Winter has a lot going for it; Christmas, eating and drinking excessive amounts and if you’re lucky, just the right amount of snow. But it makes some household chores a massive pain.
Take drying clothes for instance - the line in the garden is a no-go and trying to get clothes dry on an airer in the conservatory is never fun. It takes ages, you risk that stale smell forming and you end up with condensation everywhere.
Even though we have a tumble dryer, it’s in a small room with not a huge amount of ventilation, and before you know it, you get condensation forming in there too.
But luckily for me, I was able to get hold of one item that completely transformed the laundry process this year. Meaco sent me one of their 20L low energy dehumidifiers and I was able to put it to the test over a couple of weeks as the temperatures outside plummeted.
The Meaco allows you to set a target humidity level, allowing the machine to run continually until it brings the moisture in the air down to that goal, or, as is most useful for dealing with laundry, you can leave it running.
And the results are really impressive. We’ve previously left clothes to dry in the conservatory overnight with the door closed and woken up to water dripping from the ceiling, which is less than ideal. But with the Meaco running, it not only massively cut the drying time of the clothes but completely removed any risk of condensation forming.
And don’t think it just deals with laundry. Meaco claim that the 20L model I received is big enough to be put in a central location and work throughout the entire house. And with an air purifier included, it not only dries the air, it cleans it too.
When we’re not doing laundry, it sits in the hall and has made a difference in day-to-day life, proving especially useful when one of us is cooking in the kitchen next door.
But, I hear you ask, just how much does it cost? Well Meaco says that their version costs just 5p per hour to run, meaning a saving of more than £138 a year versus other 20L models.
And if you find it strong enough to ditch the tumble dryer, that’s where huge savings can be found.
The only real downside is the price. At £259.99 for the 20L model and £189.99 for the smaller 12L version, they don’t come cheap. But if you consign the tumble dryer to the past, it’ll pay for itself before too long.
I’m keen to see just what else it can do over the course of a year, as Meaco say it’s air purifying capabilities really come to the fore in the summer months. But even after a few weeks of use, it’s safe to say I’m a convert.
If you’re after a higher-price alternative, you could try the EcoAir DD3 Classic MK3, which is currently available on Amazon for £319.98 and one customer claims “soaks up moisture like a sponge”.
Or if you’re looking for a more affordable option, this Daewoo 12L model comes in at under £100 and “does just what it says on the tin”.
:quality(85):upscale()/2024/04/24/878/n/3019466/36c5693c662965c5d1ce91.72473705_.jpg)
English (US) ·