![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dehumidifier-touch-panel-humidity-indicator-763763832.webp\")
<\/p>\nDEHUMIDIFIERS are essential for damp homes, but you need to make sure they're in the right place for them to work effectively. <\/p>\n
The gadgets are used to help get rid of moisture in\u00a0homes, especially if you dry your clothes inside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It comes as households are looking to switch off their heating and\u00a0tumble dryers\u00a0as energy bills climb again.<\/p>\n
But leaving clothes\u00a0to dry\u00a0on radiators,\u00a0cooking without ventilation\u00a0and failing to open windows can all create excess moisture in the air.<\/p>\n
Demudifiers pull this moisture from the air, helping to combat condensation.<\/p>\n
But keeping your dehumidifier in the wrong spot in your home could be causing it to run inefficiently.<\/p>\n
And if you have it on without it actually contributing anything, then you're essentially wasting money.<\/p>\n Using a dehumidifier an hour a day costs around 10p, according to experts at Uswitch.<\/p>\n The average household uses a dehumidifier for 180 minutes a week, with an average cost of just 29p.<\/p>\n While this is significantly cheaper than a tumble dryer – costing \u00a31.72 a week – it's important to make sure your dehumidifier is running efficiently.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Home expert and Queen of Clean Lynsey Crombie, known as @lynsey_queenofclean on social media, said that dehumidifiers should be used in the smallest room in your house for the best results.<\/p>\n She said:"Choose the smallest room to dry your clothes and shut the door. <\/p>\n "Roughly place the unit six inches away from your clothes with the vent face facing the clothes – this way, they will dry much faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n "Turning your clothes rack every hour will also help to speed things along."<\/p>\n Depending on the materials, she added that clothes should take around six hours to dry.<\/p>\n For example, heavy denim may take a little longer.<\/p>\n Lynsey also said it's important to make sure to empty the tank after every use.<\/p>\n "Dehumidifiers extract the water out of the air. The water goes into the tank and will need emptying after every use," she added.<\/p>\n "In most cases, it will be full. In some machines, the fan element will stop working when the water tank is full"<\/p>\n Putting the heating on is one of the\u00a0biggest drains on your energy bill\u00a0anyway, but sometimes you're inadvertently doing things that can increase your bills.<\/p>\n For example, there's one fact in particular to know if you want to stop spending unnecessary money – don't dry your clothes on the radiator.<\/p>\n If you do, it keeps the radiator from working properly and you might need to leave the heating on for longer to feel its effect.<\/p>\n Potentially, up to \u00a355 could go down the drain every year as a result.<\/p>\n Of course, it could be more or less depending on the size of your home, your provider and how much energy you normally use.<\/p>\n Clothes dryers don't need to cost the earth either – there's one from\u00a0Dunelm\u00a0that will set you back \u00a340.<\/p>\n Also, letting heat escape through your chimney could throw away up to \u00a3300 a year.<\/p>\n That's if you don't have something to block the opening whenever you\u00a0turn on the heating.<\/p>\n A damper is a seal for your chimney to ensure cold air stays out and warmth from indoors can't escape.<\/p>\n You can install one by yourself if you're used to carrying out small DIY jobs – you shouldn't need any tools to help.<\/p>\n It should fit right up into the flue system, which sits above the smoke chamber.<\/p>\n Hopefully, it'll slide in comfortably, but there might be a few screws to tighten if your damper comes with them.<\/p>\n But that's the most you'll need to do.<\/p>\n We've seen dampers from the likes of\u00a0Amazon\u00a0for \u00a322, but don't forget about added delivery costs.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GM_28-11_CONSUMER_CLEAN-ENERGY-SAVE_COMP-1.jpg\")
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