Commercial Dehumidifiers

Choosing a commercial dehumidifier for water damage jobs

A water damage dehumidifier takes the moisture your air movers lift off wet carpet, plasterboard and timber and gets it out of the room. Whether you call them commercial or industrial dehumidifiers, on most restoration jobs that means a refrigerant unit, usually an LGR.

A conventional refrigerant dehumidifier pulls air over a cold coil so water condenses out. It works well while the air is warm and wet, but typically slows down as the room dries. An LGR dehumidifier pre-cools the incoming air so it can generally keep pulling water at lower humidity, the back end of a dry where jobs tend to stall.

When you compare commercial dehumidifiers, check four things:

• Water removal and test conditions. A litres-per-day figure only means something next to the temperature and RH it was measured at.
• Amp draw. Add up everything on the circuit before you plug in.
• Drainage. All three units in this range pump out their condensate, so you can run a hose to a sink, shower or floor waste instead of emptying a tank.
• Size and handling. Stairs, apartments and small bathrooms favour a compact or upright unit.

Take readings before and during the dry so you know when the materials are dry, not just the air. See our moisture meters and monitoring range.

Models we stock

Figures as listed on each product page. Check the full specification there before you order.

Water-removal figures only compare directly at the same test conditions. The DryTrak's 50L figure is quoted at warmer, wetter conditions (30°C @ 80% RH) than the Dri-Eaz's 36L AHAM figure (26.7°C, 60% RH), so the two aren't like-for-like.

• DryTrak Mini Upright: real-time humidity display, automatic defrost, listed at 58 dB(A). Easy to wheel through hallways and apartments.
• Dri-Eaz BD2500: made for confined spaces such as bathrooms and kitchens. Adjustable 30–90% humidistat, hour and kWh counters, and remote monitoring capability.
• XPOWER XD-85LH: automatic speed control, a dual intake and a washable stainless steel filter. Check the linked product page for the complete specification.

Buy or hire?

For extra capacity on a big loss, we also hire dehumidifiers on daily and weekly terms. The equipment hire list includes the Dehumidifier 2.0 and the Large Commercial Dehumidifier 3.0, which are separate hire units. Collect from Acacia Ridge or ask about delivery options.

Pairing dehumidifiers with air movers

Air movers lift water off wet surfaces into the air; dehumidifiers take it back out. Lots of airflow without enough dehumidification can push the room's humidity up, and too little airflow leaves wet materials sitting there.

As a starting point, size dehumidification to the room and the wet materials, add air movers for the affected surfaces, and check readings each visit. If humidity isn't coming down, add dehumidification before more fans, and keep the area closed up so you're drying the job, not the street.

Shop air movers and drying fans, or see the water damage and structural drying hub for the rest of the setup. Our dehumidifier buying guide goes deeper.