We are often asked whether it is worth buying a dehumidifier. You can write up an excel spreadsheet and do the numbers if you want. However, it is really dependent on what the application is and how long it will be used.

For instance, you have a water damage in your home and you need to dry it out, do you think it would be wise to purchase 2 x $4000 dollar dehumidifiers to dry down the home once? Probably not. However, if you had a basement in your property and it is consistently getting damp and needs to be dried then yes, it may work out more cost effective.

Just remember if you purchase one, you are up for maintenance costs. From our experience, it is not cheap to maintain a dehumidifier. We can typically get 1000 hours out of them before they may need maintenance on the pump outs and the compressors. Each time they are repaired it will cost quite a bit of money in labour and parts. The parts generally have to be imported from the US or sourced from overseas. Also please do not forget the price of filter replacements. They are a consumable which are replaced every week or so depending on the contamination. They can cost around $30, they are essential if you want t o look after your dehumidifiers.

Additionally if the dehumidifiers are used for commercial purposes, they will need to be test tagged every 3-6 months depending on the laws which apply to your site.

What happens if you are running a construction business and you think you may use dehumidifiers on a regular basis? Well, what we recommend is that you may want to look at purchasing a small amount first, and if you get a large drying job, hiring is the better option to fill the capacity you will need.

In many cases, it simply does not make sense to purchase when you can hire them, and you might only use the extra dehumidifiers once a year.