most effective way to prevent condensation on windows is by having the dehumidifier operating in the same room ideally with closed doors and windows," says Alex Litcan, category manager at De’Longhi. "This way moisture extraction is targeted to that specific environment and not the rest of the house."
"As the moisture is being extracted from the air, there is no specific requirement to have the product right by the windows, and certainly no requirement for any physical contact," he adds.
Instead, he suggests considering the following when moving your dehumidifier into position:
- Bring the appliance tp the room to be dehumidified.
- A free space of at least 50 cm must be left at the front of the dehumidifier, so as not to block the air outlet.
- For efficient ventilation, a space of about 5-10 cm should be left at the back of the appliance.
Should you put your dehumidifier in the bathroom?
It's easy to see why you might want to place a dehumidifier in a bathroom. After all the steam and moisture build-up from showering and bathing can quickly cause water marks to form on walls and cause grout to go mouldy.
But it's an absolute no-no according to Marc Duckworth at Russell Hobbs. "It is NOT recommended to place a dehumidifier inside the actual bathroom as electric appliances in direct proximity to water is a safety hazard," he says.
"Corded dehumidifiers should not be placed inside bathrooms as they are not IP rated," adds Chris. "But using a dehumidifier placed just outside the bathroom after bathing will be sufficient to clear any steam and condensation," he assures us.
The best dehumidifiers for a bathroom are non-electrical models.
This small and compact dehumidifier will sit neatly on a shelf in your bathroom whilst effortlessly absorbing excess moisture and removing bad odours using moisture-absorbing crystals. Because it doesn't require electricity to function it is completely safe to use in a bathroom, around water sources. The specialist crystals, last between one and three months, depending on where it’s placed.
This UniBond dehumidifier doesn’t use electricity, ideal for safe use in a bathroom. Despite not running on the mains it can clear a room of up to 20m². One tab lasts between one and three months, depending on the level of excess moisture in the air. Once it’s full, you simply empty the water, and it even has a spill-prevention system included. Once your tab is done, you can purchase a refill, so it’s even better for the environment.
This is an electric option, but if you live in a small home or apartment, or maybe your bathroom is in a separate part of the house, this is ideal to leave just outside the door. Just plug it in and leave it outside the door of your bathroom whilst you shower or bathe and leave it run, it will clear any excess humidity, and it’s cheap to run.
More top tips on dehumidifier placement
As we've mentioned, the effectiveness of a dehumidifier is hugely dependent on its where you place it. By strategically positioning your dehumidifier in the areas with the highest humidity, ensuring the airflow is unobstructed, and considering practical aspects like drainage and proximity to power sources, you can maximise its performance. So when you're thinking about where your dehumidifier will live, keep these tips in mind.
1. Keep the air flowing
The first rule of positioning your dehumidifier is to ensure there are no walls, furniture, or other objects blocking the airflow. This allows the dehumidifier to work more efficiently.
"Ensure that there is proper air circulation for the vents," says Marc Duckworth. "We recommend placing the dehumidifier at least 6 inches from the wall to allow for optimum efficiency."
If there's a spot that you know gets a good thorough breeze through the house, it could be perfect for your unit.
2. Take care in a kitchen
Cooking, washing dishes and laundering clothes all generate lots of moisture, so it could be prudent to put a dehumidifier in the kitchen to help manage this excess humidity. But take care.
While you want to place it near moisture-generating appliances, keep your dehumidifier away from direct water splashes from taps, or places where water might leak – for example, pipework – as these could short your dehumidifier or cause long-term damage.
3. Be wary of electronics
Damp bedrooms and living rooms can often benefit from a dehumidifier, but keep any unit away from TVs, computers, and other electronics to avoid any potential damage from moisture extraction.
Electrical equipment is designed to work within a certain humidity range, so running a dehumidifier may be beneficial. Equally, because of how a dehumidifier works they can move dust around a room which can get into your TV or computer ports and cause issues, so just be mindful not to have your dehumidifier blasting right next to the screen.
4. Check the temperature
Dehumidifiers, particularly compressor models, don't work as well in very cold conditions. "A compressor dehumidifier is essentially like a little fridge and works by drawing in the air from the room which passes over a filter and then over cold coils (much like those on a refrigerator)," explains Noel Fok, CEO at EcoAir.
"As the coils cool the water condenses and drips into the water bucket within the unit, the air is then reheated to room temperature and blown back out of the dehumidifier."
However, if the air in the room is too cold, it's less likely to condense as it hits the cold coils and there's not a big enough difference in temperature.
"A compressor dehumidifier can technically run in temperatures ranging from 5 to 30 degrees C," adds Noel, "but with optimum performance above 20 degrees C. Essentially, they work well in warm conditions but are less effective in cool conditions."
So if your room is too cold, either turn up the thermostat or consider moving the unit somewhere warmer.
5. Don't use extension cables
Of course, the need to place your dehumidifier centrally can cause issues – not least with a power cable trailing across the floor. For bigger rooms, it's important to look for a model with a long power cord.
"To help keep dehumidifiers safe we would always recommend they are plugged directly into a socket and not through an extension lead," says a spokesperson for the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.
If you have no choice but to have a trailing cable, you could hide it with discreet trunking, or make sure it's not a trip hazard by covering it with a specialist cable mat.
