The Pro Breeze is great if you’ve got a smaller space and you want something that doesn’t cost a lot to run,” says expert Kandola. “It’s probably about a penny an hour.” The beauty with Peltier dehumidifiers is that this thermo-electric technology gives way to 2 great advantages. These include 1) whisper-quiet operation and 2) energy-saving functionality (when used on a small scale like this). Considering the compact size of the appliance, the water tank on this dehumidifer is pretty generous. It has a 1500ml capacity which means you won’t have to change it every day, even if you leave the dehumidifier running.

If you don't have too large of a damp problem, or only have a small area where you want to reduce humidity, then a cheap dehumidifier can be worth it.

The unit isn't the lightest or most compact we've tested, but then we wouldn't expect that from a machine this powerful. However, built-in wheels, a retractable carry handle, and cable tidy make it easier to move around the house and store neatly away when it's not in use. Then there's noise levels to consider, although as most of cheap dehumidifiers use Peltier condensers noise levels are already lower than more powerful compressor dehumidifiers. All dehumidifier's should give their operating volumes (measured in dB) in the specifications.

I tested the ProBreeze 1500ml Mini Dehumidifier in a couple of different rooms throughout my home. In the kitchen, it did a great job of stopping condensation on the windows when I was cooking. It didn’t really get rid of any odours associated with cooking like other dehumidifiers have, but this design doesn’t have an air filter, so that’s understandable. The quietest dehumidifier we could find in the UK is the Acekool 1000 ml Dehumidifier and Air Purifier, which has a noise level of just 25 dB according to the manufacturer. This product is inexpensive and very quiet, but also not very powerful (it can only extract 350 ml of water a day). However, if you're looking for a dehumidifier for use in a cold climate, the EcoAir DD1 Simple MK3 Dehumidifier's 1ºc operating temperature is hard to beat. Clearly, setting a lower fan speed will reduce the noise level but that also limits what the dehumidifier can do. When manufacturers quote a noise level this refers to the noise level at the lowest speed setting, so in practice the dehumidifier will often be louder.

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Air purifiers help to clean the air, thereby reducing the chances of health issues caused by indoor pollutants which can trigger respiratory infections or aggravate symptoms in asthma sufferers.

When it’s in this automatic mode, the noise varies between 37dB (fine) and 46dB (pretty loud) so I set the timer to switch it off at 10:30pm every night, so it didn’t bother me as I drifted off. The other options, operated by buttons on top of the machine, include adjusting the fan speed, increasing or decreasing the target humidity and switching between laundry drying, continuous or SMD (smart dehumidification). Performance: Along with the Russell Hobbs dehumidifier, this Challenge dehumidifier is one of the most compact in our round-up measuring just H22 x W15 x D13cm. That makes it hugely portable, although its small size does means a low 0.3L per day extraction rate (about the size of a large glass of wine) and its water tank is also small with a 0.5L capacity. If you're wondering how to get rid of mould in a poorly ventilated room, or trying to combat excess moisture or humidity inside the home, then a dehumidifier can be a useful tool in your arsenal.Humidifiers function by adding moisture to the air to prevent dryness that can cause irritation in many parts of the body. That said, if you find the Pro Breeze 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier on offer, and are willing to accept its flaws in exchange for its lower price point, this can be a great value buy that does the job and will make a big improvement to general damp issues. When people talk about a dehumidifier’s size, they usually don’t mean its physical dimensions. Instead, the size or capacity is how many litres of water it’s able to extract per day. In practice, larger capacity models tend to be physically bigger too, but this isn’t always the case. And whilst its energy use is low compared to many dehumidifiers on the market, it can't beat the super energy-efficient MeacoDry Arete One in this regard. The Pro Breeze 12L Low Energy dehumidifier uses 220W, whereas the comparable MeacoDry 12L Arete One uses just 151W of energy, and doesn't cost that much more upfront at full RRP. The MeacoDry also offers a built-in air purifier, a larger 2.5L water tank, better laundry drying performance, and quieter operation.

The EcoAir DD1 Simple MK3 Dehumidifier can extract up to 7.5 litres of moisture per day in cold temperatures as low as 1ºc, so it's a very useful option for conservatorys, basements or garages that don't have dedicated heating, as well as unheated rooms in the home during winter months. That doesn’t mean capacity should be ignored though. As a general rule, bigger capacity dehumidifiers can deal with larger spaces and higher levels of moisture. A dehumidifier's extraction rate is an average of how much moisture it can remove from the air during a given timeframe. Most commonly this is measured in litres per day, so an extraction rate of 10L/per day means the dehumidifier should be able to extract 10 litres of moisture within 24 hours if running continuously. In practice, this also depends on the humidity levels of the room, and the ambient temperature. It’s probably obvious that the larger the room(s), the greater capacity you’ll need. Rooms with severe damp problems also require larger capacities. Signs of severe damp include stains on walls, condensations on walls and, in the worst cases, wet floors.The sleek and modern unit with navy blue exterior stands out from the crowd in all the right ways, and whilst it doesn't have built-in wheels like most dehumidifiers of this size, the integrated carry handle and mid-weight build make it relatively easy to transport from room to room. If you want a more compact build, then there is also a 12L and 14L model available.