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Despite its compact size, this dehumidifier is also heavy. And noisy. We also didn’t find it that much help with drying clothes, although it did a good job of managing general damp and reducing condensation and mould on windows and walls. A dehumidifier isn't the most exciting of household appliances, but it's obvious that attention has still been paid to the MeacoDry Arete One dehumidifier's design. The unit looks both sleek and modern, with simple monochromestyling that blends easily into a room without standing out too much.
So, if you’re after the smallest dehumidifier on the market, we think the Russell Hobbs RHDH1061G wins the accolade of best small dehumidifier, with good all round performance for its size housed in one of the smallest builds on the market – along as you don't expect too much from that 0.3L extraction rate. If you want to control the humidity in your home without distraction then the Arete range is the market leader for exceptional humidity extraction at a super quiet operating volume. Beyond that, this dehumidifier is very easy to use, the controls are all really well laid out, and there’s not too much to get your head around when it comes to operating it. Finally, you can press and hold the humidity button to activate the fan-only mode, which just runs the humidifier as an air purifier. Performance Plus, the MeacoDry Arete One also offers a built-in air purification function, so you don't need to waste energy having two appliances running at once. And at just 115W, the MeacoDry Arete One 12L dehumidifier is also very energy efficient compared to most compressor dehumidifiers.Dehumidifier users most often leave their dehumidifier near bedrooms and in operation for the majority of the time. As such, quiet operation was essential. The Arete range runs twice as quiet as any other comparable compressor dehumidifier on the market. The big difference between the two is not just that Arete ® looks fantastic, it is that it is a quieter option than the 20L Low Energy and it has a full Night Mode. This dehumidifier also offers a night mode which keeps the fans on low in case you want to use it in a bedroom overnight, but, I found the MeacoDry Arete One very quiet whichever mode I had it running in.
For us, the most important thing about Arete is that is has been designed by collaboration with our customers. We have listened and learned, and all of that new knowledge is in the details that make Arete so special. Optimised for your life and the British weather. For the 20L model this is 38 and 40dB on the two fan speeds and for the 25L model this is 40 and 42dB. Using the HEPA filter will increase these figures slightly because you are increasing the air pressure as the incoming air passes over the filters. Rated a Which? Best Buy, Arete is the perfect solution to dealing with condensation, mould and damp problems either in the home, in a garage, in an unheated basement, on a boat or in a caravan. There are two versions of this product, one that can remove 20 litres of water per day and a larger 250-litre per day model (at 30ºC and 80% relative humidity; the water removal depends on the environment you’re in). Both have a 4.8-litre water tank, which means that the worst-case scenario would involve emptying it several times per day; in my tests, the tank needed emptying every one or two days. There’s a status light that indicates when the tank needs emptying – the dehumidifier shuts down automatically when the tank is full.However, it's not perfect. A powerful extraction rate of 20L, plus that Laundry boost mode, means higher running costs. This dehumidifier guzzles 440W of energy compared to the 20L MeacoDry Arete One's 216W. What the Pro Breeze 20L Premium does offer is a more generous water tank of 5.5L compared to the 20L MeacoDry Arete One's 4.8L, although in practice we didn't find ourselves emptying the MeacoDry that much more frequently. Most dehumidifiers have their noise levels listed in their specifications, although in practice we didn't find that much variation between models, with most falling somewhere between 35 and 45dB. That said, this dehumidifier can also act as an air purifier, so there is an optional HEPA filter that you can fit into the dehumidifier. I’d recommend using it as this filter can help to clean the air whilst the dehumidifier is working.Bonus!
Compressor dehumidifiers tend to be the most common design available in the UK. They work by drawing air into the dehumidifier via a fan, and then running the air over over cold coils to condense the moisture from it, whereby the condensed water is collected in a water tank.The coils are kept cool by refrigerant which means the unit also needs a compressor built in. The only downside of compressor dehumidifiers is that they need the air to be warm for this process to work. Most will work above 5°C, but they're most efficient at an ambient temperature of around 20°C (depending on the individual model). The control panel on Arete One has simple and clearly laid out controls. The buttons that you use most often are larger; the buttons that you hardly ever use are small. Large buttons include controls for Smart Humidity Control and Smart Laundry either of which can be set by pressing just one button. I had the MeacoDry Arete One running whilst I worked and watched TV and it didn’t bother me at all. The official stats say it runs at just 35dB, and it certainly felt very quiet in practice. It can't quite beat the MeacoDry Arete One on overall performance, but if you're willing to put up with noisier operation and higher running costs in exchange for its powerful performance, then this Pro Breeze model will make short work of getting wet washing ready for the airing cupboard.
The extensive feature set makes this the perfect dehumidifier for almost any home and can be deployed in any room as well as conservatories, garages, boats or caravans with exceptional performance.
The only dehumidifier I've found that does a better job at clothes drying is the Pro Breeze 20L Premium Dehumidifier with Special Laundry Mode. This powerful 20L dehumidifier made fast work of drying wet washing in my tests, although, it's likely its increased extraction rate helped it in this regard. I haven't tested the 20L MeacoDry Arete One which would likely perform on a par. 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. I tested the MeacoDry Arete One dehumidifier in a couple of different areas throughout my home to get a good feel of exactly what it could do. For context, I live in a Victorian terrace, so as you can imagine, dampness and mould can be an issue, especially when it’s been raining a lot. Customers tell us that they never put their dehumidifiers away. In fact, they stay in the same area of the home all the time. So we have designed Arete to be stylish so that it looks great wherever you put it. It sits flush to the wall, has hidden castors and an air purification mode means you can use it all year round too. The downside is that this dehumidifier has a far lower extraction rate than most, extracting just 0.3 litres of water from the air per day. For comparison, the best in class Meaco Arete One dehumidifier can extract between 10 and 25 litres of water from the air per day depending which model you opt for. Water tank capacity is also reduced, with the Silentnight model only able to hold 0.6L of water. That means you'll be emptying the tank frequently.However, thePro Breeze 20L Premium Dehumidifier does win on price, coming in a fair bit cheaper than the MeacoDry Arete One. It also offers Smart App controls, which means you can connect it to WiFi and operate it remotely via the Pro Breeze App or connect to Alexa or similar voice-activated devices. It has a decent-sized water tank capacity of 4L, and an automatic humidity sensor which means you can set your desired humidity level, switch it on, and just let it do its thing. Overall, if you can put up with its increased noise volume and absorb the higher running costs, we think thePro Breeze 20L Premium Dehumidifier with Special Laundry Modeis a good buy. It's definitely the best dehumidifier for drying clothes that we've tested, and anything that makes wet-weather laundry days easier is a win in our books. The intuitive control panel makes operation simple for everyone allowing you to get the results you want with no confusion. The large 4.8L tank means you will need to empty the unit less often than with comparable units for added peace of mind. The end result is our quietest, most energy efficient dehumidifier range yet, with a host of special features to make living with Arete a pleasure.
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