However, different washing loads and humidity levels make like-for-like comparisons impossible, and the Arete One is still a decent option – you can always leave it on at a lower humidity target or turn on continuous operation if you want it to finish drying out your laundry. If you don’t know much about dehumidifiers, the 25 litre capacity doesn’t refer to the water tank size.

In the bedroom and living space, I let the Arete One run on Smart Humidity Mode so it aimed for a humidity level of around 55%. It's very effective at removing moisture from larger spaces and the low noise level of the fan, at least on its slower speed, is a major bonus.Once it gets there, it’ll go into standby, checking every half an hour that the humidity hasn’t crept back up again. Meaco has cleverly designed it so that it pulls air in from the back then out through the top, butwith enough space behind that you can place the unit unobtrusively against a wall and it’ll still dehumidify effectively. Finally, there’s a Night mode, which keeps the fan at low speed and turns all displays and indicators off, plus a child lock.

The Arete One is at its noisiest in clothes drying mode, where you’re looking at sound levels of over 50dB and power consumption of over 208W. I’ve noticed that since I purchased my Arete 12L in January, there doesn’t seem to be a 5-year warranty anymore? To make things easier, Arete comes with a hose adapter to allow you to use a standard garden hose for continuous drainage if you need it. It also depends on the season – dehumidifiers are more often used in the autumn and winter than in the spring and summer, so your running costs will necessarily be higher during the colder months.

Large buttons include controls for Smart Humidity Control and Smart Laundry either of which can be set by pressing just one button. We should point out that I took these sound readings using a smartphone app inside a home with wooden floors, and that sound levels will vary depending on your carpet, curtains and furnishings.

Indeed, when I left it in Smart Humidity Mode during the day it just switched on occasionally when humidity levels started to rise above the chosen level. If you’re anything like us and the energy crisis has you reluctant to turn on your central heating or use the tumble dryer, investing in electricity-efficient appliances like a dehumidifier is essential so you don’t end up with spores without racking up those bills. However, if you’re trying to deal with mildew, mould or damp patches, then you’ll want to keep it a little lower.The style lines and details on Arete ® make it look more like a piece of furniture, which helps it to blend in your room. This is easy to do; the filter just slides out from the back, whereby you can remove the HEPA filter and either wash it in warm soapy water or use a vacuum to remove any dust. Running costs vary depending on the size, make and model of dehumidifier you opt for, but the MeacoDry Arete One 12L dehumidifier uses a relatively low 151 Watts of electricity. If washing, it's important to make sure that the filter is completely dry before replacing the HEPA filter and putting the dust filter back. So when we designed our MeacoDry Arete ® One, we took this into consideration and added a cable tidy, castors so it can be wheeled around easily, and a flat back so that it can fit easily against the wall.

Dehumidifiers are not as common an appliance in the UK as you might imagine, especially given our damp, maritime climate. Paul Douglas is Global Digital Editorial Strategy Director at Future and has worked in publishing for over 25 years. Top tip, this is limescale free water so can be reused on appliances like irons and clothes steamers. Things such as traffic accidents, extreme weather, vehicle breakdowns might prevent us from getting the right goods to you, undamaged and on time.A dehumidifier can help with damp caused by keeping windows shut in winter while trying to be sparing with the central heating. It'll beep to let you know it's full, and switch itself off, or you can see the tank's water level through the window in the front of the machine.