Kogan Mini Dehumidifier 2L

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/kogan-mini-dehumidifier-2l/

This uses a Peltier cooler which means it's low power, and should be quieter (no compressor sounds) and longer lasting (no moving parts). However, the fan is a little noisy, particularly in high speed mode, and might wear out if the bearings are crap, we'll see. It's performance matches its specs pretty much exactly, and for the price it's great.

The 2L tank is a good size for the 600ml/day performance, and means I only need to empty it every 3 days (assuming it's warm and humid enough to hit that performance). I found water pools a little at the tank top before it drains in, so if you tip/knock it a little water can spill out, particularly when taking the tank out to empty it. A quick tap first fixes that. The 52db fan sound is a bit noisy, but it's much better in low-speed mode and tolerable for sleeping through in a bedroom. The air draws in the back and vents out the sides, which means it might recirculate air if not placed with enough clearance. Drawing 75W for that level of performance is not bad.

You need to make sure your expectations match it's specs; 600ml/day is not going to magically dry out your living-room. It will help a bedroom or bathroom, or fix a cupboard better than chemical moisture absorbers, but it's not going to match things like the 220W 10L/day AroDry?-P10, or 200W 12L/day DeLonghi? CF05M I also have (the DeLonghi? in particular is a beast, and I have to empty it's 6L tank twice a day). This type works best in hot environments, so it will not work as well if it's cold (use a desiccant type for that).

Update! --DonovanBaarda, Sat, 25 Feb 2023 03:18:23 +1100 reply

Well... they didn't last long. It was not the fan that died, they seem to have some design flaw where after a while they just stop driving the peltier. There is an indicator light that is on when they are working and it just goes off immediately after power on.

They all died within waranty, and after the first died I had it replaced by Kogan. They let me keep the dead one. But relatively soon after the first died, they all died, including the new replacement. I can't be bothered getting the others replaced.

They did work well while they worked, and I guess I did get some value out of them before they died for what they cost, but they die too soon.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's some kind of pelter overload protection circuit that's faulty, and with a bit of time I could pull them apart, figure it out, and fix it so it won't die again. But I dunno when I'll get the time.

The peltiers in them are quite big and grunty, and I suspect you'd pay a lot for them. So these might be a good source of cheap peltiers, particularly if you keep replacing them within the waranty period and get to keep the dead ones.

Another Update. --DonovanBaarda, Thu, 11 Apr 2024 22:56:02 +1000 reply

The failure mode doesn't seem to be permanent. I couldn't remember if they were all dead and tested them, and they all worked! At least for a while, then they died with the same failure mode. But it seems if I let them sit idle and unplugged for a few days they start working again. This suggests some kind of humidity induced fault? Or perhaps it's a static buildup problem (I have a keyboard with a known design fault that every ~6 months a static buildup inside starts causing keys fail to register, and a swift bang on the back discharges it and makes it work again).